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"Dark Artillery; or, How to Make the Contrabands Useful"

Many political cartoons in the pictorial press criticized “contrabands” as a burden on Union forces. As one example, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper offered its readers “comical” suggestions for how they might be used in the war effort. In this October 1861 cartoon,” artist Frank Bellew proposed an absurd and cruel solution, grounding its “humor” in racist stereotypes about African American subservience, gullibility, and childishness.

Source:

Frank Bellew, “Dark Artillery; or, How to Make the Contrabands Useful,” Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, October 26, 1861—Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Who Built America? An Open Educational Resource has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and funding from The Ford Foundation, Digital Scholar, and the City University of New York Central Office of Library Services. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this Open Educational Resource, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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