Reconstruction
By Alli Machnik
Social : Reconstruction
This picture represents the blacks and whites coming together after the war. In this picture, both of the men are shaking hands, and they each have one leg missing. This shows how both the north and south, whites and blacks, lost part of themselves over the Civil War. Even though there was much hatred towards blacks after the war, there was still a portion of the country that did not believe in the inequality of a different race. That small portion is symbolized here, where two people of different races are choosing to be loving and friendly.
Political : Reconstruction
This cartoon shows how the literacy tests, required to vote, were different for blacks and whites. The white men often received easier literacy tests than black men did. In this cartoon, a black man is watching a white man write down a phrase for his test, and it shows in how he is writing, that he is clearly illiterate. White citizens usually only had to write a simple word or phrase, like their name. Black citizens who wanted to vote had to write a phrase from the constitution, then recite what that phrase meant. The difference in the tests showed how unfairly black people were treated.
Social : Modern
This modern cartoon represents how the Ku Klux Klan believes that blacks are not citizens and are not equal. In the picture, a man in a KKK outfit is holding a flag, which symbolizes the fact that they are trying to control America and how only what they believe should be allowed to be free. In the late 1800's, the Ku Klux Klan formed. They had the same negativity towards African Americans and other races that were not their own. They kidnapped people, ran them away from their homes and towns, or killed them, in some ways like burning them alive or hanging them.