POLITICAL

CARICATURES OF
THE A M E R I C A N
ERA
Presented by Group 5
A U THO R
A l f re d W. McCoy
Birth: 1945, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Citizenship: United States of America.
.
Dr Alfred W. McCoy is a professor of the
SouthEast Asian History at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison where he also serves
as director of the Center for SE Asian Studies.
He's spent the past quarter-century writing
about the politics & history of the opium
trade.
B A C K G R O U N D OF AUTHOR
McCoy 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).

After earning a Ph.D. in Southeast Asian history at Yale, the

writings of McCoy on this region has focused on two topics —
Philippine political history and global opium trafficking. The
Philippines remains the major focus of his research. His teaching
interests include: Modern Philippine social and political history;
U.S. foreign policy; colonial empires in Southeast Asia; global
illicit drug trafficking; and CIA covert operations.
B A C K G R O U N D OF
DOCUMENT
1900-41 Philippine political cartoons gained full
expression during the American era. Filipino artists
recorded national attitudes toward the coming of the
Americans as well as the changing mores and times.

While the 377 cartoons compiled in this book speak for

themselves, historian Alfred McCoy’s extensive research in
Philippine and American archives provides a
comprehensive background not only to the cartoons but
to the turbulent period as well.
 Definition of Terms

Car ica t ur e Apar c e r o Imper ial ism

A picture, description, or
imitation of a person in which
certain striking characteristics
are exaggerated in order to
create a comic or grotesque
effect.
“sharecropping”
A type of farming in which
families rent small plots of land
from a landowner in return for a
portion of their crop, to be given
to the landowner at the end of
each year.
the policy of extending the rule or
authority of an empire or nation over
foreign countries, or of acquiring and
holding colonies and dependencies.
advocacy of imperial or sovereign
interests over the interests of the
dependent states
EDITORIAL C A R T O O N S
BY ALFRED MCCOY

Wh y the Apar c e r o Re b e l s

It shows the form of landlord usury

used to strip tenant farmers from their
rightful share of harvest.
EDITORIAL C A R T O O N S
BY ALFRED MCCOY

In 1926, the future of Mindanao

became one of the key issues in the
Philippines-American relations.
American imperialists exploited the
tensions to advocate partition of the
Philippines and a permanent American
protector for Mindanao.
EDITORIAL C A R T O O N S
BY ALFRED MCCOY

Wh at 's Goi ng to b e Don e

About It?

A sudden and unexpected credit crisis

threatens the Negros Sugar crop and
planters respond by lobbying Governor-
General Francis B. Harrison for relief.
Fueled by free access to the American
sugar market and liberal credit from the
newly established Philippine National
Bank, the Negros sugar industry grew
rapidly during World War I.
EDITORIAL
CARTOONS
BY THE PHILIPPINE
DAILY INQUIRER
PRIDE OF
NEGROS
Nunelucio Alvarado is the pride of
Negros Occidental. He was born in
1950, in Barangay Fabrica, Sagay,
Negros Occidental, earning an Arts
degree in Bacolod in 1968, thence
studying painting at the University of
the Philippines College of Fine Arts,
Alvarado has been a full-time painter
for over four decades.
PRIDE OF
NEGROS
One of the famous artworks of Alvarado entitled
“Sakadas”, depicting a young sacada (sugar cane
croppers) couple burying their stillborn child
standing expressionless in front of the gravesite
with the infant wrapped in cloth and a cross grave
marker. In the background evidence of troops
supported by the Americans and a chemical
factory belching smoke. The painting is signed by
the artist in blue on a black background in the
narrow margin at the bottom of the painting:
Nunelucio in the left hand corner and Alvarado
1984 in the right hand corner.
 RELEVANCE A N D
CONTRIBUTION
In the Philippines, the presence of political
cartoons has been seen as early as the
publication of Kalayaan and La Solidaridad.
Nepomuceno (2012) claimed that
commentaries in newspapers are valid
historical instruments, given that these
works are corroborated by official
documents. Furthermore, commentaries,
through the sections of the editorial pages,
are useful in seeking to see the opinions
and views of people on policies which are
also rooted on the opinions and views of
officials in government.
Accounts pointed that the Philippine press
has had a love-hate relationship with
political cartoons as only in 1985 has there
been a published book on Philippine
cartoons. The book of McCoy and Roces
(1986) was the first one to legitimize
cartoons as sources of Filipino thoughts
and views. Although the book only covered
the period of early American through the
commonwealth, it reflected on two
cartoon themes: anti- American sentiments
and the condemnation of the ruling class.
 Characterize a cause
Since people’s sensitivities are captured
immediately through images, the popularity of
cartoons has risen throughout the years.Political
cartoons serve as primers for engaging in the
prevailing opinions of that time. One positive
effect of political cartoon is that it becomes the
representation of the current conditions of our
country- it lets us see the problem.
 CONCLUSION

Future generations will be able to have a

glimpse of the past Philippine society
through these cartoons. Also, it also serves as Clarify Historical Information
a study and reference tool for further
generations.

Through the use of political cartoons,

Represent the feelings of the people
people get to visualize politics and
Way to discuss political and social issues using
appreciate the representations which are
art
within their worldview.