Columbia (Symbolic character)

At center, President Roosevelt shows Uncle Sam and Columbia a large plant with flowers showing the members of his cabinet. The surrounding vignettes show a springtime dance of putti, Alton B. Parker shoveling snow at his home in Esopus, an art gallery, Irishmen marching in the rain on Saint Patrick’s Day, a woman cleaning house by sweeping a dust cloud of policemen out the door, and Roosevelt grafting a branch labeled “Indian School Mission,” with blossom of an unidentified bishop of the Catholic Bureau of Indian Missions, onto the “Interior Dept. Tree.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905-03-15

David B. Hill appears as a farm wife feeding chickens, geese, and pigs. Vignette scenes show Hill working the farm, shopping, and pontificating to a group of hayseed farmers. The final scene shows Hill in bed receiving the “Presidential Nomination” from Columbia.

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Comments and Context

David B. Hill had served in many offices as a New York Democrat — state assemblyman, lieutenant governor, governor, United States Senator, as a supporter and opponent of New York’s Grover Cleveland, and as a supporter of his party’s presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan. He also was, for roughly two decades between 1884 and 1904, an aspiring presidential candidate.

Columbia stands between President Theodore Roosevelt and Alton B. Parker, each kneeling on one knee, about to kiss her hands.

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Comments and Context

Barely three weeks before the presidential election of 1904, Puck chose to declare its “official” campaign commencement.

Uncle Sam and Columbia look at the Easter bonnet she has taken from a hat box, which has a battleship design and is labeled “U.S. Navy.” Caption: Miss Columbia — It’s all right in style, but altogether too small.

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Comments and Context

Throughout 1903 (in fact all throughout his presidency) Theodore Roosevelt wrote messages, delivered speeches, and placed articles in which he hammered away at the need of the United States to enlarge its Navy, increase the number of specific ships, etc. For instance, on a national speech-making tour commencing at the time of this cartoon’s publication, Roosevelt made the necessity of Naval build-up a recurring theme, most forcefully at the dedication of the Naval Memorial Monument in San Francisco in May.

Columbia stands on a globe labeled “United States,” holding a balance scale labeled “Constitutional Amendment” on which rests a large sword labeled “Centralized Government.”

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Comments and Context

Beginning around this time in American national politics, traditional voices in the mainstream occasionally advocated, at least in theory, the benefits of centralization and regulation. Of course Theodore Roosevelt himself did, advocating the first measures of the regulatory state that peaked around 1906 with legislation and gained traction after 1910, the insurgent and Progressive movements. There was no one impetus, but the seemingly intractable challenge of the trusts might, to some, be solved by a corresponding consolidation of governmental power. Also, political and economic theorists among academics frequently urged centralization of the federal government. Countries in Europe, especially Germany, experimented with Socialism, with apparent success. When magazines like Puck (conservative Democrat, largely) and Judge (conservative Republican) argued occasionally for centralization and, for instance, municipal ownership of utilities, it seems surprising today. It was surprising then, but reform was in the air. It is also a matter of speculation about whether the voices of opinion, and leaders like Roosevelt, might be proud of the ideas they planted, or see centralization as a Frankenstein monster after the subsequent century.

Print depicts a Columbia figure knighting a kneeling WWI figure. The print is dedicated to 1st Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, Air Service.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1918

A mob of labor union laborers charge up the steps of the U.S. Capitol. One man carries a flag that states “The (Labor) Union forever! The man who works when we won’t, is a traitor – Kill Him! Unions first, wives and children afterward. All men are equal and the man with brains must be kept down.” The man with the flag is fearfully pointing toward Columbia, who is standing defiant with a sword at her side, the “Declaration of Independence” in one hand, and the American Flag behind her. Caption: The Flag of Freedom will never be displaced by the Flag of Slavery.

