The Annexation of Hawaii

This cartoon is about how the United States has annexed Hawaii. It seems that this cartoon is about the United States seemingly taking away all of the power of independence and liberty from Hawaii. The cartoonist is trying to say that now the “throne” to Hawaii is now worthless because now that Hawaii is a part of the United States, they cannot really have their own type of governing (monarchy) system. From another person from their point of view, Queen Liliuokalani seems desperate for something to keep her “surviving” because  the United States overthrew her and her nation. Therefore, she really has nothing left and she is now “trading” the crown for something that she could live on. However, now that Queen Liliuokalani’s crown is no longer valuable, it has no value to anyone. The cartoonist used symbolism and labeling to make the cartoon persuasive. As for symbolism, it is the crown that seems to represent all of the power and freedom that Hawaii used to have before the U.S. took over their land. This makes the cartoon more powerful in a way. For labeling, the Queen is labeled from her tail and she represents what Hawaii used to be. It shows that she used to be Queen Liliuokalani of an independent country and now it is dominated because of the strength of the U.S. Navy. This cartoon supports my position on anti-imperialism. It is because the cartoon proves that Hawaii was taken over by the United States and it came to a point where the “throne” to Hawaii was useless. The United States had gone very far in taking on other nations’ independence and it is not the right action to take. That is why this cartoon supports my position.

"Illustration: Depiction of Queen Liliuokalani." - Annexation of Hawaii - Flickr. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2016. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/uhmlibrary/6669565893>.