Judge — March 25, 1893 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes American imperialism and racial attitudes of the 1890s. The title references Harriet Beecher Stowe's *Uncle Tom's Cabin*, inverting it to suggest the United States as the oppressive "master." A woman labeled "Hawaiian Topsy (in Miss Columbia)" — representing Hawaii under American control — addresses a character representing Uncle Sam/America. She uses dialect stereotyping and the name "Topsy" (the enslaved child from Stowe's novel), sarcastically saying she expects him to tell her what to do, anticipating "a heap o' trubble." The cartoon critiques American annexation of Hawaii (formally achieved in 1898) and the racist logic undergirding it, comparing American imperial expansion to slavery. The satire suggests that adding Hawaii to American territory would bring complications and moral problems.