"Is this a republican form of government? Is this protecting life, liberty, or property? Is this the equal protection of the laws?" Thomas Nast (1840-1902), illustrator. In the background, behind the bodies of African Americans, a sign reads, "The White Liners were here." The White League, also known as the White Man's League, was a white southern paramilitary terrorist organization started in 1874 to intimidate freedmen into not voting or politically organizing. Harper's Weekly, 1876.

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