Weed Out Propaganda

Eugene Lawrence published many anti-Catholic articles in Harper's Weekly between 1871 and 1876. Here he argues that Catholic charitable organizations are burdens on taxpayers and part of a history of church greed for "accumulating lands and endowments." He decries the Catholic Church as a "fatal influence blighting the hopes of freemen," a source of "moral decay" and a "political faction rather than a Christian sect." Thus Nativists continued to make the same anti-Catholic arguments over 30 years after the Washington County, N.Y., petition to deny Catholic immigrants citizenship.

The Communist Party in the United States faced an uphill battle to win public support. Its ties to the Soviet Union raised valid concerns about a conflict of interest with the government in the United States. This pamphlet aims to attract new members by suggesting the reader may already possess the qualities and values to be considered a communist, but may not know it because "most Americans have learned about Communists not from Communists but from their enemies."

Earning public attention and trust was a crucial part of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's anti-communism campaign. The Wisconsin Republican was a master of public speaking; his patriotic rhetoric and confidence were attractive in a climate of fear.

As the abolitionist movement became more organized across the North, publications like The Anti-Slavery Record helped to keep supporters informed about the latest on the issue of slavery and focused on the importance of the movement's goal. Abolitionists still faced an uphill battle to convince Congress to address slavery, an act that would inevitably infuriate the South.

Many supporters of "Tippecanoe" (William Henry Harrison's nickname from an 1811 military battle by the same name) believed that if elected, he'd bring the people's voice back to the White House. They viewed the Whig Party candidate as a war hero who was at his core a simple man with more in common with local farmers than fancy politicians. Songs like those printed here — including "The Brave Old Chief" and "Log Cabin Song" — helped reinforce that image. In fact, Harrison came from a well-to-do Virginia family and had expensive tastes that drove him into debt. Still, the appeal of the Tippecanoe persona helped him win the White House in 1840.

An organized movement to win women the right to vote first emerged in the 1840s, but its progress was very slow. Even after winning victories in scattered states, the idea of a national women's suffrage amendment met steep opposition from groups that argued that giving women the vote could upend traditional gender roles and would not change politics in any meaningful or positive way. The suffrage movement faced an uphill battle to convince even some women that the fight for their right to vote was not a waste of "time, energy and money," as this pamphlet suggest.