Political Cartoon 1

This political cartoon is about the annexation of Hawaii. The cartoonist’s message is that smug Uncle Sam is waiting for Hawaii to fall  right into his hat. Uncle Sam could have captured Canada or Mexico, but he caught Hawaii. It is as though he has been waiting patiently for Hawaii to be ready, and now that it is ripe, he will take it. The United States had raised tariffs and now Hawaii needed our help because their economy wasn’t doing well. The opposing opinion is that we were justified in taking Hawaii because we needed it so that we could use it as a way station for military bases.

The techniques that are used for persuasion in this political cartoon are labeling and symbolism.  First, the cartoonist uses labels to show which apples stand for which countries. He does this so the reader can see the possible countries that Uncle Sam could have caught. Symbolism is used because apples represent countries. This cartoon supports my position that American imperialism is not justified. In this case, it shows that Uncle Sam is taking a lot of pride in what he just gained for his own selfish reasons. The government used its economic power to take over Hawaii, and we should not take other land for our own selfish interests.

"Illustration: "Uncle Sam Catches the Ripe Fruit"" Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhmlibrary/6669402649/in/photostream/>.