Image
Description
In this 1875 image published in the Birmingham (Alabama) News and titled, "Shall we call home our troops? We intend to beat the negro in the battle of life & defeat means one thing--EXTERMINATION," a group of five Southern white men is shouting at and intimidating an African-American man who cowers behind a United States soldier. The soldier is calmly standing between the mob and African American with his gun and bayonet pointed toward the ground.
Transcript of "Shall We Call Home Our Troops?" Political Cartoon
Source-Dependent Questions
- Whose perspective was this cartoon drawn from? What evidence leads you to believe this?
- Use evidence from the cartoon to explain the role played by the federal government in the South during Reconstruction.
- According to the artist, what was the threat to African Americans if federal troops were removed from the South?
Citation Information
"Shall we call home our troops? We intend to beat the negro in the battle of life & defeat means one thing — Extermination," Birmingham (Alabama) News, 1875. Courtesy of Library of Congress