Alfred McCoy’s Philippine

Cartoons: Political Caricatures of the

American Era
(1900-1941)
BACKGROUND OF
THE AUTHOR
ALFRED MCCOY
BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR:

Alfred W. McCoy was a professor of history at the University

of Wisconsin-Madison. He and other historian took interest
in the study of politics in the Philippines and represented
their interpretation of the situation by using cartoons. Was
born on the 8th of June 1945 and educated at Columbia
University, Yale University.
Is a professor of History at the University of Wisconsin
where he also served as Director of Center for Southeast
Asian Studies.
 BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR:
 He spent the past quarter of his life writing about the politics
and history of the Opium Trade
 Alfred W. McCoy, who is professor of history at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison, has spent the past thirty years writing
about Southeast Asian history and politics. His publications
include Philippine Cartoons (1985), Anarchy of Families (1994),
Closer Than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military
Academy (2000) and Lives at the Margin (2001).
 He specializes in the history of the Philippines, foreign policy of
the United States, Europeancolonization of Southeast Asia,
illegal drugtrade, and Central Intelligence Agency covert
operations.
 HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND OF
THE DOCUMENT
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PHILIPPINE CARTOONS:
POLITICAL CARICATURES OF THE AMERICAN ERA
 Philippine political cartoons gained full expression during the American
era.
 Philippine cartoons is a compilation of 377 editorial cartoons and
caricatures created by various Filipino artists that address the situation
in the Philippines during the American occupation. Spanning the years
1900 to 1941.
 Filipino artists recorded national attitudes toward the coming of the
Americans as well as the changing mores and times.
 Historian Alfred McCoy’s extensive research in Philippine and American
archieves provides a comprehensive background not only to the
cartoons but to the turbulent period as well.
CONTENT PRESENTATION
AND ANALYSIS OF THE
IMPORTANT HISTORICAL
INFORMATION FOUND IN
THE DOCUMENT
CONTENT PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT
 Some of the cartoons presented the condition of Filipino farmers on
the hands of American tenants who self-owned the lands of the
laborers and imposed unbearable and unjust taxes on them.
 The cartoons also compared the job situation of a Filipino and an
American by portraying unequal salaries despite having the same
nature of work, which highlighted racial discrimination in terms of
work condition, wages, job opportunities, and career positions.
 The caricatures also depicted Americans as controlling and enslaving
people by taking over the insular civil service and making Filipinos do
most of the work for their own benefit, paying off authorities for their
personal security, and demanding highest respects from the Filipinos.
CONTENT PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT
 The victims are presented on a bad and sorry state to convey
sympathy from the readers.
 The characters to emphasize on the “good side” are shown in normal
features while the “bad” emaciated, leering, laughing creatures, more
on animal features than human, e.g., Chinese men in the cartoon
editorial “Is the Police Force Bribed?”
 The artists, using their cartoons, illustrated not just their opinions, but
broad image of the Philippines under the US.
CONTENT PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT
A PUBLIC POST IN NOT A HEREDITARY CROWN
CONTENT PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT
WAR AGAINST SPECULATOR
CONTENT PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT
DEATH CARS
CONTENT PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT
FLAMING YOUTH
CONTENT PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT
UNCLE SAM RIDING A CHARIOT
CONTENT PRESENTATION OF THE DOCUMENT
EL TURNO DE LOS PARTIDOS
 ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENT
 The transition from the Spanish Colonial Period to the American
occupation period demonstrated different strands of changes and
shifts in culture, society, and politics.
 The selected cartoons illustrate not only the opinion of certain
media outfits about the Philippine society during the American
period but also paint a broad image of society and politics under the
United States.
 The transition from a Catholic-centered, Spanish-Filipino society to
animperial American-assimilated one, and its complications, were
also depicted in the cartoons.
 Lastly, the cartoons also illustrated the condions of the Filipinos in
thePhilippines now governed by the United States.
 CONTRIBUTION AND
RELEVANCE OF THE
DOCUMENT IN
UNDERSTANDING THE GRAND
NARRATIVE OF PHILIPPINE
HISTORY
CONTRIBUTION AND RELEVANCE OF THE DOCUMENT
 Editorial cartoons play an important role in understanding the
Filipinos sentiments concerning the transition of governance from
Spain to Americans.
 Pressing issues are clearly illustrated in the caricature of characters
and satirised situations in the Philippine society during the American
era.
 Serves as a mirror of a society’s colonial condition.
 Discovery of Filipino’s creativity in journalism and cartoons.
 Patronage became influential and powerful.
 Condition of the poor Filipinos in the Philippine
 Artists’ free expression of thoughts through their cartoons or
caricatures somehow influenced the Filipinos at that partiular period.
 LEARNING
EXPERIENCES
 LEARNING EXPERIENCES

 Political caricatures from the American era made us realize the

importance of discussing political and social issues.
 These caricatures clarify historical information and serve as eye-
openers to us Filipino about what happened on the particular period
 We learned that political cartoons are frequently used as primary
sources, illustrating various points of view on a topic.
 Creating a cartoon to discuss politics can be very interesting to
readers, and many people will appreciate art.
 Political cartoons deliver a deep meaning