About the Cartoonist John Wilson Bengough

STUDENT HANDOUT

“DOCUMENT A HISTORICAL POLITICAL CARTOON” Activity

Description:

Document one of three historical political cartoons that are presented in this handout using the resource materials provided. Then create a folder on the Museum Web site that displays your cartoon and links it to one or more images in order to provide an historical context for the event addressed by the cartoonist.

This handout contains: PLAN...... 2 SUGGESTED CARTOONS TO DOCUMENT ...... 7 DOCUMENTATION REGARDING: “Isn’t that a Dainty Dish to Set Before a King?” .. 8 DOCUMENTATION REGARDING: “The Vacant Chair. A Riel Band of Union.”...... 12 DOCUMENTATION REGARDING: “Riding Into Power” ...... 16 Bibliography and Credits ...... 20

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb

ClioClic

PLAN ACTIVITY “DOCUMENT A HISTORICAL POLITICAL CARTOON”

Student names: Group:

This political cartoon documentation exercise includes the following steps:

1. Choose one of the three political cartoons. 2. Describe it. 3. Analyze it. 4. Gather images and prepare a report.

This document helps you prepare a report, which will take the form of a folder (visual presentation) on the museum Web site.

1. Choose a political cartoon Choose one of the suggested political cartoons (see p.7) and record the basic information and accession number below.

Cartoon title: ______Author: ______Media-newspaper (if known): ______Date of first publication and page # (if known): ______Accession number: ______

2. Describe it To view the political cartoon, enter its access number in the Web site’s Quick Search box. Observe the details (you can enlarge the image). Using the resource materials, describe the cartoon under the following keys: The “WHAT” or the SHAPE-FUNCTION key: Sample questions: What words are used in the cartoon? ______Find definitions for any unusual words or expressions. “Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 3 ______If there is a dialogue, what does each caricature say? ______What is happening? ______

The “WHO” or the PEOPLE key: Sample questions:

Who is depicted in the cartoon? What do we know about these people? ______What are the characters’ physical gestures and facial expressions? ______Are characters stereotyped? ______

The “WHERE” or the PLACE key: Sample questions: In what situation are the characters placed? ______Is the illustrator using analogy? ______Are signs or symbols being used? ______

The “WHEN” or the TIME key: Sample questions: What historical event or fact does the cartoon depict? ______

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 4 ______Are these people or these issues still important today? ______

3. Analyze it

Based on your answers, interpret the meaning of this cartoon. The “WHY” or the MEANING key: Sample questions: What message is this cartoon trying to send? ______Is there a bias you can identify? (political, religious, regional, ethnic, economic, etc.) ______

NOTE: It might be difficult to answer some questions by using available resource materials. If necessary: Consult other political cartoons documented on the Web site as needed1. To locate documented images and search results more easily, select Sort by Description Availability. Other resources can be accessed through the ClioClic Resources tab.2

4. Gather images and prepare a report on the Web

For more technical details, consult the My FOLDERS page on the McCord Web site. 3

1 Check out the following address: www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/search . 2 Check out the following address: www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/student/resources “Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 5 On the Web site, return to your political cartoon and select it. To locate it more easily, enter the access number in the Web site’s Quick Search box.

Click on “Select Image” . Preserve your image by creating a folder:

Display your selection (click on “Display My Images Selection” icon , in the menu); Click on “Create Folder” and follow instructions; Take note of folder name and password in order to reaccess it once again.

Begin to prepare your report that will take the form of a folder. In the “Introduction”: Identify your work by writing your name, the name of your school and province, and the date. Using the “Comment and Reorder” icon beside the political cartoon: Summarize the information you have gathered from each of the keys; Save. Gather one or more image to accompany your political cartoon. Search the Museum Web site database containing 110,000 images and choose one or more images that provide your cartoon with a context. As an example, the new image could relate to: The PEOPLE who are represented (the “WHO”); The PLACE where these events occurred (the “WHERE”): The TIME period within which these events occurred (the “WHEN”); The MEANING of the cartoon (the “WHY”). Select the image(s) and add it to your folder.

Display your selection (click on “Display My Images Selection” icon ); Click on “Add to Existing Folder”. Enter the folder name and password. Order please! Select the most relevant images and remove (or hide) those you don't need. Arrange your images in a logical sequence by numbering them in order of appearance.

Complete your folder.

