Question

What is the meaning of the Fun For the Boys political cartoon? Is the cartoon anti-imperialism or for imperialism? What document is being revised in the cartoon? What event, that came after the Spanish-American War, is this cartoon being drawn in response to? In the cartoon, who is the shadow/ghost watching this happen AND how would you describe his emotion? Is the cartoonist for or against the U.S. acquiring the Philippines? Explain how you arrived at this conclusion.

Answer 1

The "Fun For the Boys" political cartoon is outlining US imperialism in the Philippines. After the losing the Spanish-American War to the US, Spain signed over ownership of the Philippines to America. The people of the Philippines were outraged and revolted, seeking independence.

The cartoon is clearly anti-imperialism. The document being revised in the political cartoon is the Declaration of Independence. The cartoon is being drawn in response to the Philippine-American War of 1899. The shadow/ghost watching the document revision is George Washington and I would describe him as showing a reflective/deep-in-thought emotion. The cartoonist is against the US acquiring the Philippines.

They show this by poking fun at William H. Taft, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. It shows them in a classroom-like setting looking juvenile and jovial at the prospect of acquiring the Philippines. In the cartoon they are: editing and promoting the Declaration as lies, holding people of color as unequal to those of European descent, and off-putting Washingtonian ideals because George Washington is a "has-been".