Drawings, Cartoons, and Photographs Depicting Ethnic Groups
Background of Individual Images:
Image 1) This engraving reflects a European interpretation of American Indian culture and economy. Are there any obvious incongruities in the image? What does this suggest what might happen when one group of people attempts to understand another, unfamiliar group of people? Why is this important to consider in a discussion of immigration or migration?
Image 2) The second image is an engraving of a Huron Indian by a French artist done in 1664. Does it indicate anything about European attitudes toward the people they “discovered” in North America?
Image 3) According to art historian Michael O’Malley, “It's important to point out that caricatures of immigrants were common. Germans were stereotyped in beer halls; Chinese immigrants were mocked in caricatures and cartoons; African Americans were almost constantly the subject of demeaning comic stereotypes. The point is not that Irish people suffered more or less than any other group: rather, the remarkable thing is how differently irish people were seen. No one today thinks of Irish people as "not white"or "racially primitive" in some ways, irish people seem sort of "hyper-white."
Image 4) This famous 1875 cartoon by Thomas Nast revealed the hostility of native-born, white Protestants to Catholicism. Immigrants, especially the Irish, were portrayed as loyal to the Catholic Church rather than the United States. In this cartoon, Nast portrayed Catholic bishops as crocodiles endangering American school children. He may have titled the image “America’s River Ganges” because he knew the Ganges was sacred to Hindus or because crocodiles lived in the river.
Image 5) This cartoon, which appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper in 1881 mocked a law passed by Brooklyn Know Nothings. The Know Nothing Party was a nativist party opposed to immigration, especially Irish Catholic immigration.
Image 6) The cartoon “Uncle Sam’s Boarding House” shows many working-class immigrants sleeping, with the exception of an Irish man. What seems to be the problem with this person? What do you think might have been the consequences of such stereotypical images?
Image 7) While some native-born, Protestant Americans stereotyped Italians as violent and unpatriotic, this photograph seems more sympathetic. What words would you use to describe the Italian earthquake victims in this picture? Was this perception of Italian immigrants compatible with negative stereotypes? Why or why not?
Image 8) This patriotic poster encouraging Americans to enlist in the armed forces during World War I was based on a popular film “The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin.” What characteristics show the viewer that the German ruler should be an enemy of the United States? Why was this an effective military recruitment strategy?
Image 9) The charge that they were unpatriotic and could not be assimilated into American culture was another way that recent immigrants were stereotyped during the Great War.
Image 10) How is the image in this poster different from that in “The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin”? Who is it meant to motivate? Does it matter that these two posters were part of the same broad propaganda campaign?
