School Begins: Critique of US Imperialism (1899)
Uncle Sam (to his new class in Civilization) Now, children, you've got to learn these lessons whether you want to or not!
Invading foreign lands was a relatively new experience for the U.S. Given the rhetoric of civilizing uplift used to justify expansion, training was expected as part of the incorporation of new territories into the U.S.
Uneasiness over the idea of using force to govern a country was overcome by tracing the issue of consent back through recent history. An elaborate Puck graphic from early in 1899 called "School Begins" incorporates all the players in a classroom scene to illustrate the legitimacy of governing without consent.
In the caption, Uncle Sam lectures: "(to his new class in Civilization): Now, children, you've got to learn these lessons whether you want to or not! But just take a look at the class ahead of you, and remember that, in a little while, you will feel as glad to be here as they are!"
The blackboard contains the lessons learned from Great Britain on how to govern a colony and bring them into the civilized world, stating, “... By not waiting for their consent she has greatly advanced the world's civilization. — The U.S. must govern its new territories with or without their consent until they can govern themselves.”
Even the Civil War is referenced, in a wall plaque: “The Confederate States refused their consent to be governed; but the Union was preserved without their consent.” Refuting the right of indigenous rule was based on demonstrating a population’s lack of preparation for self-governance.
The image exhibits a racist hierarchy that places a dominant white American male in the center, and on the fringes, an African-American washing the windows and Native-American reading a primer upside down.
China, shown gripping a schoolbook in the doorway, has not yet entered the scene. Girls are part of the obedient older class studying books labeled "California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona."
The only non-white student in the older group holds the book titled "Alaska" and is neatly coifed in contrast to the unruly new class made up of the "Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico, and Cuba." All are depicted as dark-skinned and childish. ~ MIT Visualizing Cultures
Title: School begins / Dalrymple.
Contributor Names: Dalrymple, Louis, 1866-1905, artist
Created / Published N.Y. : Published by Keppler & Schwarzmann, 1899 January 25.
Library of Congress: LC-DIG-ppmsca-28668