The Irish World, the most popular Irish immigrant newspaper in late 19th Century America, took a firm stand against white supremacist violence during Reconstruction. I wanted to take a close look at a front page cartoon that appeared at the start of 1875 that ordered the White league to “Leave the Negro Alone.”
The cartoon was of such importance that it appeared on the front page of the paper! The publisher of the paper, Patrick Ford of Galway, worked at the abolitionist paper The Liberator before the war and he kept the values he acquired there.
There are three central figures in the cartoon. The woman, Columbia (here called “The Genius of the Constitution”), is an allegorical representation of the United States and its laws. She holds her shield over two men of different races, but both of them equal. The shield of Equality protects them both. Behind her is a throne adorned with a bald eagle and American flag bunting.
Kneeling in front of the female image of the United States is a man with a sash that identifies him as the White League. He is surrendering a dagger, an assassin’s tool, at the foot of the United States. Her sword has the word justice engraved on it. She is not a vengeful angel of death, but a dispassionate arbiter of equal rights. The White Leaguer can rejoin the American polity only if he abandons violence and accepts human equality.
The female figure wears a Phrygian Cap, also known as a Liberty Cap. This was a cap given to freed slaves in ancient Rome and during the French Revolution it became associated with the struggle for Liberty and Equality.
These foreground figures are not the only people in the cartoon.
Behind the woman are half-a-dozen United States soldiers. They had been the protectors of equality until now. With the submission of the White League to the rule of law and the principle of equality, they can lay down their arms.
The caption tells us that this is “The Genius of the Constitution Asserting Her Supremacy.” Editor Patrick Ford was familiar with the Southern politicians’ calls for White Supremacy. The cartoon insists on the Constitution reigning supreme. not the white race. In the caption, the Genius of the Constitution says to the soldiers “Ground Your Arms.” To the White League she demands: “Yield Ye To My Sway! Disband your organization; respect the laws, leave the Negro alone…Then you shall have my sword as a defense and my shield as a protection equally with all other men.” In other words, she says that Equality for the Negro is also the promise of Equality for All. Justice for one is Justice for all.
Next to the woman are the words that enshrine the protections of the law. On the right is a section of the 10th Amendment declared that the power of the Federal government is not unlimited. On the left is the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the 14th Amendment barring states from making any laws abridging the basic rights of the citizen, no matter what his or her race is. It is important to note that the cartoon places the Reconstruction Amendments on an equal footing alongside the Bill of Rights.
News Article
Irish World
Saturday, Jan 30, 1875
New York, NY
Page:1
