Political Cartoon

What is a political cartoon?

• A cartoon representing government or war atrocities

• An illustration that conveys a particular message about a political issue

• An animation that writes laws for congress hoping for passage

• Fictional drawings used for entertainment

What is symbolism?

• A statement that represents something as better or worse than it really is

• To assign an object to a category, especially inaccurately or restrictively

• A person, animal, or object regarded as representing or embodying a quality, concept, or thing

• The use of objects to represent larger concepts

What message is the artist conveying?

• Railroads are connected to everything

• Tycoons & philanthropy have gone too far

• Vanderbilt Is using his money to consolidate banks & railroads

• Rockefeller & his monopoly controls the government & workers' lives

What does the octopus symbolize?

• The power of the oil monopoly on all facets of government & industry

• How industrialists monopolize U.S. waterways & transatlantic trade

• The eight branches of government

• J.P. Morgan's banking monopoly & its influence on government

What object is the octopus holding onto?

• Bank

• Railroad

• City

• White House

• Capitol

What is another object represented in the illustration?

• Oil well

• Bank

• Railroad

• Coal mine

What other object is about to be grabbed by the octopus?

• White House

• Capitol

• Congressmen & workers

• Railroads

What does the octopus represent?

• Standard Oil

• Morgan Chase

• N.Y. Central Rail

• Carnegie Steel

What is a corporate trust?

• Publicly traded company owned by shareholders who claim part of the company's assets & profit

• Percentage of ownership in the company to raise capital

• Stockholders of competing corporations consolidating their stock to trustees in exchange for profit

• When a shareholder sells their stock for a profit

What is a corporation?

• Publicly traded company owned by shareholders who claim part of the company's assets & profit

• Percentage of ownership in the company to raise capital

• Stockholders of competing corporations consolidating their stock to trustees in exchange for profit

• When a shareholder sells their stock for a profit