How Do You Analyze A Political Cartoon?

I think in order to analyze a political cartoon you need to be aware of the current events to which it could be referencing. It would also be helpful to know a little background about the author and their views.


I have decided to go by the method of Observe, Reflect, Question
Teacher's Guide to Analyzing Political Cartoons


Moving forward, I would first look at the cartoon and notice what stands out to me. I will also ask questions: Is this picture realistic? What about it makes it realistic or unrealistic? What is the message? Were there words? Then I will reflect; who is the target audience? What is the opinion of the artist? Lastly, I will form my own questions about the piece.

#1

Firstly I noticed that the people in Uncle Sam's basket have Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Cuba written on the people. It looks like Uncle Sam is carrying people from Cuba. Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, and John Bull is carrying people from China and India. On the rocks there are words like brutality, ignorance, and oppression and at the top of all of the rocks there is a golden statue with civilization written above it. I think the cartoonist was trying to portray that Uncle Sam and John Bull were trying to achieve the same goal, but using different methods, with different groups of people.

#2

Firstly I noticed that Uncle Sam is present as well as "students" wearing banners which show they ate from Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Hawaii. In the background there are students in desks reading books which have states on the covers such as Texas, Arizona, and California. I also noticed that the classroom resembles a "principals desk" scenario because Uncle Sam is standing tall over the students on the bench while the students in the desks seem to be in a slightly different "scene" than Uncle Sam and the "new students". I think this shows that Uncle Sam is trying to teach the people of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Hawaii about the way the US governs their nation because the book on Uncle Sam's desk says "US Self Government".

#3

Firstly I notice the appearance of Uncle Sam and John Bull at the gate which as the Philippines labeled on the column behind Uncle Sam. I am assuming that this represents Uncle Sam's correlation with the Philippines. However, I am confused about why John Bull doesn't have the name of a country near him. I also notice that there are two men walking towards the entrance of the gate. The men are wearing hats which say "Russia" and "Germany".