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Comments and Context

Between 1886 and 1921, the United States experienced labor violence worse than any other time in its history, and more severe than in any other country during that period. In 1886 there were violents strikes and protests, and the founding the the Knights of Labor. Through the Haymarket Riot in Chicago that year (anarchists and union organizers, resulting in deaths of police and protesters), the Pullman and anthracite strikes, the rise of figures like Samuel Gompers and Big Bill Haywood, and Communist infiltration of unions in the years after World War I, there was much turmoil. The public’s early and earnest anxieties are reflected in Keppler’s cartoon, which made no attempt at nuance. It is reported that between 1902 (one of the high-water marks of labor violence) and 1904, there were at least 198 deaths and almost 2000 injuries from labor strife nationwide. The main industries that were struck included coal mines; various mining operations in Colorado; teamster crews, especially in San Francisco and Chicago; railroad and rail car manufacturing like the bloody Pullman strike; urban streetcar operations; and the textile and garment industries, as per the Patterson NJ silk workers’ strike. It is arguable that the violent history of this period has somewhat receded from history because the reform measures and pro-worker advocacies of Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement defused many of the complaints against conditions and the system.

Columbia sits in a chair with the American flag across her lap. She is holding a star and has a pot of stars and sewing materials next to her. Standing on the left are three male figures representing “New Mexico, Arizona, [and] Oklahoma,” “waiting for their stars” to be added to the flag. The U.S. Capitol building is in the background. Caption: Columbia (to the three territories)–Your stars shall be put on the flag just as soon as those politicians in Congress will let me.

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Comments and Context

Oklahoma achieved statehood in 1907; Arizona and New Mexico in 1912.

Columbia [the symbol of the United States] stands on the seashore with a small child who is wearing a hat labeled “Cuba.” Columbia has dropped a ribbon labeled “U.S. Protectorate” that is wrapped around the young girl’s waist, enabling her to walk without assistance.

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Four years after the treaty that ended the Spanish-American War, on May 20, 1902, Cuba “seceded” from the United States and declared itself a republic. It did not gain complete freedom from the United States, however. In its constitution were provisions that granted the United States the right to intervene in certain internal affairs; and have a role in its foreign relations and economic affairs. Eventually, under the Platt Amendment, the United States was granted a lease for a military base at Guantanamo Bay. American concessions were guaranteed percentages of United States sugar imports; guarantees that increased through the years. Only in 1934 did Cuba gain a fuller measure of political and diplomatic freedom.

Puck rides in a small automobile labeled “1877-1902,” passing a reviewing stand where Uncle Sam and Columbia greet him. The background is filled with the cast of characters from 25 years of cartoons. Caption: Puck passes the 25th yearstone amid the plaudits of his creations.

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Comments and Context

A cartoon from the 25th anniversary issue of Puck provides a profile of its humorous contents (not the political cartoons) over the quarter-century, and a taste of American society, and what Americans found funny at that time. The figures of Puck and Uncle Sam and Columbia were draw by Joseph (Udo Joseph, Jr.) Keppler, and the onlookers by J. S. Pughe. The cheering gallery is comprised largely of the stereotypes, ethnic characters, and stock figures that populated the social humor of the weekly. Among them the lazy delivery boy, the portly cop, the dandy black, a society “dude,” a cowboy, a German immigrant, the “photography “fiend,” the “bunco artist” and his rural victim, an “emancipated woman,” a domestic servant, a precocious child, an Irish immigrant, a “between engagements” actor, a tramp, a Jewish and a Chinese immigrant, a golfer, and assorted animals. These figures form a perfect picture of figures that seem politically incorrect today, but were subjects of good-natured humorous commentary in the day.

Prince Henry offers bouquets of flowers labeled “Visit of Prince Henry,” “Christening by Miss Roosevelt,” and “Yacht built in America,” to Columbia who is holding a paper that states “British Canal Concessions.” In the background, on the left, John Bull is watching from a small, rocky island.

