"A Negro crossed the Delaware with George Washington" - "And we'll continue to fight for liberty!"
A scene modelled on the well-known crossing-the-Delaware composition shows Washington standing in a boat with a flag, rowers and soldiers, one of whom is a Black rower. Two captions state that a Negro crossed the Delaware with Washington and that 'we'll continue to fight for liberty'. The tell is identity-fusion and transfer: Black Americans are placed inside the founding story to join their current service to the war effort.
Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of War Information (cartoon artwork; artist Charles Alston)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- War and the military, Race and ethnicity
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 208, Artworks and Mockups for Cartoons Promoting the War Effort (NAID 535594), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 208, 208-COM-180 (NAID 535665).
Text on the object
"A NEGRO CROSSED THE DELAWARE WITH GEORGE WASHINGTON" alston OWI "- AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR LIBERTY!"
