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Cartoon Analysis Worksheet
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Level 1
Visuals
Words (not all cartoons include words)
1. List the objects or people you see in the cartoon.
1. Identify the cartoon caption and/or title.
2. Locate three words or phrases used by the cartoonist
to identify objects or people within the cartoon.
3. Record any important dates or numbers that appear in
the cartoon.
Level 2
Words
Visuals
2. Which of the objects on your list are symbols?
4. Which words or phrases in the cartoon appear to be
the most significant? Why do you think so?
3. What do you think each symbol means?
5. List adjectives that describe the emotions portrayed
in the cartoon.
Level 3
A. Describe the action taking place in the cartoon.
Limit response for each question to 3 lines of text
B. Explain how the words in the cartoon clarify the symbols.
C. Explain the message of the cartoon.
D. What special interest groups would agree/disagree with the cartoon's message? Why?
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Graded Assignment
Herblock’s Political Cartoons
Choose two Herblock cartoons from the site Fire! Herblock’s History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to
the Millennium to include in your U.S. History textbook. Evaluate each cartoon using the questions found
on the Cartoon Analysis Worksheet. Read the online questions and then record your answers on this
sheet. Make sure your answers are written in complete sentences. Visit the site "Fire!"
Score
Cartoon 1
Level 1 Responses
Visuals
Words (if
applicable)
1.
1.
2.
3.
Level 2 Responses
Visuals
Words (if applicable)
2.
4.
3.
5.
Level 3 Responses
A.
B.
C.
D.
Cartoon 2
Level 1 Responses
Visuals
1.
Words (if applicable)
1.
2.
3.
Level 2 Responses
Visuals
Words (if applicable)
2.
4.
3.
5.
Level 3 Responses
A.
B.
C.
D.
Apprentice | Lines in the Sand | Hare and Tortoise | Caricatures of Herblock
In the aftermath of World War II, Americans reacted with dismay as relations between the
United States and the Soviet Union deteriorated, the Russians imposed communist control over
much of Eastern Europe, and China was on the verge of going communist. People worried that
communists might try to subvert schools, labor unions, and other institutions. Government
agencies and private groups began to look for evidence of subversive activity. In this climate of
fear and suspicion, the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which Herb Block had
opposed since its inception in the 1930s, became active. And in 1950, a young senator from
Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, seeking political gain, began a well-publicized campaign using
smear tactics, bullying and innuendo to identify and purge communists and "fellow travelers" in
government. Herb Block recognized the danger to civil liberties posed by such activities and
warned of them in his work. He coined the phrase "McCarthyism" in his cartoon for March 29,
1950, naming the era just weeks after Senator McCarthy's spectacular pronouncement that he
had in his hand a list of communists in the State Department. His accusations became headline
news, vaulting him into the national political spotlight. For four years McCarthy attacked
communism, while in his cartoons Herb Block relentlessly attacked his heavy-handed tactics. In
June 1954, McCarthy was censured and in December condemned by the Senate.
"It's okay – We're hunting Communists"
The Cold War revived the anti-communist hysteria that had gripped the United States after
World War I. In 1947 Congress revived the House Committee on Un-American Activities
(HUAC), opposed by Herb Block since its inception in the 1930s and declared by President
Truman to be itself the most un-American activity. Herb Block comments: "The FBI, under J.
Edgar Hoover, helped provide the committee with material from its aptly named ‘raw files'.
Some producers, directors and screen writers refused to testify or to play the ‘name game' in
which the committee demanded the names of associates, who could then be called on to name
others thus providing an ever-expanding list of suspects to be summoned."
Enlarge
"It's okay – We're hunting Communists," October 31, 1947. Ink, graphite, and opaque white over
graphite underdrawing on layered paper. Published in the Washington Post (18) LC-USZ62127327
"Fire!"
By 1949, the Soviets had expanded their control to cover most of Eastern Europe, and it
appeared that China would soon fall to the communists as well. "The fear-filled forties and fifties
were a dark period when the spread of communism abroad increased anxieties and frustration at
home," wrote Herb Block. In their zeal to stamp out all signs of subversion in the United States,
professional and amateur anti-communists threatened to suppress American liberties as well.
Enlarge
"Fire!" June 17, 1949. Reproduction from original drawing. Published in the Washington Post
(25)
"You read books, eh?"
During the postwar anti-communist campaign hundreds of elementary and high school teachers
were investigated and lost their jobs, sometimes as a result of being named by proliferating "anti-
subversive" groups and individuals. Some individuals compiled and circulated their own
blacklists, which were accepted by frightened employers and casting directors who feared being
blacklisted themselves if they sought facts and fair play. The motives of some self-serving or
vindictive accusers were summed up by Herb Block in a phrase: "If you can't crush the commies,
you can nail a neighbor."
Enlarge
"You read books, eh?" April 24, 1949. Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite
underdrawing on layered paper. Published in the Washington Post (24) LC-USZ62-127202
"You mean I'm supposed to stand on that?"
In February 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy captured headlines by his claims that he held in his
hand, a list of names of some 205 communists in the State Department which he did not reveal.
Many members of Congress, influenced by his success, began to support his heavy-handed and
abusive tactics for political purposes. Here conservative Republican senators, Kenneth S.
Wherry, Robert A. Taft, and Styles Bridges and Republican National Chairman Guy Gabrielson
push a reluctant GOP elephant to mount the unsavory platform. This was the first use of the word
"McCarthyism."
