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What do the main figures in the cartoon represent and what actions are they performing?
Quick answer:
The main figures in the cartoon represent Europe, the United States, the League of Nations, and the US Senate. The United States and Europe are shown getting married, with the League of Nations as the preacher sanctifying the union. The Senate is depicted as a last-minute objector to the wedding, stopping it in the nick of time. The cartoon expresses approval of Congress rejecting joining the League of Nations.
Cartoons like this were a common element of newspapers in the early twentieth century. They often use human figures to personify larger issues and entities to make complex topics relatable to readers.
This particular cartoon was published in the Chicago Tribune shortly after the end of World War I. At the time, world powers were trying to figure out how to prevent the repeat of such a costly and deadly war. One idea, put forward by President Woodrow Wilson, was the establishment of a multinational body that would resolve conflicts diplomatically before they turned violent. This body was the League of Nations.
Despite being the vision of the US president, the League of Nations was not very popular among many Americans. Both before and after the war, many people in the United States sought to avoid being drawn in to conflicts overseas. They saw the many wars between European countries...
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as being the squabbles of overseas countries and not of their concern. Americans were worried that joining the League of Nations would bind the country too closely to Europe and cause it to become involved in more conflicts that were not its concern. This was the conclusion of the majority of the US Senate, which rejected the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
This cartoon portrays these events and sentiments. It shows a bearded man representing the United States about to be wed to a woman representing Europe. On the bride's wedding dress are the words "foreign entanglements." This is likely in reference to George Washington's own warnings against the United States forming such entangling alliances. Presiding over this wedding is the personification of the League of Nations, which would bind the United States to Europe, thus creating a situation which might draw the country into another war overseas. Just as the union is about to take place, another figure representing the Senate crashes through the window, constitutional rights in hand, to prevent the marriage.
References
The minister represents the process of signing the League of Nations covenant, which was developed in the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 after World War I and signed by many world powers in 1920. The bride represents foreign entanglements, and she is being wed to a groom, who represents the signatories of the League of Nations covenant. The groom is clearly sweating as he anticipates being wed to these foreign entanglements. The person breaking through the window represents the U.S. Senate, which did not want the U.S. to become part of the League of Nations, despite President Wilson's support for the organization. The Senate is bearing a document called "Constitutional Rights," which represents the reasons why the Senate would not want to sign the covenant. This document signifies that the Senate felt that signing this document would violate American rights. While this may not have been strictly true, many Senators felt that the League would draw Americans in foreign wars and conflicts, and therefore the Senate is opposing the marriage depicted in the cartoon. The U.S. did not wind up signing this covenant.Â