Cowboys originated in Mexico.
When the spanish conquerors arrived, they started stablishing ranchs and farms, and the role of the <em>vaquero </em>(from the spanish word <em>vaca</em>) was coined to name the men who took care of the livestock, and who were also good with certain skills like herding, roping and riding.
As the ranching practices were spread, so did the culture of the cowboy, including their clothing style and their skills.
The first cowboys had different backgrounds like Mexican, Native American and African American, among others.
I believe that there was hunger due to shortage of supplies. :)
Marshall Plan
The "Marshall Plan" was named after the man who then was US Secretary of State, George C. Marshall. Officially the plan was called the European Recovery Program. Marshall announced the plan in 1947, and it went into effect in 1948. The intent was to provide aid and rebuilding to European economies after the damaging effects of World War II. The US intended to build up its allies in Europe and stave off communism.
Because it offers the historian an objective snapshot of the public sentiment of the time, which the cartoonist (should be) distilling for their readers, according to their feelings, for mass appeal. I say objective as it is usually very easy to decipher their subjective viewpoint according to the publication. The value of this is that it is tapping into how the masses 'feel' rather than how subjective facts can be built to form historical opinion. It becomes especially valuable prior to this century, when public sentiment is harder to garner as we were less technologically advanced.