Enlarge
"You mean I'm supposed to stand on that?" March 29, 1950. Reproduction from original
drawing. Published in the Washington Post (27)
"We now have new and important evidence"
Senator Joseph McCarthy's continued string of reckless charges of communism in government
created such a sensation that the Senate appointed a special committee under Millard E. Tydings
to investigate his "evidence." McCarthy managed to turn the hearings into a circus, each new
charge obscuring the fact that earlier accusations weren't backed up. Despite a final report by the
committee discrediting McCarthy's tactics and evidence, he emerged with more general support
than ever. And "anti-subversive" hearings by other committees of Congress, particularly the
Senate Internal Security Committee headed by Senator Pat McCarran (D-Nevada), continued
treating rumors and unsupported charges as "evidence."
Enlarge
"We now have new and important evidence," May 8, 1950. Ink, graphite, and opaque white over
graphite underdrawing on layered paper. Published in the Washington Post (28) LC-USZ62126908
"Say, what ever happened to 'freedom-from-fear'?"
As Senator Joseph McCarthy's campaign against State Department and Justice Department
officials continued, President Harry Truman spoke against "scaremongers and hatemongers" who
"are trying to create fear and suspicion among us by the use of slander, unproved accusations,
and just plain lies."
Enlarge
"Say, what ever happened to 'freedom-from-fear'?" August 13, 1951. Reproduction from original
drawing. Published in the Washington Post (31)
Nothing exceeds like excess
Senator Joseph McCarthy's irresponsible tactics were endorsed by many voters who felt that the
communist threat was such that the means justified the ends. A non-combat veteran, he had used
the nickname "Tail-gunner Joe" to win a Senate seat after the war. He then latched on to anticommunism as a winning tactic for re-election. Other politicians, recognizing pay dirt when they
saw it, jumped on his tar-barrel bandwagon. The attacks on the Truman Administration
continued even as President Harry Truman was fighting a war against communist aggression in
Korea. At the State Department's request, Herb Block contributed a booklet of his anticommunist
cartoons for distribution abroad. McCarthy used this to charge that he was in the pay of the
administration. When confronted by a reporter, McCarthy backed down.
Enlarge
Nothing exceeds like excess, September 12, 1952. Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite
underdrawing on layered paper. Published in the Washington Post (32) LC-USZ62-126909
"Have a care, sir"
Throughout his political career, Dwight Eisenhower refused to take a public stand against
Senator Joseph McCarthy's aggressive anti-communist campaign. Eisenhower even struck from a
1952 campaign speech in Wisconsin a defense of his mentor, George C. Marshall, a McCarthy
target. Half a dozen Republican senators, including Ralph Flanders, joined Margaret Chase
Smith in a "declaration of conscience" against McCarthy. Eisenhower, however, continued to
speak of "justice and fair play" in fighting communism, and it was a long time before they
prevailed.
Enlarge
"Have a care, sir," March 4, 1954. Reproduction from original drawing. Published in the
Washington Post (33)
"I have here in my hand. . ."
In 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy went too far when he took on the United States Army,
accusing it of promoting communists. The Senate held special hearings, known as the ArmyMcCarthy hearings, which were among the first to be televised nationally. In the course of
testimony McCarthy submitted evidence that was identified as fraudulent. As both public and
politicians watched the bullying antics of the Senator, they became increasingly disenchanted.
Before the year was out McCarthy, whose charges had first hit the headlines in February 1950,
was censured by his colleagues for "conduct unbecoming a senator."
Enlarge
"I have here in my hand. . .," May 7, 1954. Ink, graphite, opaque white, and overlay over
graphite underdrawing on layered paper. Published in the Washington Post (34) LC-USZ62126910
"Stand fast, men -- They're armed with marshmallows"
Even with Senator Joseph McCarthy on the wane, the general hysteria continued in many forms
by assorted super patriots. In the summer of 1954, a branch of the American Legion denounced
the Girl Scouts, calling the "one world" ideas advocated in their publications "un-American."
Enlarge
"Stand fast, men--They're armed with marshmallows," August 11, 1954. Reproduction from
original drawing. Published in the Washington Post (35)
"Here he comes now"
Richard Nixon had discovered the power of smear attacks in his early campaigns for the House
of Representatives and Senate years before Senator McCarthy began to use them. In 1954, during
his vice-presidential campaign for re-election, Nixon traveled the country to charging previous
Democratic administrations and current Democratic members of Congress with being soft on
communism. His targets included some of the most respected members of the Senate. Herb
Block's 1954 depiction of the emerging campaigner would stick with Nixon throughout his
career.
Enlarge
"Here he comes now," October 29, 1954. Reproduction from original drawing. Published in the
Washington Post (36)
"On this order for a new typewriter. ribbon -- did you know you forgot to. stamp
'Secret'?"
The least secret fact about the federal government is that it keeps too many secrets. In 1956, a
congressional committee reported that a million people in government—military and civilian—
were authorized to wield secrecy stamps. A Defense Department official summed up: "I have
never known a man to be court-martialed for overclassifying anything." And a Herb Block
cartoon had one official saying to another, "Well, we certainly botched this job. What'll we
stamp it—‘secret' or ‘top secret'?" In March 1957, The Washington Post reported that the
Pentagon had recently stamped more documents secret than they had during World War II. Much
of the "secret" information consist of speeches and other public records.
Enlarge
"On this order for a new typewriter ribbon--did you know you forgot to stamp 'Secret'?" July 25,
1956 Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered paper. Published in
the Washington Post (40) LC-USZ62-126911
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