DOCUMENT ANALYSIS WORKSHEET: ANALYZE A CARTOON

Quickly scan the cartoon. What do you notice first?

- Uncle Sam Riding a chariot in his hats, vest and coat pulled by Filipinos wearing school
uniforms. The Filipino boys were carrying American objects like baseball bats, whiskey, and
boxing gloves.

What is the title or caption?

- The title is “Uncle Sam Riding A Chariot”

Observe its parts:

WORDS VISUALS
List the labels, descriptions thoughts or List the people, objects and places in the
dialogue cartoon

 Uncle Sam
 Filipinos
 Chariot
 Hats
 None  Vest
 Coat
 School uniform
 Baseball bats
 Whiskey
 Boxing gloves

List the meaning of the labels, descriptions, List the actions or activities
thoughts or dialogue

 None  Uncle Sam Riding a Chariot

 Filipino’s pulling Uncle Sam

Try to make sense of it:

1. Which words or phrases are the most significant?

- “Uncle Sam” from the title of the given topic, because it is just a nickname that get in
United State. The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who
supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812. Wilson (1766-1854)
stamped the barrels with “U.S” for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as
“’Uncle Sam’s.” The local newspaper picked up on the story and Uncle Sam eventually gained
widespread acceptance as the nickname for - and personification of – the U.S federal
government.
2. What meanings can you derive from the visuals?
- It depicts how American controlled Filipinos through seemingly harmless American
objects. By controlling their consciousness and mentality, American got to control and
subjugate Filipinos.

3. Who drew the cartoon?

- It was drawn by Fernando Amorsolo

4. When is it from?
- This was published by The Independent on November 27, 1915

5. What was happening at the time in history it was created?

- McCoy in his caption the said cartoons, says that this cartoon was based on the event
in 1907 when William Howard Taft was brought to the manila pier riding a chariot pulled by
students of Liceo De Manila. Such condemned by the nationalism at that time.

6. Are there hidden messages? List down evidences from the cartoon that made you think that
led you to your conclusion
- Yes, I think there is a hidden message.
 Filipinos pulling Uncle Sam instead of the other animals like horses.
 The objects that Filipino carrying

Use it as Historical Evidence

1. What did you find out from the document that you might not learn anywhere else?
- I found out in the document that I might not learn anywhere else is the message of the
given picture, your perspective or your understanding about why the Filipinos pulling Uncle
Sam in the chariot instead of the horses or other animals.

2. What other documents or historical evidence are you going to use to help you understand
the event or topic?
- To help me to understand the given event or topic, I will use other documents or
historical evidence and many information in the google and search more about the event or
topic to broaden my knowledge and to better able to understand it clearly.