Judge — May 15, 1886 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Judge Magazine, May 15, 1886 This cartoon criticizes working-class pragmatism regarding labor agitation. The image shows a working man rejecting inflammatory rhetoric—"blowing off the froth"—from radical activists preaching violence and anarchism (visible text references "Chicago," "killing of policemen," and "anarchists"). The satire targets both the anarchist movement and middle-class reformers. The accompanying quote from the N.Y. Sun notes that working people are "level-headed and practical" and don't sympathize with "agitators who preach blood and thunder." This likely references the post-Haymarket Affair period (May 1886), when American anarchism faced public backlash following the bombing in Chicago. Judge's cartoon suggests ordinary workers rejected radical ideology, portraying them as sensible rather than revolutionary.