3 Check out the following address: www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/myfolders , and choose “How to create and modify my folders.” “Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 6 For new images: Explain how the image relates to the opinions, events or characters addressed by the cartoon. If you wish to add images from elsewhere: Save the pictures you want on your computer and make a note of the source4; Then, access your folder once again on the McCord Web Site by going to the My FOLDERS tab of the main menu and click on “Modify My Folders.” Enter the folder name and password; Add them to your folder, by clicking on the button “Add an image.” To conclude: Note the questions that remain unanswered about your cartoon which you would still like to learn about; Acknowledge your references (any documents, Web sites or other sources of information that you consulted):

Example of a book Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 190.

Example of a Canadian Illustrated News, vol. 5, no 27, July 2, 1874, p. 328. periodical

Example of a Web site Library and Archives Canada. Website of Library and Archives Canada, [On line]. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/index-e.html (page consulted January 28, 2004).

You can view your folder immediately by clicking on “Tour View”, “Lightbox View”, or “Album View.”

You can also: print your folder to hand it in to your teacher; save it on your computer; and publish it in the section of ClioClic entitled EduWeb Students’ Work (send an e-mail to [email protected] ).

4 See hyperlinks suggested on this page: www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/eduweb/links “Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 7

SUGGESTED CARTOONS TO DOCUMENT

Here are some suggestions for political cartoons to document and analyze.

“Isn’t that a Dainty Dish to Set Before a King?” M994X.5.273.72

(see p. 8)

“The Vacant Chair. A Riel Band of Union.” M994X.5.273.100

(see p.12)

“Riding Into Power” M994X.5.273.201

(see p.16)

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 8 DOCUMENTATION REGARDING: “Isn’t that a Dainty Dish to Set Before a King?”

Here is a political cartoon and the resource materials needed to document it. Other resources are available under the History Texts tab of EduWeb5.

McCord Museum database Accession number: M994X.5.273.72 Title: Isn’t that a Dainty Dish to Set Before a King? -Nursery Rhyme Figures: • Opposition leaders Edward Blake and Alexander Mackenzie are presenting the “pie” to the “King” Governor General, Lord Dufferin, representing the government.6 • “The faces of the ‘blackbirds’ in the ‘pie’ are those of [left to right] Hon. M. Langevin (a prominent member of the Macdonald Government), Sir Hugh Allan, James Beaty, Esq. (to represent the Leader), Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Francis Hincks, ‘Uncle Sam’ and T.C. Petteson, Esq. (representing the Mail newspaper).”7 Words: • On pie: Pacific Scandal • Beside the T.C. Petteson blackbird caricature: Mail. Date and Period: First Published August 9, 1873, republished 1886 Artist: John Wilson Bengough, 1851-1923 Origin: Canada Printer & publisher: The Grip Printing and Publishing Co. Medium: Ink on Newsprint, Photoengraving

5 Check out the following address: www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/eduweb/texts 6 Werthman, William C. Canada in Cartoon: a pictorial history of the confederation years, 1867-1967. New Brunswick, Brunswick Press, 1967, p. 16. 7 Bengough, John Wilson. A caricature history of Canadian politics: events from the Union of 1841, as illustrated by cartoons from “Grip”, and various other sources, Toronto, Grip Print and Pub. Co., 1886, p. 160.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 9 Excerpts 1: About the cartoonist John Wilson Bengough “Inspired by cartoonists in the United States, and working with an abundant supply of native subject matter, the early Canadian cartoonists attacked political corruption with a directness that was an accepted convention, but often seems libellous by modern standards. Politicians, including Prime Ministers, were often shown slicing up patronage pies while patronage lists, railway contracts, and other incriminating documents spilled from their pockets.”

Desbarats, Peter and Terry Mosher. The Hecklers: a history of Canadian political cartooning and a cartoonists’ history of Canada, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1979, p. 54.

“Probably the art [of political cartooning in Canada] became a familiar one only in 1873 when J.W. Bengough commenced to publish Grip. A man of fierce prejudices that were completely compensated for by an exquisite talent and a brilliant wit, he hated tobacco and alcohol, tariffs and Tories [Conservatives]. So influential did he become that his friends apportioned to him a great deal of the credit for driving the conservatives from power in 1896.”

Werthman, William C. Canada in Cartoon: a pictorial history of the confederation years, 1867-1967, New Brunswick, Brunswick Press, 1967, p. 16.

