"Untitled" Clifford Berryman Depression-Era Cartoon, December 23, 1932

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Courtesy of National Archives, Berryman, Clifford, "Untitled," 23 December 1932

Description

With the Great Depression now entering its fourth year and conditions for the average American continuing to worsen, the government still needed funds to operate. Cartoonist Clifford Berryman highlighted the desperation of the period with his famous Uncle Sam demanding pennies from a poor raggedly dressed worker. In his political cartoon, Berryman has Uncle Sam saying to the disheveled man, "I must take my one eleventh out of your wages. Give it to me in pennies."

Source-Dependent Questions

• Consider the central idea of this cartoon. How does Clifford Berryman, the cartoonist, draw both individuals in the cartoon to highlight this central idea?
• What was the cartoonist trying to communicate about the struggles of the government during the Great Depression?
• What was the cartoonist communicating about how much aid the government was actually giving?

Citation Information

Berryman, Clifford, "Untitled," 23 December 1932. Courtesy of National Archives