Politcal cartoon

 

Describe- on the left side of the image there is a man. He has a large nose . He is holding a shovel that says Batoche. Under the man’s foot there is a dollar bill that says pacific scandal on it. Above him there is a beaver pelt, a sign that says Ruperts land for sale(sold). Beside the sign, there is a man on a horse. On the right side of the horse there is a British flag. Below the flag there is 2 pieces of bread. One piece has 10 cents on it and the other has 15. The one with 10 says canada below it and the one with 15 says usa below it. On the right side of these items the is a line on the ground. On the right side of the line there is a shed that says residential schools. Inside this shed there is a a teddy bear, some bannock, a newspaper with metis seized fort gary headline, pemmican, and a dog leash that says treaties. With all of the garbage there is a garbage can sitting in the middle. Outside the shed there is a man trying to push the garbage into the shed. Beside that shed there is another shed that says manitoba on it. Above the shed there a dead buffalo. Above the buffalo there is a ghost of a man and he has large curly hair. Above the man is a pile of garbage with 3 flags sticking out of it. One is a metis flag, a hbc flag and a nwc flag.
Document- the man on the left side of the image is John a macdonald. He is overlooking all of this since he was the prime minister when all of this happened. The shovel he is holding is representing 2 things. Batoche and the way he dealt with moving to the west. The first part is showing that the battle of Batoche ended all of the rebellions and pretty much stomped the metis and aboriginals. The second part is how a shovel represents force. You wouldnt use a shovel to move garbage, probably use a broom. This is showng how he was using force and being very hostile toward the aboriginal and metis. Also it shows how he doesnt really care what heppens to all of the garbage he just wants it gone away and forgotten about. The dollar bill under his foot represents the pacific scandal and how he used money to bribe the people of Canada to vote for him. It is under his foot because it is stuck to him wherever he goes. He wants to foget about it but he can’t becuase the people do not forget. The beaver pelt represents how the aborginals contributed to Canada. This shows that they were involved in the fur trade and that they were a part in shaping Canada. The For sale sign represents the selling of Ruperts land and the sold is showing that Macdonald bought it. The man on the horse represents the NWMP. The NWMP is near the other items because Macdonald sent the NWMP to protect his land and here they are protectig Macdonald’s items, just as the land was an item of his. The British flag represents the National Policy: Immigration. This is showing that he wants more people from Canada East (who were British) to come and immigrate into the west. The 2 pieces of bread represent the National Policy:Tariffs. This shows how the bread in the USA is more expensive than the canadians because of the tax he placed on it. The line in the middle represents what Macdonald liked and didn’t like. Now even though Macdonald did enjoy the residental schools, he built it to get the Abriginals out of his way. The line is showing also how the country was split into macdonald on one side and the aboriginals and Metis on the other side. The line also has stripes on it to show the CPR. It is in the middle because it splits the scene into 2 parts and shows how the CPR “split” his tasks when the CPR was being built. The CPR pretty much got in the way of all Macdonald’s promises to the aboriginals and Metis.

The shed that says residental schools represents how Macdonald tried to get rid off the Aboriginal problems by putting them all in these residental schools. Inside the shed there is a leash. This leash represents the treaties to the aboriginals and how it was meant to let them go but keep them at a safe distance close enough to him. It shows how that with the treaties he wanted the Aboriginals to get out of his hair, but keep them still somewhat in touch with him. The pemmican shows how the Metis contributed to the success of Canada with their dried meat that they sold plenty of. The bannock represents Poundmaker because he got his name from punding the flour to make the bannock. The teddy bear represents big bear and how Macdonald wanted to put away big bear and poundmaker with the garbage because they were rebelling. The newspaper represents the Red River rebellion. It says the Metis capture Fort Gary. The trashcan just shows how all of those items Macdonald wanted to be put away, or in the trash. It is also because he didn’t like any of those items except the leash which he put in there himself. The man pushing the door closed shows how much trash was piling up in there and that it was hard to get closed. This shows how much stuff Macdonald had to try and put away or stop, with the battle of Batoche. The shed that has Manitoba on it represents Manitoba. It is empty because the Metis left the land since it was very crappy for their lifestyle. The dead bison above the the shed represents the laws of St. Laurent. This is showing that even though the Metis put laws in place, Macdonald had the power to overthrow those rules and continue the massacre of Bison. The man above the Bison is Louis Reil. He is potrayed as a ghost because he was hung after the battle of Batoche. He is still there though because the Metis do not forget him and Macdonald knew what influence Reil had on the Metis people. The pile of trash represents the battle of seven oaks. The flags represent who was in the battle. It shows the Metis with the North West Company because they worked together in the battle. Also it shows the HBC flag laying down since they were defeated.

Interpret- This cartoon is meant to show what happened in Canada and how Macdonald dealt with it. Overall his expansion west turned out to be a success, but not without many ties missing (CPR). Macdonald took his approach a very barbaric way. He used brute force to attemp to try and make the people happy. He had the right ideas about expansion west but forgot about the people of canada views and opinions. He thought he was doing the right thing but only realized he wasn’t after the battle of Batoche. Overall i think Macdonald did an alright job but totally forgot about his people, which led to many rebellions and fights.