Excerpt 2: Bengough on the Pacific Scandal “Grip, a comic journal edited and illustrated by Bengough, made its first appearance on May 24, 1873.

“There was no great furor over the initial number,” confessed Bengough, but unknown to him at the time political life in Canada was about to be rocked by the Pacific Scandal. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald had been re-elected in 1872 but the Liberals soon uncovered evidence of a $300,000 contribution to the Conservatives by Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal, the head of a railway syndicate anxious to build a new line to the Pacific coast.

“The whole country was at once aflame with interest and excitement,” Bengough recalled, “and an absorbing theme adapted to keep Grip going for many issues had thus been supplied at the right moment…The circulation increased rapidly, and the permanent success of the publication was assured.””

Desbarats, Peter and Terry Mosher. The Hecklers: a history of Canadian political cartooning and a cartoonists’ history of Canada, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1979, p. 46.

Excerpt 3: A description of the cartoon “The Liberal leaders, Blake and Mackenzie, present the Tory ministry, served up in a pie, to the Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, who found the dish to be not so dainty. When the pie was opened the birds began to sing and the chorus lasted from April to November.”

Werthman, William C. Canada in Cartoon: a pictorial history of the confederation years, 1867-1967, New Brunswick, Brunswick Press, 1967, p. 16.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 10 Excerpt 4: The nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence” “Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye; Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie. When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing; Was not that a dainty dish, to set before the King? The King was in his counting-house, counting out his money; The Queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey. The maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes, Along there came a big black bird, and snapped off her nose.”

Anonymous. “Sing a Song of Sixpence”, in A Family Book of Nursery Rhymes, Iona and Peter Opie (ed.), New York, Oxford University Press, 1964, p. 62.

Excerpt 5: Details of the 1873 Pacific Scandal “One of the conditions of British Columbia’s entrance into Confederation in 1871 was that a transcontinental railroad be built within ten years. The roots of the scandal lay in the fact that during the time the Conservative government was trying to decide which of several companies was to do the job, Sir John A. Macdonald and his associates were taking large sums of money from Sir Hugh Allan (a founder of one of the companies) to fight the 1872 election. The Conservatives won their election and Allan was duly awarded the contract.”

McIntyre Educational Media. Canadian history and the political cartoon. Montreal, National Film Board, 1975-1979.

Excerpt 6: About the shipping magnate Sir Hugh Allan “In Montreal, the ruthless shipping magnate, Sir Hugh Allan, formed a rival group secretly backed by American railroad interests. Allan had money and he used it, buying up newspapers, young lawyers, even priests, to pressure Cartier and the entire Tory government. […]

“Sir George-Étienne] Cartier had turned for cash to Sir Hugh Allan and, as the [election] campaign intensified, [the Prime Minister Sir John A.] Macdonald followed. “I must have another ten thousand,” he wired the magnate’s solicitor in August 1872. “Will be the last time of asking. Do not fail me.””

Morton, Desmond. A Short History of Canada, Toronto, McClelland & Steward Inc., 1997, p. 100 to 101.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 11 Excerpt 7: Sir Hugh Allan and his reward from the Conservatives “Macdonald won [the 1872 election] narrowly. […] Sir Hugh would have his reward. For a million acres of land no official had ever seen and a list of other conditions, the government handed Allan a railway charter – on condition that his American partners be cut out. The old rogue agreed. The partners did not. Had they not fed most of the money to Allan for the election? The opposition would soon have proof. A secret raid on the office of Allan’s solicitor delivered a bag of evidence, including Macdonald’s desperate message. Either $350,000 or $162,000 had been poured into the campaign. In any case, when even the prime minister earned only $8000 a year, the sum was enormous. The conclusion was obvious. “The Government got the money,” explained Edward Blake, Ontario’s liberal premier, “and Sir Hugh Allan the Charter.””

Morton, Desmond. A Short History of Canada, Toronto, McClelland & Steward Inc., 1997, p. 102.

