"Cartoons Are For All": Visual Representations of the Disfranchisement Movement

During the 1900 political campaign the Raleigh News and Observer, which was owned and edited by prominent Democrat Josephus Daniels, ran a number of political cartoons that were designed to promote the interests of the Democratic Party, including the passage of a amendment to disfranchise African American voters. This activity encourages students to analyze several of these political cartoons (and other relevant primary source documents) in order to support historical arguments concerning the movement to disfranchise African Americans. Warning: This activity includes newspaper articles from the late nineteenth century that contain racially insenstive images and ideas.