Dalrymple, Louis. School begins / Dalrymple. 1899. Print. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012647459/.
The caption is Uncle Sam speaking to his new class in Civilization: “Now, children, you’ve got to learn these lessons whether you want to or not! But just take a look at the class ahead of you, and remember that, in a little while, you will feel as glad to be here as they are!” The magazine in which this image was the centerfold addressed political satire with humor. Political cartoons convey a literal meaning but also require an understanding of the relevant facts of the period. In this lesson, learners examine the literal meaning of the cartoon, explore resources about the period, and connect the literal situation conveyed in the cartoon with facts and perspectives from the period. An optional activity asks learners to alter the cartoon to reflect a modern topic.
After the Spanish American War, the US annexed many different territories, including Puerto Rico and Hawaii. “The future Secretary of State John Hay described the ensuing conflict as a ‘splendid little war’.” After isolating and defeating the Spanish Army garrisons in Cuba, the U.S. Navy destroyed the Spanish Caribbean squadron on July 3 as it attempted to escape the U.S. naval blockade of Santiago. These people from these annexed territories had different skin tones than most Americans at the time and are featured here as “unruly” children in a classroom. In the back of the classroom, the white children are all seen as behaving creating the image of what Manifest Destiny looked like in the 19th century.
Source: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/spanish-american-war
Source: : https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/spanish-american-war
- Notice that each group of characters are depicted with different artistic styles. What does the artist’s style convey about the characters?
- By depicting the setting as a classroom, what main point is the artist conveying about the relationship between the “teacher” and the others in the image?
ELA Standard
E1.8(A)Multiple genres. Analyze the author’s purpose, audience, and message within a text.
Social Studies Standard
US.25B. Culture. The student understands the political, economic, and social changes in the United States from 1877 to 1898. US.25 The student is expected to (B) describe the Americanization movement to assimilate immigrants and American Indians into American culture.
Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
- Observe: Identify and note details. Label the “characters” and elements in the setting (location of characters, activities of characters, depiction of character traits and postures/facial expressions, clothing, other writing, captions, etc.)
- Observe: What does the image depict? Read the summary provided by the Library of Congress. Add relevant notes to your annotations.
- Reflect: From your existing knowledge, is the message positive or negative? On what topics is the cartoonist commenting?
- Question: Note the source and date. What does the cartoonist expect the audience to know? What kind of materials does the source publish? What was going on politically during the time of publication?
- Observe: Learners skim and scan the WebQuest sources below to build knowledge about the period, adding ideas and key terms to the annotations.
- Imperialism, Expansionist Policies, Spanish-American War
- https://sites.gsu.edu/ale26/2015/10/26/imperialism-cartoon-school-begins/
- https://forgottenfiles.substack.com/p/school-begins-1899
- https://visualizingcultures.mit.edu/civilization_and_barbarism/cb_essay03.html#:~:text=The%20image%20exhibits%20a%20racist,as%20dark%2Dskinned%20and%20childish.
- https://aguil079.omeka.net/exhibits/show/interpretation-of-political-ca/what-do-these-images-mean-/school-begins
- Imperialism, Expansionist Policies, Spanish-American War
- Reflect: Learners craft statements using these sentence stems: The (character) is/feels/believes ______. This demonstrates/highlights/suggests/shows that _____.
- Encourage learners to evaluate their research and findings with the following questions: Did you find information about the Spanish-American Conflict, Hawaii’s annexation, formation of protectorates of Cuba and Puerto Rico? What did you learn about securing Guam and the Philippines? How did the artist use exaggeration, sarcasm, and symbolism to convey their point of view? How did California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Alaska connect to the message? What implications did you discover about the Native American boy, the Chinese boy, and the African American’s participation in the image?
- Extension: How would you alter the image to convey a modern topic?
- Additional Questions: How do we understand political cartoons (especially when we know little of the background and topic)? Once we interpret messages, how do we integrate (or reject) ideas for our own belief systems, interpretations, and voting decisions?
Dalrymple, Louis. He can't let go / Dalrymple. 1898. Print. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012647490/.
Dalrymple, Louis. "Save me from my friends!" / Dalrymple. 1898. Print. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012647469/.
Dalrymple, Louis. Some time in the future / Dalrymple. 1895. Print. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012648643/.
Dalrymple, Louis. Uncle Sam's picnic / Dalrymple. 1898. Print. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012647475/.