Analyzing the Political Cartoon “School Begins”

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Characters, symbols, and actions the artist employs
Historical context
Conclusion
References

Introduction

A political cartoon is an essential source for analyzing historical events, political agendas, and people’s (or, more precisely, authors’) perceptions and critiques of them. One of the periods rich in political cartoons, which provide a fruitful source of analysis, is the period of the 1890s in the United States. It is the era of American imperialism when the idea of white Western supremacy was fundamental in America’s expansionists’ agenda (Offenburger, 2018). While the principal ends of the expansion were the development and strengthening of the country, the means deserve serious criticism. This paper aims to analyze the cartoon “School Begins” (1899) in terms of its content, the critique of the US policy, and place this cartoon in a broader historical context.

Characters, symbols, and actions the artist employs

There are four main types of characters depicted in the cartoon. First, there is the central character, Uncle Sam, the teacher and the representative of then America (the late 1890s). Second, there are new countries that just fell under US jurisdiction: the Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico, and Cuba. Then, we can see some states of the US: Alaska, Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona. These are the states which have been joined to the US some decades earlier. Finally, one can see children of the native population and black people.

From the cartoon itself and the bottom line, one can gather that this is a critique of the New American Imperialism. The process of teaching itself refers to the idea of expansionists’ superiority over new territories and the lack of interest in the institutions and cultures of indigenous people. As Barnes and Bowles (2014) argue, expansionists “…viewed the darker-skinned inhabitants … as racially and intellectually inferior to Whites” (p. 48). To highlight this imposed ideology, the author uses symbolism: the process of ‘schooling’ stands for a broader concept of American colonialism.

Another author’s technique of criticizing the New imperialism is an exaggeration. Uncle Sam, representing the US, is ostentatiously big and masculine. The ‘newcomers’ (Cuba, Hawaii, Porto Rico, and the Philippines) are depicted as dull, ignorant, and inferior, and the new states look markedly neat and cultured. As for the natives and black people, these characters seem to have no chance to become educated. They are deliberately left out of the schooling process, and one native person, who tries to catch up with ‘civilization’ cannot even hold a book properly.

Historical context

The historical context of the cartoon is the American imperialism of the 1890s. The cartoon was written in 1899 when the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas had already formed after the US had taken those lands from Mexico. Alaska, too, became a part of the US after Russia had sold it to the US in 1867. In 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American war, Spain gave up its Caribbean colonies and strategically important Philippines.

The importance of the new territories for imperialist America in the late 19th century was to exploit resources and strengthen America’s power. As Merriam (1978) states, “Expansionists defended their policy with a variety of arguments, including the desirability of new markets…and the hope of extending republican institutions throughout the world” (p. 370). This policy involved an ideology of superiority, which made the exploitation of the territories acceptable and exacerbated racial tensions in the US.

Conclusion

The political cartoons were a powerful technique of the US political agenda and actions criticism. The cartoon “School begins” depicts the general idea of the white US supremacy over the indigenous people of the colonized territories. An essential point in this cartoon is that the indigenous people of the US and black people are left out of the ‘schooling process’. This depiction represents the political agenda of that time, which did not include involving them in political and cultural life at all.

References

Barnes, L., & Bowles, M. (2014). The American story: Perspectives and encounters from 1877 [eBook edition]. Bridgepoint Education. Web.

Merriam, A. H. (1978). Racism in the expansionist controversy of 1898-1900. Phylon (1960-), 39(4), 369-380.

Offenburger, A. (2018). Populism and imperialism: Politics, culture, and foreign policy in the American West, 1890-1900. The Annals of Iowa, 77(4), 431-433.

Click Here To Order Now!

Analyzing the Political Cartoon “School Begins”

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)