Senior Creates Political Cartoon Art Gallery

Senior Aden Melton recently created a political cartoon art gallery in the 4300 hallway. Melton did this project in Mitchell Pace’s AP Government class, creating the gallery to explain the role the media, and in this case, political cartoons, has had in history. 

“I wanted to explain how, generally, political cartoons throughout [the] United States history have, directly and indirectly, impacted policymaking and the government,” Melton said. “That is why I placed the explanations of the political cartoons under each one; this was to explain each cartoon’s role in either influencing the government directly or shaping public opinion, by calling people to action,” he added.

Class projects can be stressful and dull for a lot of students, but Melton took enjoyment in creating this one. “I greatly enjoyed this project. It was hard to do at first, since finding political cartoons and interpreting them proved to be a challenge, but it was a rather simple yet powerful project,” he said. 

The gallery consists of 23 political cartoons throughout American history. “I always focused on the United States, and my timeline ranged from the Revolutionary War up until Joe Biden’s Presidency and Dobbs v. Jackson,” Melton explained. Many of the cartoons were focused on the War of 1812, Manifest Destiny (or America’s westward expansion), Pre-Civil War and Civil War, Reconstruction Era, the Gilded Age, World War II, the Cold War, and Modern-Day.

Melton described this project as “unique” and said he felt it was the best way to go above and beyond the requirements. “I also really enjoyed exploring political cartoons’ influence throughout history, which helped both me and my peers understand how much we are affected and influenced, politically, by silly caricatures and exaggerated scenery,” he said.