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Primary sourceArtifactMay 1829

Life in Philadelphia, Plate XI

Edward Williams Clay · May 1829

A racist 1829 caricature print mocking prosperous Black Philadelphians, the social class to which James Forten belonged.

This racist caricature targeted the class of prosperous Black Philadelphians to which Forten belonged, showing the hostility he faced.

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Hand-colored 1829 print titled Life in Philadelphia, Plate XI. A Black woman in a green patterned dress and large plumed hat stands at a shop counter asking a white clerk for flesh-colored silk stockings. The clerk holds a black stocking. Another woman in yellow appears at right. Published by W. Simpson, Chestnut St., Philadelphia, May 1829.
Edward Williams Clay, Life in Philadelphia, Plate XI, May 1829. Published by W. Simpson, Philadelphia.

About this source

What it is

This hand-colored print is part of a series called Life in Philadelphia, drawn by Edward Williams Clay between 1828 and 1830. This plate shows a Black woman in fashionable dress asking a white shopkeeper for silk stockings, drawn to mock her as pretentious.

Why it matters

These cartoons ridiculed the dress, manners and speech of Philadelphia's small but visible Black middle class, the same social world James Forten belonged to as a wealthy Black businessman. They reveal the racist hostility and class anxiety free Black Philadelphians faced even as some achieved prosperity and respectability.

Look closer

  • What is the cartoon trying to make its audience laugh at, and why is that harmful?
  • Who made this image, and what does that tell you about who controlled popular images of Black people at the time?
  • How might a print like this have affected how Forten and his peers were viewed by white Philadelphians?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of James Forten on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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James Forten

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Front page of The Liberator, Boston, Friday, January 3, 1862, Vol. XXXII, No. 1, Whole No. 1619. A woodcut vignette of figures, including a standing woman, sits above the masthead. Dense columns of small printed text fill the page.Newspaper article

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The Liberator

William Lloyd Garrison · 1831-1865

Front page scan of Freedom's Journal, Vol. 1 No. 3, dated New-York, Friday, March 30, 1827. Masthead reads 'Freedom's Journal' with the motto 'Righteousness Exalteth a Nation.' Dense multi-column newsprint text with article headings, including one on Capt. Paul Cuffee.Newspaper article

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Freedom's Journal

Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm (editors) · 30 March 1827

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Primary source

The Liberator, Issue No. 1

William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp · 1 January 1831

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