In 2010, the Southern Poverty Law Center interviewed 150 immigrant women who left Latin American nations in search of a better life in the United States. Most of them landed in physically crippling, low-paying jobs that make our lives easier but have rendered them voiceless and invisible.
In his cartoon, Thomas W. Strong turns southern arguments in favor of slavery against the South. He creates an anti-secessionist message by depicting South Carolina as an enslaved woman (likely a reference to Topsey from Uncle Tom’s Cabin) incapable of making her own decisions.
Beneath a heading and series of details about the coming auction, the poster describes the 18 enslaved persons to be sold in varying degrees of detail. It identifies the age of each of these persons and offers other details.