Analysis: Political Cartoons – Yellow Journalism

US History/Napp Name: ______

Do Now:

“Yellow journalism was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts. During its heyday in the late 19th century it was one of many factors that helped push the United States and Spain into war in Cuba and the Philippines, leading to the acquisition of overseas territory by the United States.

The term originated in the competition over the New York City newspaper market between major newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. At first, yellow journalism had nothing to do with reporting, but instead derived from a popular cartoon strip about life in New York’s slums called Hogan’s Alley, drawn by Richard F. Outcault. Published in color by Pulitzer’s New York World, the comic’s most well-known character came to be known as the Yellow Kid, and his popularity accounted in no small part for a tremendous increase in sales of the World. In 1896, in an effort to boost sales of his New York Journal, Hearst hired Outcault away from Pulitzer, launching a fierce bidding war between the two publishers over the cartoonist. Hearst ultimately won this battle, but Pulitzer refused to give in and hired a new cartoonist to continue drawing the cartoon for his paper. This battle over the Yellow Kid and a greater market share gave rise to the term yellow journalism…

The peak of yellow journalism, in terms of both intensity and influence, came in early 1898, when a U.S. battleship, the Maine, sunk in Havana harbor. The naval vessel had been sent there not long before in a display of U.S. power and, in conjunction with the planned visit of a Spanish ship to New York, an effort to defuse growing tensions between the United States and Spain. On the night of February 15, an explosion tore through the ship’s hull, and the Maine went down. Sober observers and an initial report by the colonial government of Cuba concluded that the explosion had occurred on board, but Hearst and Pulitzer, who had for several years been selling papers by fanning anti-Spanish public opinion in the United States, published rumors of plots to sink the ship. When a U.S. naval investigation later stated that the explosion had come from a mine in the harbor, the proponents of yellow journalism seized upon it and called for war. By early May, the Spanish-American War had begun.

The rise of yellow journalism helped to create a climate conducive to the outbreak of international conflict and the expansion of U.S. influence overseas, but it did not by itself cause the war…” ~ state.gov

1-What is “yellow journalism”? ______

2-What did “yellow journalism” help push the U.S. into? ______

3-How did the term “yellow journalism” originate? ______

4-Who were Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst? ______

5-How did a comic strip start a bidding war between two publishers over a cartoonist? ______

6-When was the peak of yellow journalism? ______

7-What was the U.S. Maine and what happened to it? ______

8-What did Hearst and Pulitzer write about the U.S. Maine? ______

9-Was yellow journalism the only cause of the Spanish-American War? ______

The Activity: Interpreting Political Cartoons

“There will always be controversy about the role that the sensationalistic, yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer played in instigating the Spanish-American War and later, a fear of foreign invasion from Asia. We do know that the rise of yellow journalism coincided with an all-out competition between Hearst and Pulitzer for New York City’s readership. The term “yellow journalism” originated from one of the first comic strips, “Yellow Kid,” which Pulitzer published. Yellow was used for a color-production test at Pulitzer’s New York World. Use of color was one of the sensationalistic methods of the day.” ~ American Vision

Directions: Study the cartoon below, and then answer the questions that follow.

Questions:

1-How has the cartoonist used caricature in drawing the Japanese fisherman? ______

2-What is the mistake in the cartoon? ______

3-What is the origin of the term yellow journalism? ______

4-What is the fisherman using for a pole and for bait? ______

5-What does Uncle Sam mean when he refers to the land being “posted”? What is it that posts the land? ______

Critical Thinking:

6-Summarizing Information: What was the essential message of the Monroe Doctrine? ______

7-Synthesizing Information: Thomas Powers, one of the cartoonists Hearst recruited during the circulation war with Pulitzer, drew this cartoon. How is the cartoon an example of Hearst-style, yellow journalism? ______

Multiple-Choice:

8- The Monroe Doctrine declared that the United States would

  1. prevent the establishment of new European colonies anywhere in the world
  2. help colonies in North and South America adopt a democratic form of government
  3. view European interference in the Americas as a threat to the national interest of the United States
  4. prevent other nations from trading with South American nations

9- One important conclusion that can be drawn as a result of the United States experience in both the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Persian Gulf War (1991) is that

  1. only the President should decide issues of war and peace
  2. the media are a powerful influence in shaping American public opinion toward war
  3. the public has little confidence in the ability of the American military
  4. international organizations play a decisive role in determining the outcome of a war

10- In 1823, the Monroe Doctrine was established mainly because the United States wanted to

  1. keep control of Alaska and Hawaii
  2. establish more colonies in Latin America
  3. support England’s attempt to keep its empire in Central America
  4. warn Europe against any further colonization in Latin America

“Political cartoons and drawings were popular features in 1890s newspapers and the yellow journals of the Spanish-American War era. Before the Spanish-American War began, drawings depicting Spain as evil, Cuba as innocent, and President McKinley as a coward, helped rally sympathy for the Cuban people and fuel a pro-war feeling in America. Illustrations simplified the message that yellow journalists like William Randolph Hearst wanted his readers to buy--Cuba was helpless and the U.S. must intervene.” ~ pbs.org

Explain the meaning of the political cartoon: ______

Yellow journalists created support for the Spanish-American War by writing articles about the

  1. political popularity of William Jennings Bryan
  2. efforts of the United States to control Mexico
  3. destruction of United States sugar plantations by Hawaiians
  4. sinking of the United States battleship Maine in Havana Harbor

Which factor is most closely associated with the decision of the United States to declare war on Spain in 1898?

  1. isolationist policy
  2. labor union pressure
  3. yellow journalism
  4. unrestricted submarine warfare

Explain the meaning of the political cartoon: ______

Explain the meaning of the political cartoon: ______