2021 AP U.S. Skills with Daniel Jocz Episode #7 | Evidence in Sources + Analyzing Political Cartoons

May 6, 2020, marked 138 years since the signing of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Passed by Congress and signed by President Chester A. Arthur, the act banned Chinese immigration into the United States for ten years. Many in the U.S. despised Chinese immigrants, a group they believed did not integrate well into American culture and took jobs from Americans.

Students can further explore the context surrounding the Jay Treaty in the George Washington and the Proclamation of Neutrality Decision Point, The Jay Treaty Narrative, and in the excerpt from the treaty itself in The Jay Treaty, 1795 Primary Source. The Alexander Hamilton and the National Bank Narrative and The National Bank Debate Lesson provide more context on the founding of the bank.

In this week's episode, host Mary Patterson will focus on the "Join, or Die" cartoon, published by Benjamin Franklin in 1754. What message was this severed snake conveying to the colonists? And what was the cartoon's role in both the American Revolution and the French and Indian War?

What impact did the Reconstruction Amendments have on the application of our Founding principles? In this video, Mary and Gary explore two Reconstruction-era cartoons by Thomas Nast. “Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner" (1869) and “The Union As It Was" (1874) give insight into the nature of liberty and equality in the United States shortly after the Civil War. Do you agree with Nast’s commentary about the intentions and consequences of Reconstruction?