Excerpt 8: Mackenzie, chief of Liberals during the Scandal “Within a month of Mackenzie’s becoming leader, the Pacific Scandal had broken. The Liberals uncovered the massive flow of money from Montreal capitalist Sir Hugh Allan to the Conservative party during the election of 1872 in presumed exchange for the Pacific railway charter […]. Mackenzie was scandalized by the rumours he heard as early as February 1873. Quebec Liberal Lucius Seth Huntington laid public charges against the Conservatives on 2 April. After a strenuous rearguard action, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald abruptly resigned on 5 November. Mackenzie and the Liberals thus had power dumped into their laps. The scandal precipitated and hardened Liberal suspicions about large concentrations of wealth and the influence of such wealth on government. A Liberal party with ideological leanings towards free trade and individual enterprise naturally pointed out that the scandal involved a rejection of the norms of competition and an assertion of monopoly power.”

Forster, Ben. “Alexander Mackenzie”, Library and Archives Canada, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, [On line]. http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=41335&query=Blake (page consulted December 9, 2004).

Excerpt 9: An historian’s perspective on the patronage in the 19th century “The Pacific Scandal was partly scandalous, partly not. All parties used money at election time. Macdonald would explain to Governor General Lord Dufferin in September 1873 how Canadian elections went. There were legitimate election expenses; because of the many rural constituencies, with sparse populations, these were large. Other expenses, long considered necessary, were in a half-light, being sanctioned by custom though technically forbidden by law, for example hiring carriages to take voters to the polls. Such expenses, in Macdonald’s parliamentary experience, had never been pressed before an elections committee.”

Johnson, J.K. and P.A. Waits. “Sir John Alexander Macdonald”, Library and Archives Canada, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, [On line]. http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=40370&query=Macdonald (page consulted December 21, 2004).

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 12 DOCUMENTATION REGARDING: “The Vacant Chair. A Riel Band of Union.”

Here is a political cartoon and the resource materials needed to document it. Other resources are available under the History Texts tab of EduWeb8.

McCord Museum database Accession number: M994X.5.273.100 Title: The Vacant Chair. A Riel Band of Union. Figures: [left to right] Conservative Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, Liberal Opposition Leader Alexander Mackenzie. Captions: • Macdonald and Mackenzie: “Louis Riel is a murderer and an outlaw and he ought to be hanged.” • Crow: “Bravo! Gentlemen! Unanimous for Once!” Words: • Tacked to chair: V.R. Notice! Louis Riel MP is requested to step this way. No questions will be asked. By order. • Holding in their hands: Warrant…Riel… • On sword: Liberal Justice • Paper on floor: Scott Murder Indictment • On book binding: Law Date and Period: First Published April 4, 1874, republished 1886. Artist: John Wilson Bengough, 1851-1923. Origin: Canada. Printer & publisher: The Grip Printing and Publishing Co. Medium: Ink on Newsprint, Photoengraving.

8 Check out the following address: www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/eduweb/texts “Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 13 tariffs and Tories [Conservatives]. So influential did he become that his friends apportioned to him a great deal of the credit for driving the conservatives from power in 1896.”

Werthman, William C. Canada in Cartoon: a pictorial history of the confederation years, 1867-1967, New Brunswick, Brunswick Press, 1967, p. 16.

Excerpt 2: Bengough and Prime Minister John A. Macdonald “Bengough met the Prime Minister only once, during a brief interview in the Parliament Building at Ottawa. He wrote later that “the quality that impressed me most during those few minutes was his air of shrinking bashfulness!

“Nothing could have been less typical of the characteristics shown by the Macdonald of Bengough’s caricatures. It was Bengough’s ungainly, boozy and corrupt Macdonald that engraved itself on the public mind, particularly in the days before newspapers published photographs of politicians.

“During his few years in Canada, Edward Jump had portrayed Macdonald as a sleepy if somewhat crafty idiot. Bengough, over a much longer period, developed Macdonald’s frizzy hair, long nose and large mouth into national symbols. Not other political figure came to life so vividly beneath Bengough’s pen; no other cartoonists, even those who were far better draughtsmen, were able to capture Macdonald’s style and mannerisms as effectively. The Prime Minister still seems to live, breathe and hiccough in Bengough’s cartoons.”

Desbarats, Peter and Terry Mosher. The Hecklers: a history of Canadian political cartooning and a cartoonists’ history of Canada, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1979, p. 46.

Excerpt 3: Description of the cartoon by the author “Louis Riel, the leader of the Red River Rebellion and alleged murderer of Thomas Scott, had been returned for Provencher, Manitoba, to the Dominion Parliament. He prudently failed to take his seat in the House, while the unanimity with which both sides cried for his arrest made “the vacant chair” a bond of union for the time being.”

