The Spanish American War

     This cartoon is talking about how the Spanish American War had a large effect on the Philippines and the United States. The cartoonist’s message was trying to say that the United States is using the Philippines as the final “support” in taking that “step” towards China. The United States just wanted to get to China where they could expand even more. The people like the Filipinos would probably be very furious and angry because the United States were technically using them as another step to being able to expand their influences to China. The Filipino people would feel like the United States didn’t care for their independence and justice and the United States took over the Philippines as a territory to have easier access to China. Also, the people from the Anti-Imperialist League would think that this action of “using” the Philippines to go and expand the U.S. influences into China would be absolutely immoral. The techniques used in this cartoon to make it persuasive is exaggeration and labeling. In the cartoon the exaggeration is shown by Uncle Sam being so large in size because he is representing the United States and since the U.S. has grown so “large” in expanding, it is shown by how large Uncle Sam is. The labeling is mostly shown on the cartoon because the items that Uncle Sam is carrying towards China are things that the United States would “give” in return when they would expand their influences toward China. Also, the land like the United States, Philippines, and China are labeled to represent the countries that are involved in the situation. The United States represents the idea of using the Philippines to expand influences into China. The Philippines are labeled because it is the country being the stepping stone to China. Lastly, China is labeled because that is what the United States is aiming towards to expanding. The cartoon supports my anti-imperialism position because it expresses that the United States technically fought along with the Philippines throughout the entire Spanish-American War just for their intention of using the Philippines later on to expand further into Asian countries. This supports the anti-imperialism side because this shows how the United States used the Philippines not because they truly wanted to help them, but do it for the United States' own benefit. Therefore, this cartoon helps defend my anti-imperialism position.

“The Spanish American War” Harris, Susan K. Americanyawp. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2016. <http://www.americanyawp.com/text/19-american-empire/>.