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Image – “A Trifle Embarrassed”
“A Trifle Embarrassed” Page 663
Chapter 19
“A Trifle Embarrassed”
Published at the end of the Spanish-American War in August 1898, this cartoon from Puck depicts “Manifest Destiny” presenting Cuba, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines—depicted as babies, with strong racist overtones—to Uncle Sam. They will soon join the previously annexed Texas, California, New Mexico, and Alaska, happily playing as children inside the safe confines of the United States. Uncle Sam exclaims, “Gosh, I wish they wouldn’t come quite so many in a bunch; but if I’ve got to take them, I guess I can do as well by them as I’ve done by the others!” Uncle Sam’s spouse—personified as Columbia—gazes at the dark-skinned babies in bewilderment.
Questions for Analysis
1. How does the cartoon project racist attitudes toward peoples the United States colonized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
2. How does Uncle Sam’s exclamation reveal his understanding of Manifest Destiny? What are the “costs” of empire for Uncle Sam? What “burden” will he and other white Americans have to bear?