Political Caricatures of the

American Era

Calvo  Gallo  Marañon  Ramos

 Author’s Background
Alfred W. Mccoy
• born on June 8, 1945
• in Concord, Massachusetts,
United
• He studied Southeast Asian
history at Yale University.
• In 1971, he was commissioned to
write a book on the opium trade
in Laos.
• A professor of history at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison
and has spent the past thirty
years writing about Southeast
Asian history and politics.
His publications:
• Philippine Cartoons (1986)
• Anarchy of Families (1994)
• Closer Than Brothers: Manhood at
the Philippine Military Academy
(2000)
• Lives at the Margin (2001).
• A Question of Torture: CIA
Interrogation from the Cold War to
the War on Terror, (2006).
• The History of the Philippines
(2007)
 Publications
Closer Than Brothers:
Manhood at the
Philippine Military
Philippine Cartoons (1986) Academy (2000)

Anarchy of Families (1994)

 Alfredo Roces
 an artist-writer, was the designer
of the book.
 He also contributed one of the
essays in the book entitled “The
Filipino Caricaturist as
Historian”.
 Historical Background
of the Document
 Alfred McCoy’s research in Philippine and
American archives provides not only a
comprehensive background to the said
cartoons but to the aforementioned period as
well.
 During the years 1900-1941 which was the
American era, Philippine political cartoons
gained full expression.
 There are two essays and about 377 cartoons
compiled inside the book.
 The book is a compilation of political
caricatures made by Manila’s illustrated
weekly newspaper publications. However, the
text and captions were written by Alfred
“Political Caricatures of the
McCoy himself.
American Era”
 Important Historical Information
found in the Document
One of the essays found in the book:

Images of a Changing Nation

Written by Alfred McCoy
• Talks about how the Philippine
press established itself during the
decade following the American
invasion of 1989.
• Compared to the Spanish
Comision Permanente de Censura
which simply banned all Filipino
creativity, American press controls
were much more flexible.
 Important Historical Information
found in the Document
Several cartoons that can be seen inside the book are:

Necessary Selection
• The cartoon depicts that
suffrage for women were
one of the issues that
nationalists faced.
• At that time, the
Philippines did not grant
women the vote until 1937
when they were compared
to Western democracies.
 Several cartoons that can be seen inside
the book are:
American Worker/Filipino
Worker
• The cartoon refers to a more fundamental
inequality the difference in wages and working
conditions between the two countries.
• As shown in the picture, an American stevedore on
the San Francisco docks earns $5.00 a day (P10.00)
for easy mechanized labor, while a Filipino earns
P1.00 for hauling sacks by hand under Manila’s
tropical sun.
Municipal Hygiene
• Back then the Americans were
determined to transform Manila from
a tawdry Asiatic port into a model
metropolis
• The cartoon shows public reaction to
the noxious odors from the excrement
pail wagon that serviced outside toilets.
Several cartoons that can be seen inside
the book are:

Birds of Prey
• In 1908, the nationalist weekly “El
Renacimiento” (The Rebirth)
published an editorial entitled “Nuevo
Ave de Rapina” or “New Bird of
Prey” attacking the Philippine
Commission’s Secretary of the
Interior, Dean Conant Worcester who
was said to have been abusing his
office to exploit the country.
 Contribution and Relevance of
the Document
 Political cartoons serves as a good documenter of change and another
equal means to represent the unfairness in some halls of Philippine
society.
 Political cartoons also became the representation of the current conditions
of our country and allows us to see the problems that are prevalent in our
nation.
 Through these cartoons, future generations are given a glimpse of the past
Philippine society. It serves as a study and reference tool as well.
 However, political cartoons can become negative when these are used to
consolidate elite rule.
 An imbalanced representation of the current conditions might lead to a
one-sided perspective of the current society
 Learning Experiences
and Insights
 The group has come to the realization that
political cartoons are more than just mere
expressions of an artist, it could also be one of
the ways where one can preserve its country’s
history. Through the use of political cartoons,
we were able to visualize politics and
appreciate the representation which are within
our worldview.