Bengough, John Wilson. A caricature history of Canadian politics: events from the Union of 1841, as illustrated by cartoons from “Grip”, and various other sources, Toronto, Grip Print and Pub. Co., 1886, p. 216.

Excerpt 4: About Louis Riel and the Métis “Clever, ambitious, poetic, visionary, vain, Riel had been brought up in Red River and then educated in Montreal […] Potential he had indeed, but his power was put to the service not of the church but of his own Métis people, a group which few English Protestants quite understood, and which they frequently underestimated. The Métis lived in the winter and spring on river-lot farms along the Red [River] and its tributaries, on deep narrow lots in the French-Canadian style. In the summer and autumn they hunted buffalo. […]

“Riel knew his people and what he might manage with them. He and Métis horsemen seized Upper Fort Garry, the main HBC [Hudson’s Bay Company] centre […]. They continued to hold it until they had forced the new Dominion of Canada to negotiate terms. The result was the minuscule Province of Manitoba, created in 1870, with special rights for the Métis and the French.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 14 “Riel can thus be regarded as the father of Manitoba, and in some ways he was.”

Waite, Peter. “Between Three Oceans: Challenges of a Continental Destiny (1840-1900)”, Illustrated History of Canada, Craig Brown (ed.), Toronto, Key Porter Books, 1997, p. 329.

Excerpt 5: Riel and Thomas Scott’s murder “After Confederation, the new Canadian government bought much of the West from the Hudson’s Bay Company. It organized a government and planned settlement without consulting the local population.

“Furious, the Métis called on Louis Riel to lead them in 1869. The son of a former Métis leader and a French-Canadian mother, Riel had been educated in Montréal. He ordered the Métis to stop Canadian surveyors and tell them to get off the land owned by the Native peoples. The Métis then prevented the new lieutenant-governor from entering the settlement, seized Fort Garry, established a provisional government, and sent their proposal for the government of the area to Ottawa. The Métis hurt their cause, however, by executing Thomas Scott, a Protestant labourer from Ontario. Contemptuous of the Métis population, Scott was captured twice in two months and was accused of taking up arms against the provisional government. Riel allowed Scott to stand trial for treason. Scott’s execution made him a “martyr” in the eyes of Ontarians and turned Ontario against the Métis. Riel succeeded in obtaining provincial status for Manitoba, but Ontarians considered him a traitor, and he was forced to flee to the United States.”

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 226.

Excerpt 6: Riel’s seat in Parliament “After 1870, Riel kept in close touch with the new Province of Manitoba, and in 1874, he was elected the federal M.P. from Provencher. He daringly signed the member’s book, but as a result of the $5000 reward for his capture, offered by the Liberal Edward Blake, he never took his seat.”

McIntyre Educational Media. Canadian history and the political cartoon. Montreal, National Film Board, 1975-1979.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 15 Excerpt 7: Division of public opinion a problem for Macdonald “Scott was an awkward martyr. […] most historians have generally agreed with Riel that Scott must have been a man of bad character. No one should be shot on such evidence. Contemporary opinion declared his death a murder. Reports from the Red River stoked the fires of Ontario Protestantism. Brown, the Globe, and the Grits had an issue the smallest mind could understand: Macdonald was bargaining with a murderous rebel. Quebec, at first dismayed by the killing, rapidly decided, after the Ontario furore, that Riel must be forgiven. Riel’s friends in Montreal were long suffering but loyal. They now regarded the Métis as guardians of a part of the French-Canadian patrimony most Québécois would rather admire from a distance.”

Morton, Desmond. A Short History of Canada, Toronto, McClelland & Steward Inc., 1997, p. 97.

Excerpt 8: Impact of Riel on Canadian history “The most severe regional challenge to the federal regime came, however, in French- Canadian Quebec, which had felt both economic and constitutional strains, but still particularly responded to the emotional memory of Louis Riel as patriot and martyr. The Riel case had painfully brought home the fact that Canadiens remained a minority in all Canada, to be outweighed and outvoted on the deepest issues. Few Quebecois then concluded that the only answer now left was to separate from Canada. Yet more looked wishfully to that ultimate idea, and many more determined that the immediate aim must be to build a much stronger Quebec bastion within the Anglo-dominated federal union.”

