---
title: The Afterthought
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/16-the-afterthought/
description: The Afterthought, from The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois.
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-pre1914.jpg)

[Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/) · Book · [The Souls of Black Folk](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/)

# The Afterthought

This text

- **Work:** [The Souls of Black Folk](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/)
- **Author:** W. E. B. Du Bois
- **Published:** 1903

Full details

- **Rights:** Published in the United States in 1903, so in the public domain in the United States; Project Gutenberg marks it "Public domain in the USA". Du Bois died in 1963, so in countries that use life plus 70 years the work stays protected until the end of 2033.

Chapters

1. [The Forethought](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/01-the-forethought/)
2. [1. Of Our Spiritual Strivings](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/02-of-our-spiritual-strivings/)
3. [2. Of the Dawn of Freedom](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/03-of-the-dawn-of-freedom/)
4. [3. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/04-of-mr-booker-t-washington-and-others/)
5. [4. Of the Meaning of Progress](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/05-of-the-meaning-of-progress/)
6. [5. Of the Wings of Atalanta](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/06-of-the-wings-of-atalanta/)
7. [6. Of the Training of Black Men](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/07-of-the-training-of-black-men/)
8. [7. Of the Black Belt](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/08-of-the-black-belt/)
9. [8. Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/09-of-the-quest-of-the-golden-fleece/)
10. [9. Of the Sons of Master and Man](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/10-of-the-sons-of-master-and-man/)
11. [10. Of the Faith of the Fathers](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/11-of-the-faith-of-the-fathers/)
12. [11. Of the Passing of the First-Born](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/12-of-the-passing-of-the-first-born/)
13. [12. Of Alexander Crummell](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/13-of-alexander-crummell/)
14. [13. Of the Coming of John](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/14-of-the-coming-of-john/)
15. [14. Of the Sorrow Songs](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/15-of-the-sorrow-songs/)
16. [The Afterthought](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/16-the-afterthought/)

[← 14. Of the Sorrow Songs](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/15-of-the-sorrow-songs/) [Back to contents →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/)

**Content note:** An American book of 1903 that uses the racial terms of its day, describes slavery, lynching and racial violence, and includes the death of a child. Shown as printed. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

Hear my cry, O God the Reader; vouchsafe that this my book fall not still-born into the world wilderness. Let there spring, Gentle One, from out its leaves vigor of thought and thoughtful deed to reap the harvest wonderful. Let the ears of a guilty people tingle with truth, and seventy millions sigh for the righteousness which exalteth nations, in this drear day when human brotherhood is mockery and a snare. Thus in Thy good time may infinite reason turn the tangle straight, and these crooked marks on a fragile leaf be not indeed

THE END

[← 14. Of the Sorrow Songs](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/15-of-the-sorrow-songs/) [Back to contents →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/)

The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois. Published in the United States in 1903, so in the public domain in the United States; Project Gutenberg marks it "Public domain in the USA". Du Bois died in 1963, so in countries that use life plus 70 years the work stays protected until the end of 2033. [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/dubois-souls-of-black-folk-1903/).