Coal Strike Political Cartoon
This picture accurately represents Roosevelt's actions during the Coal strike because the picture depicts Roosevelt's struggle to save the consumers. In the picture, Roosevelt has lassoed a colossal piece of coal labeled "Threatened Coal Strike" and Roosevelt is trying to pull it back up the hill so it won't crush the houses on the bottom (consumers). The struggle of pulling the huge lump of coal represents Roosevelt trying to come to a compromise with the coal miners. The coal miners demanded higher wages and shorter work hours and kept their stance even when President Roosevelt himself intervened with the dispute and made them consider the countless lives of Americans they would put at risk if coal production were to stop. This forced Roosevelt to threaten the coal miners to use military force to occupy the Pennsylvania mines. On October 23, 1902 the miners went back to work because of Roosevelt's willingness to grant them 10% increase of wages and 8-hour work days. The depiction of the coal's imminent fall over the edge represents the thin line Roosevelt was on to save the people, and the actions of Roosevelt trying to save the village gives the viewers a sense of heroism.