Name ___________________________
Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner
This cartoon was drawn by Thomas Nast and published in Harper's Weekly on November 20, 1869.
Leading this diverse Thanksgiving Day is Uncle Sam (carving the turkey on the far right) and
Columbia (seated on the far left), the female personification of America. Behind Uncle Sam is a
painting of Castle Garden, which was the main entry point for immigrants to the United States
until it was replaced by Ellis Island in 1890. The cartoon’s aim was to promote ratification of the
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed voting rights regardless of race.
Analysis Questions
1. Identify 4 minorities sitting at the table.
2. Whose plan for Reconstruction is most likely shown here?
a. Abraham Lincoln’s
b. The Radical Republican’s
c. The Confederate’s
d. Andrew Johnson’s
3. What is the main idea of the cartoon?
4. In which region of the country might this cartoon be most controversial?
a. The North
b. The South
c. The West
d. The Midwest
5. Do you feel this image would be controversial to any Americans today? Explain.
6. Whose portraits are seen in the background? Why do you think they were included?
7. What do you think is meant by the centerpiece?
8. Which group at the table did not achieve suffrage in America by 1869?
a. Asian-Americans
b. African-Americans
c. German-Americans
d. Women
9. What do you think was the overall reaction to this cartoon in America in 1869?
10. How does the history of Thanksgiving in America contribute to the artist’s message?
© Students of History - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Students-Of-History
Name ___Answer Key _________________
1. Identify 4 minorities sitting at the table.
German, Native American, French, Arab, British, African, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and Irish are
all seated around the Thanksgiving table.
2. Whose plan for Reconstruction is most likely shown here?
a. Abraham Lincoln’s
b. The Radical Republican’s
c. The Confederate’s
d. Andrew Johnson’s
3. What is the main idea of the cartoon?
The main idea of the cartoon is that all Americans regardless of their background should be free
and equal in the United States and have equal voting rights.
4. In which region of the country might this cartoon be most controversial?
a. The North
b. The South
c. The West
d. The Midwest
5. Do you feel this image would be controversial to any Americans today? Explain.
Open to student opinion.
6. Whose portraits are seen in the background? Why do you think they were included?
In the background are portraits of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Ulysses S. Grant.
Grant was the president at the time, Lincoln had been killed but it was his dread was an America
“with malice towards nine.” Washington symbolized the founding of America
7. What do you think is meant by the centerpiece?
The centerpiece says “universal suffrage” and is meant to support the 15th Amendment that would
guarantee voting rights to all American men regardless of race.
8. Which group at the table did not achieve suffrage in America by 1869?
a. Asian-Americans
b. African-Americans
c. German-Americans
d. Women
9. What do you think was the overall reaction to this cartoon in America in 1869?
Open to student opinion.
10. How does the history of Thanksgiving in America contribute to the artist’s message?
The original Thanksgiving was a coming together of two groups that had experienced
difficulties living together – Native Americans and the Puritans. Just like they came together in
1621, Nast is arguing that all Americans can come together in the spirit of Thanksgiving now.
© Students of History - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Students-Of-History