Careless, James Maurice Stockford. Canada: a Celebration of our heritage, Mississauga, Heritage Publishing House, 1997, p. 88.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 16 DOCUMENTATION REGARDING: “Riding Into Power”

Here is a political cartoon and the resource materials needed to document it. Other resources are available under the History Texts tab of EduWeb9.

McCord Museum database Accession number: M994X.5.273.201 Title: Riding Into Power Figures: • Under elephant are opposition members and other critics of the National Policy: (left to right) Liberal leader Alexander Mackenzie, Reformer and Finance Critic Sir Richard Cartwright and two unknown figures, the last possibly representing the famous Reformer George Brown.10 • On Top of the Elephant are proponents of the National Policy like Sir Charles Tupper (lying down with the capitalist W.H. Frazer representing the Ontario Manufacturers Association on his back), and notably one of the National Policy’s designers R.W. Phipps riding at the head of the elephant. At centre is Sir John A. Macdonald with J. Chas. Rykert on his shoulders.11 Captions: • Sir John A. Macdonald: “This elephant belongs to Phipps. He imported it, and no one else knows how to manage it.” • R.W. Phipps: “I can pitch them all off if I like.” Words: • On books: R.W. Phipps, His Elephant; Phipps’ Pamphlet; Scraps from Phipps’ Pamphlet. • On bag: Extra Luggage • On book underneath Sir Richard Cartwright: Revenue Tariff Date and Period: First Published September 28, 1878, republished 1886 Artist: John Wilson Bengough, 1851-1923

9 Check out the following address: www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/eduweb/texts 10 Bengough, John Wilson. A caricature history of Canadian politics: events from the Union of 1841, as illustrated by cartoons from “Grip”, and various other sources, Toronto, Grip Print and Pub. Co., 1886, p. 426. 11 Ibid, p. 420, 422, 210, 261, 423. “Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 17 Origin: Canada. Printer & publisher: The Grip Printing and Publishing Co. Medium: Ink on Newsprint, Photoengraving

Excerpt 1: About the cartoonist John Wilson Bengough “Probably the art [of political cartooning in Canada] became a familiar one only in 1873 when J.W. Bengough commenced to publish Grip. A man of fierce prejudices that were completely compensated for by an exquisite talent and a brilliant wit, he hated tobacco and alcohol, tariffs and Tories [Conservatives]. So influential did he become that his friends apportioned to him a great deal of the credit for driving the conservatives from power in 1896.”

Werthman, William C. Canada in Cartoon: a pictorial history of the confederation years, 1867-1967, New Brunswick, Brunswick Press, 1967, p. 16.

Desbarats, Peter and Terry Mosher. The Hecklers: a history of Canadian political cartooning and a cartoonists’ history of Canada, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1979, p. 46.

Excerpt 3: Description of the cartoon by the author “In anticipation of the difficulty the new Ministry would meet in reconciling the various conflicting trade interests in the promised tariff changes, the N.P. [National Policy] was referred to as a White Elephant - a beast proverbially awkward to have on hand. That the Policy had proved a particularly “happy thought” on the part of the Conservative leader was now manifest, for it is doubtful if anything excepting this adroit appeal to the people’s pockets could possibly have restored the Conservatives to power at this time.”

Excerpt 4: Prime Minister Macdonald and his National Policy “Sir John A. Macdonald was prime minister of the new [Canadian] nation for its first seven years. Then in 1873, a worldwide economic downturn struck. In Canada, businesses went

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 18 bankrupt, banks failed, farmers could not get good prices for their crops, and thousands lost their jobs. Macdonald had to resign because of a scandal […] For five years, the downturn brought the country to a standstill.

“In 1878 Macdonald was reelected on a platform called the National Policy. The policy had three parts: • Protection for Canadian industries • Settlement of the West • Completion of the railway to the West.”

Deirs, Elspeth, John Fielding et al. Canada: the story of a developing nation, Toronto, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 2000, p. 113.

Excerpt 5: A historian’s comment on the cartoon “In hard times the Conservatives toyed with the idea of advocating higher tariffs and, as the Liberals did nothing to combat the depression of the ‘70’s, boldly adopted it. John A. characteristically refused to be specific in detail but found the label of “National Policy” hopeful to the public and suggestive of real action. The convenient and enigmatic elephant conveyed him triumphantly into power in the election of 1878.”

