American Imperialism and the Effects on Others

During the nineteenth century, the U.S. began to flourish into their industrial stage, developing many improvements in technology. Due to their improvements, many countries sought the technological advancements of the west in order to incorporate them into their own society. This desire leads the U.S. into imperialism which plays a crucial role in the development of other countries and their social dynamics. These political cartoons are beneficial in explaining the different perspectives people had on American Imperialism and the countries who were forced into accepting the transition into western customs.

In this image, Uncle Sam represents American stepping on the Philippines in order to access China who is readily waiting for the U.S. This image illustrates the perspective that American Imperialism was not beneficial for all who were involved in it. The image shows America carrying steal beams, bridges, trains, education and religion. This kind of interaction created the distinct social classes of the bourgeoisie and proletariat. Their, "society as a whole [began]... splitting up into two great hostile... classes directly facing each other..."(HR, 292). These classes were treated completely different; the bourgeoisie were the wealthy factory owners, while the proletariat were the factory workers. Similar to the image above where the U.S. - representing a bourgeoisie - takes advantage of their workers - the Philippines - in order to expand their franchise. much like the phrase written at the bottom of the image, the upper class citizens would use the lower class as a means to generate more money whether or not the lower class could handle the pressure of the work.

This image once again depicts Uncle Sam, however, this time he is chasing a Filipino trying to take back the gun while Europe stands in the background simply watching. This second cartoon was drawn to encourage American Imperialism as opposed to European Imperialism. From this image it can be assumed that the Filipino in the cartoon had received the musket from Europe. It can also be assumed that because of their industrialization, Europe attained, "...new powers to coerce non-western societies" (Earth, 524), into working for them. Europe had managed to gain the Philippines's favor through trade, and giving the Philippines their new technology. This cartoon was intended to convince people that America is trying to help the Philippines leave the control of the Europeans, which paints the U.S. as a likable entity. All the while depicting the Philippines as a gullible and helpless country that does not know when they are being taken advantage of.

This third political cartoon was drawn in support of American Imperialism. The title of the image expresses that the U.S. fought to liberate the smaller countries but does not depict the issues that the U.S. also forced on them. This cartoon accurately depicts the mentality of, "...the “white man’s burden,” [where] whites have a “civilizing mission” to “help” backwards races..." (Sepinwall, lecture, 3/25). This ideology was held by a large portion of people during this time period and was incorporated into American Imperialism. Especially when considering the Philippines, the cartoon shows that American did more to 'help' them seeing as they are the ones holding more in both the before and after sections of the image. From this it can be assumed that many industrialized countries viewed the Philippines and other non-industrialized countries as tools for their success, and that America saw this as their chance to liberate everyone from the Europe's control.

In conclusion, these political cartoons all depict American Imperialism, however, they are presented through different perspectives. The first cartoon was produced by someone who did not agree with the methods used in America's expansion. The last two were produced by someone who believed in the 'white man's burden' idea. All of these cartoons adequately depict the ideas surrounding this time period and are factually correct with the textbooks and lectures provided in this class. These cartoons show each side of American Imperialism, where the 'white man's burden' came into play and where the desire for money and expansion lead American. The only topic missing from these was the negative impact that this western expansion had on countries like China, which was covered in lecture as well as the textbooks. Overall, the cartoons proved to be very effective in conveying their meanings and were in line with the books.