The Annexation of Hawaii

The Annexation of Hawaii

        Queen Liliuokalani was dethroned after the revolt of the American missionaries when she tried to limit their power. So, the message this  political cartoon is trying to convey is that Liliuokalani 's crown is worthless because she is not queen anymore. If a Hawaiian native that was loyal to her saw this, they would be shocked of how she was overthrown so easily and probably have anger towards Americans. If the queen herself saw this, she would be offended of how the cartoonist portrayed her and angry that her crown was taken away. One technique used in the cartoon is irony. This is because a prominent queen like Liliuokalani has been demoted, in a sense, all the way down the social chain. Also, that Liliuokalani cannot even get any money off of her crown. Another technique used in the cartoon is symbolism. Symbolism can be seen in this cartoon because of the crown. That very crown that she is trying to sell represents her power and authority being flushed down the drain and that it is not even worth anything. The cartoon does not support my view on imperialism because a nation can be forceful, but they do not have to strip away a country's ruler and annex it right there. That just is not right. However, Hawaii is better of being under the protection of America.

Citation: "Historical Political Cartoons About Hawaii - Hawai'i Digital Newspaper Project." Historical Political Cartoons About Hawaii - Hawai'i Digital Newspaper Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. <https://sites.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/ndnp-hawaii/Home/historical-feature-articles/political-cartoons>.

The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal

       For America to build the Panama Canal, we needed to use the actual land of Panama, which was owned by Columbia. Columbia did not let America build the canal, so Roosevelt encouraged and helped the people of Panama rebel against Columbian rule. Panama succeeded and to thank America for their help, Panama let America use a ten mile strip of land to build the canal. The message of the political cartoon is that we were more powerful than Columbia, and Roosevelt (who represented America at the time) was determined to build this canal. This is proven because Roosevelt is getting Uncle Sam's encouragement to forcefully take Panama from Columbia, If a citizen of Panama saw this cartoon, they would probably agree with the idea that America would forcefully "free" Panama. One technique used in this cartoon would be labeling. The man that Roosevelt is holding tightly has a sash saying "Columbia" while Roosevelt has a bag saying "Millions for Canal." Another technique used is exaggeration. As one could see, Roosevelt is much taller and more powerful than the other man representing Columbia. The cartoon does agree with my position on imperialism because sometimes, one must be a little more forceful to get what they want to achieve for the good of their nation. However, Roosevelt's methods were a little controversial. 

Citation: "Yesterday's History... Tomorrow's A Mystery." : Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2016. <http://hahallie.blogspot.com/2011/10/teddy-roosevelt-and-panama-canal.html>.

The Roosevelt Corollary

The Roosevelt Corollary

          The Roosevelt Corollary made America like the policeman of the hemisphere. This meant that we kept European countries from annexing or expanding their sphere of influence in Latin America. The message is that the Monroe Doctrine was used to its fullest potential by Roosevelt, which led to the Roosevelt Corollary. Someone from a European county who saw this could be angry that we are not letting them expand also. There were not many other places to expand to that we close at the time, so Latin America was the number one choice for many countries. In a way, America was kind of hogging Latin America to itself. One technique used in the cartoon is labeling. The giant cannon Roosevelt is using has a sign saying "Monroe Doctrine" and the European man is holding some papers saying "Claims." Another technique being used is exaggeration. Yet again, the cannon being used by Roosevelt is huge, showing that America has the power to be a policeman of an entire hemisphere. Also the ship he is on is much bigger than anything else in the cartoon. This cartoon agrees with my position on imperialism because America was just establishing their territory. Plus, some of the Latin countries are very close to America, so if a European nation took over a close Latin country, it would give Europe a direct path to America. The Roosevelt Corollary was a safe way of America acquiring land.

Citation: Boundless. "The Roosevelt Corollary - Boundless Open Textbook."Boundless. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2016. <https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/world-war-i-1914-1919-23/the-wilson-administration-176/the-roosevelt-corollary-960-2222/>.

The Open Door Policy

The Open Door Policy

        China decided to let foreign nations in the country to trade and expand their sphere of influence. However, there was a rule called the Open Door Policy that said no one country could monopolize the trade of China. The message of the cartoon is that even though every country had fair game in China, America had the most power and influence. This is proven because Uncle Sam is holding a key that says "American Diplomacy." It also seems to be the key to China. If maybe a Boxer Chinese person saw this, they would disagree with the fact that foreigners could freely enter the country and not care about any Chinese traditions. One technique used in the cartoon is exaggeration. Uncle Sam is much taller than the other people who represent the other nations. It shows that everyone else is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to China's trade. Another technique is labeling. The key and the gate are labeled with "American Diplomacy" and "China." This disagrees with my view of imperialism because we shouldn't take advantage of others with our powers to get ahead. Eventually, China closed its gates once again due to the Boxer Rebellion.