Werthman, William C. Canada in Cartoon: a pictorial history of the confederation years, 1867-1967, New Brunswick, Brunswick Press, 1967, p. 16.

Excerpt 6: Macdonald’s National Policy elected “[…] Macdonald was returned to power in the general election of September 1878 with as large a majority as he had been defeated by in 1874. The Liberals couldn’t get over it. Some could not get over the new National Policy (NP) either, which through Macdonald was to become a permanent feature of economic and political life in Canada. The basic idea of the National Policy was to encourage, by means of a tariff structure, the development of Canadian industry: allow raw materials in cheaply, such as cotton, wool, unrefined sugar or molasses; and put steep import duties (25 or 30 per cent) on goods that Canadian factories could now manufacture, such as cotton or woollen cloth, refined sugar, nails, screws, engines.”

Waite, Peter. “Between Three Oceans: Challenges of a Continental Destiny (1840-1900)”, in Illustrated History of Canada, Craig Brown (ed.), Toronto, Key Porter Books, 1997, p. 340.

Excerpt 7: Economic depression and the Americans “What exacerbated the problem of the 1870s [economic depression] was slaughter selling (what we now call “dumping”) by the Americans. American manufacturers were badly affected by the drying up of their own markets in the depression and found it helpful to sell their goods in Canada, often at less than cost, simply to clear inventory.”

Waite, Peter. “Between Three Oceans: Challenges of a Continental Destiny (1840-1900)”, in Illustrated History of Canada, Craig Brown (ed.), Toronto, Key Porter Books, 1997, p. 339.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 19 Excerpt 8: Impact of the National Policy “A protective tariff for Canadian goods has always been controversial […] The National Policy did not benefit all parts of the country; most of the new industries were established in central Canada. For example, the number of cotton mills in Québec and Ontario rose from four to seventeen between 1878 and 1884. These mills made great profits for their owners. The owners of the Hudon Mill in Montréal, for example, saw their profits triple between 1881 and 1883.”

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 234.

Excerpt 9: A perspective on the National Policy “Tariffs were put on goods brought into the country that competed with Canadian-made goods. Canadian-made goods could then sell for the same price or less than American- and British-made goods. As most industries were in Ontario and Québec, the tariffs favoured this part of the country. People moving into the Western plains were expected to buy the farming machinery and other goods that the new industries produced. The railway would link the producers and the market in the West.

“The National Policy was in place for decades to come. To the Western farmers it seemed to protect rich industrialists in the East. They would have preferred to buy less expensive American-made goods. In time the policy led to feelings of bitterness in the West.”

Deirs, Elspeth, John Fielding et al. Canada: the story of a developing nation, Toronto, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 2000, p. 113.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb 20

Bibliography and Credits

Works on caricature and history

Desbarats, Peter and Terry Mosher. The Hecklers: a history of Canadian political cartooning and a cartoonists’ history of Canada, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1979.

Hou, Charles and Cynthia Hou. Great Canadian Political Cartoons, 1820-1914. Vancouver, Moody’s Lookout Press, 1997.

Hou, Charles and Cynthia Hou. Great Canadian Political Cartoons, 1915-1945. Vancouver, Moody’s Lookout Press, 2002.

McIntyre Educational Media. Canadian history and the political cartoon. Montreal, National Film Board, 1975-1979.

Werthman, William C. Canada in Cartoon: a pictorial history of the confederation years, 1867-1967, New Brunswick, Brunswick Press, 1967.

Works on education

Hou, Charles and Cynthia Hou. The Art of Decoding Political Cartoons, A teacher’s guide, Vancouver, Moody’s Lookout Press, 1998.

Hou, Charles. « Decoding Political Cartoons ». Library and Archives Canada website [On line], http://www.collectionscanada.ca/education/008-3050-e.html (Page consulted February 4th, 2005).

Cardin, Jean-François, Raymond Bédard et René Fortin. « Fiche méthodologique : Comment analyser une caricature », In Le Québec : héritages et projets, 2e éd., Laval, Éditions HRW.

Credits

From the McCord Museum: Dr. Marie-Claude Larouche, Marc Walker, Chantal Provost and Michèle Hékimi, with the collaboration of Christian Vachon, Registrar.

“Document a Historical Political Cartoon” Activity McCord Museum, EduWeb On-Line Educational Program, September 2006 www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/eduweb