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Image – “Shall I Trust These Men, And Not This Man?”
“Shall I Trust These Men, And Not This Man?” Page 522
Chapter 15
“Shall I Trust These Men, And Not This Man?”
By the end of the Civil War, at least ten percent of the Union army was made up of African Americans. Despite their dedication to the cause of the war, African American soldiers continued to face discrimination throughout the conflict. After the war was over and into Reconstruction, Republicans hoped to leverage public sympathy for black veterans into winning support for black male suffrage. This illustration featured in Harper’s Weekly in August 1865. Here we see Columbia, personifying the United States, debating whether she should pardon Confederate soldiers who rebelled against the Union (left) when the loyal African American soldier (right) is still denied suffrage.
Questions for Analysis
1. Take a close look at the illustration. Are there differences in how the white former Confederate soldiers and the African American soldier are portrayed? How is Columbia portrayed in each panel?
2. What is the political context surrounding this illustration? What was happening in the South during this time?