Fun factoid! There are actually two parts to this image that is considered a cartoon from the year of 1880.
“The Solid South,” is seen struggling under “Carpet Bag and Bayonet Rule,” of the Strong US government that was led the president at the time, which was Ulysses S. Grant (Republican Civil War hero). He is riding among bayonets with an escort of two federal soldiers.
The cartoon shows the dichotomy (a division of contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.) of the two presidencies.
He used his Enforcement Acts to send federal troops into the South to protect the civil and voting rights of African Americans when he became president.
The Carpet Bag and Bayonet Rule refers to what reconstruction was like after congress sent the army to the south in 1867.
-Carpetbaggers we’re northerners who moved south after the war, and the Bayonet Rule refers to a military rule.
Hope this helps!