Citation: Hay, John. "Cartoon Of The Open Door Policy - The Koller Report - N.Koller." Cartoon Of The Open Door Policy - The Koller Report - N.Koller. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <https://sites.google.com/a/ncps-k12.org/amhnews-n-koller-2011/economic/hay-unlocks-the-doors-to-china/cartoon-of-the-open-door-policy>.

The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal

         President Roosevelt really wanted to build the Panama Canal to improve the speed of our navy. However, he used some controversial ways to build the canal. The message of the cartoon is that Roosevelt was, metaphorically, digging out the people who opposed the idea and paving that way for the rich people who wanted this canal built. If a person that opposed the idea of a canal saw this, they would agree with the cartoonist that it is only benefiting the rich and no one else. One of the techniques that the cartoonist uses is symbolism. This is shown because Roosevelt represents the United States and the people in the shovel represent Columbia. Roosevelt is trying to get rid of any Columbian influence that may effect the building of the canal. Another technique is exaggeration. Roosevelt is much bigger than any of the other people in the cartoon, which may represent that he is more powerful than Columbia or the other rich people.This cartoon does agree with my position on imperialism due to the fact that one must find a way to get what they want to expand their sphere of influence and maybe even their country. After this, America wanted to expand their sphere of influence to China.

Citation: "American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/teachers-resources/panama-guide/>.

The Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

          The Spanish-American War was when Cuba rebelled against Spain, who was ruling them at the time. Because of Cuba's close proximity to America, America decided to help Cuba defeat Spain and their crumbling empire. The message that the cartoonist is trying to convey is that the Spanish were brutal towards Cuba and their allies. This is shown with the ape labeled as "Spain" holding a bloody sword and a gravestone. If a Spanish person looked at it, they would probably be highly offended and disagree with its message. One of the techniques used in the cartoon is labeling. This is shown by yet again, the brutish ape has a belt saying "Spain" on it. Another technique used is an analogy. The blood and the ape kind of compares to the blood that the Spanish spilled in the war. This cartoon does agree with my idea of imperialism. This is because from all that I learned, Spain did seem to perform some brutal actions during the war. However, a major part of imperialism is war. However, Latin America was involved in our affairs once again with the Panama Canal.


Citation: "Today in Social Sciences..." : The Spanish American War in Some Cartoons. N.p., 16 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. <http://todayinsocialsciences.blogspot.com/2012/03/spanish-american-war-in-some-cartoons.html>.

        

The Annexation of Hawaii

Annexation of Hawaii

   The annexation of Hawaii was where missionaries from America came to teach Christianity to the people, but ended up becoming powerful sugar farmers. However, the queen of the islands tried to limit their power, but the missionaries revolted and requested that America annex Hawaii. Japan was also trying to gain Hawaii, as shown in this political cartoon. The cartoonist saw Japan as being an annoying pest who would bug America for control over Hawaii. This is shown by the dog pestering Uncle Sam for the sausage, which is labeled as being Hawaii. If a Japanese native saw this, they would probably be offended by being represented as merely an annoying dog. The techniques used in the cartoon are labeling and an analogy. Labels can be seen due to the fact that the cartoonist labeled the dog as Japan and the sausage as Hawaii. Analogies can be seen by the fact that Japan is as annoying as the dog and that the sausage entices the dog, as Hawaii enticed Japan. This supports my idea of imperialism because when you take over a certain area, other countries want it too. Also, smaller countries could get annoying when they want some of the land that you have taken over. At the time, Mexico was also threatening our way or life.

Citation: Fish, Der. "The Hawaiian Gazette. (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, August 20, 1897, Page 3, Image 3." News about Chronicling America RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025121/1897-08-20/ed-1/seq-3/>.

The Purchase of Alaska

Purchase of Alaska

     This cartoon is about the purchase of Alaska. This was where William Seward, the Secretary of State to Lincoln and Johnson, bought the territory of Alaska, which was owned by Russia, for 7 million dollars. The cartoonist saw this purchase as a mistake and a waste of money. This is shown due to the fact that two Americans, one being Seward, is pulling away a giant chunk of ice while Russia is taking away 7 million dollars. If this was seen by maybe a Russian citizen, it could go two ways, depending on the fact if they knew of the riches in resources that Alaska had. If they did know, they would have thought that we were ignorant of the riches we could potentially have. Another scenario could be if they didn't know about the resources. They would have been happy that they got such a useless chunk of ice off their hands. One technique that the cartoonist used was labeling. This can be shown by the fact that he/she labeled the chunk of ice as "Russian America" and the wheel-barrow being labeled as "treaty." Another technique being used is an analogy. This can be shown by the comparison being made between the ice being Alaska and the wheel-barrow as the treaty, letting America carry away Alaska. This cartoon doesn't exactly support my opinions due to the fact that I know that there are valuable resources, while the people at the time did not know. However, the way we annexed our 50th state was a bit more...forceful.

Citation: "Political Cartoon - Alaska 1867." Political Cartoon - Alaska 1867. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <https://sites.google.com/site/alaska1867turnup/olitical-cartoon-3>.