Political Cartoons

    The Each One Teach One that I found really interesting was the history of political cartooning. I always thought political cartoons were a new development made within the last 100 years, but I was very wrong. Political cartoons were made in 1720 with the collapse of the South Sea Company. I researched to see what was so special about this collapse that inspired the first political cartoon. The South Sea Company collapse is one of the world's foremost economic collapses. At that time, King George took control of the company in 1718, and with this "purchase," the company's stock grew astronomically, but the company's overall profits were the same. Even people within the company were encouraging others and, at times, bribing others to purchase stock. Then in 1920, the company bought the United Kindom's national debt, which was 32 million pounds at that time, for 7 million pounds, and the idea was that the company would pay for the debt with its ever-increasing stock sales. In August of that same year, however, the stock price plummeted 80% overnight, and with many of the population owning stock in the company, people were ruined. Sorry if that little blurb was extensive, but it does make sense why this was the first instance of political cartoons; this event combines bribery, corruption, and a substantial political figure in the king, and it was widespread enough that almost everyone felt the effects of it.

    Continuing on the idea of political cartoons, another thing that I found fascinating was the five elements of a political cartoon. They were symbols, exaggeration, irony, labeling, and analogy. While I must admit I am not a massive expert on political cartoons, I did not know how much time and effort really goes into making a good political cartoon because while they may look straightforward and childish at face value, they all hold profound meanings behind it if you take the time to look and analyze.