This political cartoon, titled, "Forcing Slavery Down The Throat of a Freesoiler," was published in 1856 by illustrator John L. Magee on Harper's Weekly. This was in response to violence against antislavery supporters in Kansas. The cartoon shows several Democratic figures--namely Stephen Douglas, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Lewis Cass--shoving a peronified version of slavery (a black man) down a "freesoiler's" throat. The term "freesoiler" refers to an
Bleeding Kansas
The principle of popular sovereignty proved to have many flaws. After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854, the pro-slavery—namely James Lane and his followers—and anti-slavery advocates alike began to promote their philosophies, hoping to gain new support from the territories that have not yet chosen a side. The Kansas Territory was much more suitable for agriculture and would profit more from slave plantations, and thus pressures to vote Kansas either a free or a slave state grew, taking a bloody turn. After the Lecompton Constitution was suggested, violent riots increased as either side of the issue was more desperate to either allow or prohibit slavery within its borders. The violence finally ended in 1861, when Kansas finally joined the United States as a free state.
This political cartoon, titled, "Forcing Slavery Down The Throat of a Freesoiler," was published in 1856 by illustrator John L. Magee on Harper's Weekly. This was in response to violence against antislavery supporters in Kansas. The cartoon shows several Democratic figures--namely Stephen Douglas, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Lewis Cass--shoving a peronified version of slavery (a black man) down a "freesoiler's" throat. The term "freesoiler" refers to an
The term "freesoiler" refers to someone who is against slavery. The ground that the giant freesoiler is being held down on has the names of controversial territories etched into it, including Kansas. In the background, there is the figure of someone who has been hung on a tree, which may be referring to the tense, violent nature of the matter of slavery, Additionally, the word "MURDER" is written above the forcefully enslaved black man, who is crying for help. This paints proslavery Democrats in a viscious light.