Download Philippine-American War Political Cartoons

Rudyard Kipling, The White Man's Burden, 1899
This famous poem, written by Britain's imperial poet, was a response to the American
takeover of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Read the poem to yourself
THREE TIMES before beginning to answer the questions.
Take up the White Man's burden-Send forth the best ye breed-Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild-Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Take up the White Man's burden-And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard-The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:-"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"
Vocabulary
Burden: a heavy responsibility
Breed: children
Harness: boring daily work
Fluttered: unsteady
Folk: people
Sullen: bad-tempered; gloomy
Cloak: hide
Take up the White Man's burden-Ye dare not stoop to less-Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloak your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.
Guiding Questions:
1. According to Kipling, what is the ‘White Man’s Burden?’
2. Based on this poem, how did imperialists (people who supported annexation) think of the
people in the countries they were taking over (i.e., Cuba, Philippines, etc.)?
3. Kipling supported U.S. annexation of the Philippines. What might someone say who
disagreed with Kipling?
STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP
sheg.stanford.edu
Name_________________
Clues for Cartoon Analysis
Source:
Pro-Imperialism Magazines: Judge and Puck
Anti-Imperialism Magazines: Life and The World
Context: Use your timeline and textbook!
Additional clues for Set B:
William McKinley was President at the start of the Philippine-American War. He supported expansion
and thought it was his duty to civilize the Filipinos.
Additional clues for Set C:
Columbia is a symbol of American liberty.
Additional clues for Set D:
Uncle Sam is a symbol of the United States.
Additional clues for Set E:
In the 1880s and 1890s, hundreds of African Americans were lynched in the United States.
Additional clues for Set F:
You will need to look at a map of the world to see how close the Philippines are to China.
Name_________________
Philippine-American War Political Cartoons Graphic Organizer
Cartoon
Source:
Context:
Main characters/ symbols:
Publication/ Date
What else was going on at this
time that relates to this cartoon?
(Use your timeline and textbook for
background information)
What do you see in this cartoon?
U.S. begins war in Philippines;
White men (Uncle Sam and
America and England are helping
Rudyard Kipling publishes
the guy who represents
to “civilize” people
‘White Man’s Burden’
England) carrying baskets of
Is this magazine
pro or antiimperialism?
Example 1
Judge, 1899
Pro-Imperialist
people of color towards
“Civilization”
Example 2
Life, 1899
U.S. begins war in Philippines;
Rudyard Kipling publishes
Anti-Imperialist
SET ___
Cartoon ____
SET ___
Cartoon ___
‘White Man’s Burden’
Overall message
!"#!$%&'#(!)'*'#+!&%!'"#!,"&-&..&%#+!
/010"/1/2!
April
Filipinos
resume their
independence
struggle!
against Spain.
May 1
Admiral
Dewey
destroys
the
Spanish
fleet in
Manila
Bay.
June 15
Hundreds of
citizens
assemble in
Boston to
oppose the
annexation
of the
Philippines
and organize
the AntiImperialist
movement.
!%""
!%"%!
February 15
The
battleship
U.S.S.
Maine
explodes in
Havana
Harbor.
September 15
The Congress
of the First
Philippine
Republic
creates the first
republican
constitution in
Asia.
April 19
Congress by a
vote of 311 to 6 in
the House, and
42 to 35 in the
Senate, adopts a
joint resolution for
war with Spain.
President
McKinley signs it
the next day and
calls for 125,000
volunteers for 1
year of active
duty.
May 25
The first
U.S.
volunteer
troops
leave San
Francisco
for the
Philippines
December 10
In the Treaty of
Paris, Spain frees
Cuba, cedes
Porto Rico and
Guam to the
U.S., and sells
the Philippines to
the U.S. for $20
million.
February 4-5
U.S. troops fire
the first shots of
the war, killing
three Filipino
soldiers triggering
fighting between
U.S. troops and
Filipino
independence
forces.
!"##
February
There were over
1,000 engagements
between U.S. and
Filipino forces in the
first year of war.
November 13
Filipinos switch
from
conventional to
guerilla war.
!"#!
January 31 to
June 28
Senate Committee
on the Philippines
chaired by
imperialist
Republican Henry
Cabot Lodge
conducts hearings!
on the war. !
!"#$
February
Mark Twain
publishes “To the
Person Sitting in
Darkness”, his
satire on U.S.
imperialism in the
Philippines, in the
North American
Review.
July 4
President
Theodore
Roosevelt
declares
victory in the
Philippines
but a guerrilla
war
continues
until 1915.