A Typical Negro

The July 4, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly featured three illustrations of Gordon, an escaped Mississippi plantation slave who sought refuge with the Union army. Harper’s staff based their illustration upon a photograph taken in Baton Rouge in April 1863. The picture displayed evidence of repeated whippings that the newly enlisted U.S. Army private had endured under slavery. The first image showed Gordon in clothing tattered from his escape. The central image showcased Gordon’s scarred back, emphasizing the brutality of slavery for a Northern audience. The final image presented Gordon in his soldier’s uniform. Taken together, the three images suggest a narrative wherein Gordon effected his own escape from victimization to fight for his freedom behind Northern lines. The text accompanying these pictures detailed horrific torture of slaves the writer believed regularly occurred on southern plantations. The words, pictures, and title of the article, “A Typical Negro,” conveyed to Northerners the idea that Gordon’s tale was common among slaves. Over one hundred and fifty years later, this graphic rendering remains one of the most widely recognized depictions of the consequences of slavery.