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Comments and Context

In 1902, and especially growing from military and commercial lessons learned from the recent Spanish-American War, public sentiment grew in the United States to build a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The two likely routes through the years were considered to be through either Nicaragua or the Panama region of Colombia. As America drew closer to playing a role in an Isthmian canal, it purchased concessions granted by each of those countries to England and France. Britain expected some courtesies in return, but as Keppler’s cartoon shows, the nascent German Empire (embodied by Kaiser Wilhelm) worked hard to seduce the United States, evidenced by the labels of the bouquets. John Bull, symbol of Great Britain, stands on his tiny home base, jealous and suspicious. In short order it was the French, and her old construction companions, unable to duplicate their previous Suez Canal success, who turned over greater concessions and rights to the Americans.

Columbia welcomes a woman labeled “South America” to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1901-05-08

President William McKinley and Columbia, arm-in-arm, head for the inaugural ball.

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Comments and Context

Before the date of a president’s new term was changed to January 20, in 1934, by Constitutional amendment, Inauguration Day was March 4.

Columbia is adjusting her bonnet, which is a battleship labeled “World Power” with two guns labeled “Army” and “Navy.” It is spewing thick black smoke labeled “Expansion.” She is inserting a tiny sword as a hatpin to hold it in place.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1901-04-06

Columbia and another woman, representing South America, ride side-saddle on a buffalo to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1901-05-08

Uncle Sam and Columbia dance in a line with figures representing “Cuba, Porto Rico, Labor, Capital, Farmer, Philippines, [and] Hawaii” at the entrance to the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, visible in the background. Puck is at center in the foreground.

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Comments and Context

The meaning of this cartoon is found in its date: the first issue that Puck‘s cartoonists and editorial writers could absorb the results of the 1900 presidential election, and share reactions with readers. Without exulting in the election of any particular candidates, Puck simply celebrated the fact that another contentious campaign was ended. For the first time in the history of the United States, icons besides Uncle Sam and Columbia, capital and labor, were joined by the (rather awkwardly depicted) symbols of new territories from around the world. 

William Jennings Bryan offers his small, ineffective umbrella labeled “16 to 1,” “Anti-trust,” and “Anti-Expansion,” to a woman labeled “Columbia” who is carrying a more effective umbrella labeled “Prosperity.” Caption: Bryan. — Won’t you come under my umbrella?

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1900-09-05

President William McKinley walks onto the White House grounds with a woman labeled “Prosperity,” passing a group of barking dogs labeled “Anti-prosperity,” “Silverites,” “Anti-trust,” “Anti-expansion,” and “Socialist.” The woman, dressed in a red, white, and blue outfit, may represent Columbia or possibly Mrs. McKinley. She is wearing a winged hat like that of the Roman god Mercury, though may also represent Minerva, the Roman goddess and patroness of commerce and trade.

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Comments and Context

In a cartoon as close to a Presidential endorsement that the traditionally Democratic magazine Puck could make, “Prosperity” is literally wedded to President McKinley. These icons, including the harmless growling dogs, were in second place compared to that of its Republican rival, Judge Magazine. Judge‘s cartoons depicting the “Full Dinner Pail” — suggesting prosperity for American middle-class workers — became campaign slogans and an image that adorned millions of buttons, banners, posters, and cartoons.

President Roosevelt pulls back a curtain to display a statue of Columbia, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Behind her is a battleship armed for war, and next to her is a cannon. Caption: President Roosevelt’s ideal of Columbia, now that she is a world power.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-03-07

President Roosevelt points one dart gun at toy “jungle animals from Africa” and another gun at “Congress.” Uncle Sam and Miss Columbia look on standing beside the Christmas tree. “Congress” says to Roosevelt, “Hey, look out where ye’r pointin’ that!”

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Comments and Context

Jay N. “Ding” Darling, in his half-century as a political cartoonist, was known as a progressive, an advocate of conservation (he designed “duck stamps” for federal revenue and program funding in the 1930s; and two wildlife areas are named in his honor), and a partisan who frequently defended his friend Theodore Roosevelt.