"How do you analyze a political cartoon?"

If someone were to ask me "How would you analyze a political cartoon?", I would say weird question; why are you asking me? I mean, thats a pretty odd way to open a conversation right? To answer your question though, I look at what the cartoon is portraying on the surface, and then look at how the manner in which the scene is portrayed affects the scene as a whole. "Ok thats a pretty good explanation bro, but how does it compare to a definition you might find on say the website for the Library of Congress?" Funny you should ask that, because I was just on the site and what I found may shock you. It's the explosive analytical secret historians don't want you to know about. When analyzing a PC-thats political cartoon for those of you not following along, although the argument could be made that it is a poor abbreviation based on the often un-pc nature of many PCs-you need to look at how it is drawn and look for exaggeration, symbolism, and any other manner of conveying meaning and intent. Now what is your deal with all these cartoon questions? Do I even know you? "Thats not important right now. What's important at the moment is that you take a look at these three cartoons I found about the Spanish-American War. And if you choose to be difficult, I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you." Wait a minute, are you Liam Neeson? Liam, what is this sudden obsession with political cartoons? "Thats beside the point." No, I don't think it is. "If you must know, my son has this assignment about cartoons, and guess who knows jack nothing about political cartoons? This cartoon watching idiot tried to write about the Simpsons. The Simpsons aren't even that funny. So we were just walking down the street and saw you standing up there on that ladder painting a window with your headphones in, and we thought, hey, that guy seems like he might want to tell us about political cartoons for a while. Anyway, here are the cartoons."

Image 1

This cartoon shows a minuscule and cowering McKinley holding back a towering Uncle Sam, who is trying to save Cuba, represented by the woman in white, from other imperial powers, represented by the vulture. This cartoon was likely intended to goad McKinley and the American public into taking action in Cuba. I came to this conclusion by observing the cartoon and then thinking about it.

Image 2

This cartoon shows uncle sam on the beach of Cuba with Cuba looking at the setting sun of Spanish imperialism, with a  defeated Spanish vessel sitting in the foreground. The artist's point is that the U.S. is not just looking at the victory in Cuba, but rather welcoming the fall of the Spanish Empire. I came to this conclusion by observing the cartoon and then thinking about it.

Image 3

This cartoon shows representations of America and Britain opening the gates for imperialism in the far East by Britains colonies and America then obtaining the Philippines. A cohort of other nations can be seen clambering to get through the gate to take their share. The artist's point is that the U.S. is just as to blame as Britain as far as encouraging and condoning imperialism goes. I came to this conclusion by observing the cartoon and then thinking about it.