Analysis Of Forcing Slavery Down The Throat Of A Free Soiler

The political cartoon titled “Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Free Soiler” surfaces during the tumultuous build-up to the American Civil War. In the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which ultimately granted popular sovereignty – the ability of the people to consent to its authoritative bodies – over the issue of slavery, slavery sympathizers and abolitionists combatted each other to gain advantages. The cartoonist makes effective use of graphic imagery, labels, and language to demonstrate the true purpose of the cartoon; the Democratic Party impinges on the free will of the people through malicious actions designed to promote pro-slavery sentiment among the settlers of newly added territories to the United States.
The cartoonist relies …show more content…
As the Democratic Party restrains the “free soiler,” he yells “MURDER!!! help – neighbors help. O my poor Wife and Children.” “Murder” remains the most striking word used in the quote. “Murder” signifies acts with malicious intent; in other words, those acts which are unprovoked and done so with no lawful justification. The Democratic Party encroaches upon the freedoms of those within the newly added territories to the United States with the intent of thrusting its agenda on the settlers whether or not they desire such treatment. The malicious intent can be found with the Party’s backdrop of spreading slavery to new territories to inevitably tip the balance in favor of pro-slavery advocates against the abolitionists. Furthermore, the “free soiler” references the harm done to those most close to him by saying: “O my poor Wife and Children.” Thus, all bystanders are affected by the malicious intentions of the Democratic Party. The cartoonist’s use of language allows the reader to gain a better understanding of the true intentions of the Democratic Party in relation to the treatment of newly added territories of the United States with regard to the issue of