Milestone Visual Documents in American History: The Images, Cartoons, and Other Visual Sources That Shaped America

This innovative three-volume set presents the history of the United States as seen through the lens of 125 visual documents, ranging from obscure to iconic. Editor Kaplowitz utilizes paintings and drawings, ads and flyers, cartoons, maps, daguerreotypes, and even recent photographs (including the breaching of the U.S. Capitol and the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue) just as one might use historical written documents. Each image is accompanied by a detailed analysis, questions to ponder, and suggested reading to learn more about the image and the period it represents. These images spark curiosity, and the scholarly analysis includes commentary on the artist’s or photographer’s true intent as well as background on the historical context of the piece. These volumes include substantive information on the treatment of people from marginalized communities, beginning with a depiction of a smallpox epidemic drawn by a Nahua elder (descendant of the Aztecs) and colonist John White’s 1585 drawing of the village of Secotan. Other notable pieces include Thomas Jefferson’s notice about a person who escaped his slavery, Thomas Nast’s 1868 “This Is a White Man’s Government” cartoon, and a photo of Phyllis Schlafly at an anti-ERA demonstration.