A Southern Legislature in the Carpet-Bagger Days This late-nineteenth-century wood engraving reveals the southern Democratic view of Republican state governments during Reconstruction. It drips with prejudice and misinformation. Contrary to fact, the legislators are depicted as overwhelmingly black. Rather than serious men, they are lazy, drunk, and disorderly. While some lie about on cushions, others have literally drunk themselves under the table, which is spread with food rather than legislative documents. The white man in the foreground who calmly observes the circus is probably meant to be a manipulative carpetbagger, while the white man in the rear with the hat, pipe, and rifle slung over his shoulder is probably a treasonous scalawag.
The Granger Collection, NYC.