Reconstruction
Cartoons
Social Cartoon Drawn By Thomas Nast
This cartoon represents a man in the KKK(Ku Klux Klan) and a normal Southerner shaking hands. The casually dressed white man has a bag that says "White League." In the 1860's and 1870's, this was a group of people whose goal was to intimidate blacks and get Republicans out of office. Them shaking hands shows an alliance between the two to stop the growth of blacks thriving. In the middle, there is a family of African-Americans that are scared. In the background of the middle there is smoke which must mean something of theirs is burning and in the background the is a man that was lynched. In the front there is a book which the family is trying to learn from and there is a box that says "SCHOOL HOUSE." Where the two hands meet, there is a skull and bones, which probably means that the two men want the blacks gone and will help each other get rid of them. In the middle of cartoon, it says "WORSE THAN SLAVERY," which is most likely written because in stead of being forced to work, the African-Americans have to live under the constant fear of being attacked or a family member being hurt. At the top by the eagle, the is writing that says "THIS IS A WHITE MANS GOVERNMENT," which is probably telling the reader that the potential of the two men is to have no African-Americans in federal office.
Social MODERN ERA CARTOON - "By Th' Way, What's That Big Word?"
This cartoon by Bill Mauldin depicts the relation between whites and blacks during the Civil Rights Era. In the picture there is man with a badge who must be a sheriff. The man sitting down is black and he is taking a literacy test. The black man is asking the sheriff what the big word, "literacy," means. The black man is taking a literacy test. The sheriff is looking at the sign with a surprised face, most likely thinking "wow, he doesn't know what literacy is.the black man obviously won't pass the test because he doesn't even know what the test is on. The purpose of the test was to see if the blacks knew how to read and write and because the test was very difficult and long, it was expected of the blacks to fail, therefore not being able to vote. The artist is being sarcastic saying that blacks aren't educated and that they won't pass the test. The Southerners expected the blacks to do poorly, so the artist is going with that judgement showing us that they are illiterate and wouldn't be able to ever pass the literacy test.
Connection
These two cartoons are alike because they have to do with stopping African-Americans from being wealthy and having a say in the government. The Southern Whites in the 1860's and 1870's were much more biased and were willing to hurt and kill blacks. Southern Whites in the 1960's tried to stop them from voting and having power, but didn't give blacks the fear of being attacked all the time. They are related to each other since they show that whites did anything they could to harm blacks and stop them from voting.
Political Reconstruction Era Cartoon - "The United States - A Black Business"
In this cartoon, there is a black man separating President Lincoln and a white southerner. The black man is ripping apart a map that represents the United States with the North and South being ripped apart, just like the South seceding. The name of the cartoon is "The United States - A Black Business." In the cartoon, President Lincoln seems to be mad at each other, giving each other a mean look. The African-American is smiling while ripping apart the map. The Southerner is holding a rifle and President Lincoln is holding nothing. They both have hats on, but the Southerner on the left has a cigar. President Lincoln and the White Southerner have a bad relationship because they are giving bad looks to each other and they are on separate sides of the Civil War. The cartoonist's point of view is supporting the north saying that the blacks were the main reason why the war was fought and why the South had to be rebuilt. The artist called it "A Black Business" because the blacks were the ones to gather materials and supplies. In other words, they were the people who really did the business since they gathered resources.
Political Modern Era Cartoon
In this political cartoon, I see President Obama and a typical white man. They are both on two rocks, which divides them from one another. President Obama is saying "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago." This means that Barack Obama was discriminated for his race and that he could have been attacked or killed because somebody judged and was prejudice. The white man is saying "I have no idea what you're talking about," which means that whites wouldn't have been stereotyped since he was white. The artist has them both spread apart because they are of a different race and they have different life stories; Obama being criticized and stereotyped for his race and the white man having a fine life since he is white. The relationship between the two people is fine, but confusing because they don't hate or love each other, but the white man doesn't understand what the president is talking about since he grew up in a different life style. The cartoonist's point of view is supporting President Barack Obama since he is acknowledging of African-American's since he knows that whites don't know what the lifestyle was for blacks 35 years ago.
Connection
These two cartoons are alike because it shows how blacks and whites were separated and divided in their life style and their race. It shows how blacks were dividing the country and how they were divided from whites. The cartoons are saying that blacks are not like whites since a war was fought debating whether they show be free or not and now blacks and whites are divided in a way since they are still stereotyped, hurt, and attacked for their race. The division between blacks and whites was due to slavery during the Civil War and now it is the different life styles since one race is discriminated and one is not. Since the Civil War was fought, we have moved toward our ideals because many laws have been passed for all races and genders, but there are always incidents that occur because of racist people.
Economic Reconstruction Era Cartoon
In this cartoon, I see a very tall and skinny man walking with two bags. Where is feet are, there is dust and a dirt cloud from him walking. In the background there are people standing around. The tall man is wearing a hat and he has glasses. Because of his nice suit, he must be a wealthy man. the man has a bag that says "Carpet Bagger South." In the Reconstruction Era, carpetbaggers were Northerners who went to the South in search of a business. On the bag that the man is carrying on his back, it says "C. Schurz Carpet Bag From Wisconsin to Missouri. Because of both the bags that say "carpet bagger," the tall man must be a "carpet bagger." Based on the look on his face and the big dirt cloud, he is probably in a hurry to get into business. There is no relationship between characters since there is only one person, but there are people in the background that are just looking at him. The artists point of view is against "carpet baggers" because they are trying to take over business in the South, which makes Southerners mad because that is hindering from them getting a job in the place that they grew up in. The artists makes me think that "carpet baggers" think they can take over and just have the South and control it
Economic Modern Era Cartoon
In this Modern era cartoon about illegal immigrants, there are lines of people crossing underneath a fence signing up for jobs. In the top left corner, there is a sign that says "Map to U.S.A," which lets the illegal immigrants know where to go to cross the fence, which is the passage way into the United States. The big sign that reads "U.S.A KEEP OUT." The sign is there so that people don't come into the country illegally. The smaller signs say "Free Lemonade," "Free Education," "Jobs," and "Free Health Care." These signs mean that in the United States people can get free things that will help them, like education. It says jobs on one sign because the illegal immigrants can get cheap and easy labor. The special details the artists added are the amount of people the a crossing over. It shows that lots of people want to come to the U.S. The relationship between all the people is happy since they all are getting jobs, healthcare, and education. The artists point of view is against illegal immigration because he makes it seem like people are giving away jobs to people and that illegal immigrants are crossing the border without permission.
Connection
These two economic cartoons are related because they both have to do with people that are taking jobs. The "carpet baggers" were taking jobs from the Southerners and immigrants were taking jobs from people that actually lived in the United States. Both artists say that there are people coming and taking over jobs. After the Civil War, Northerners realized they could go start business and get jobs in the South, which is what illegal immigrants do when they cross the border with no permission. Illegals can take jobs just like the "carpet baggers" did by getting low pay, put they are still taking away an opportunity that Americans have since they are official citizens.