Coincidental with the so-called “Era of Good Feelings” and appearing into the 1830s a series of racist prints now known as “Bobalition Broadsides” emerged in Boston and its environs. These prints employed graphic caricature, mock toasts, and a fictive black dialect to ridicule African American anniversary celebrations of the U.S. abolition (Bobalition) of the Atlantic slave trade in 1808. This paper explores how and to what end these racist prints emerged out of Anglo-American satiric practice and argues that their racism was a continuation of Federalist cultural politics.

All papers are pre-circulated electronically to those who plan to attend the seminar in person. For a copy of the paper, e-mail Jenny Butler at scholl@newberry.org, or call 312-255-3524. Please do not request a paper unless you plan to attend.

http://www.newberry.org/scholl

The Newberry Library Seminar on Early American History and Culture is co-sponsored by the University of Chicago, DePaul University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and Northwestern University