Judge — March 21, 1896 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Political Cartoon Analysis: "Locked" (March 21, 1896) This satirical cartoon depicts five Republican senators mounted on an elephant blocking a roadway labeled "Road to Protection and Prosperity." The senators, identified as "free-silver" advocates, form a human obstruction with a cart labeled "Free-Silver Obstruction" and a wheel marked "Senate Dead Lock." The cartoon criticizes Republican senators who supported free silver coinage as obstacles to party progress. The small figures on the right (likely representing the Republican Party establishment or McKinley supporters) cannot advance their protectionist agenda because these senators are "locked" in place by their free-silver position. The satire targets the internal GOP conflict between pro-silver and pro-gold factions during the 1896 election cycle, suggesting that free-silver Republicans are preventing the party from achieving its economic goals.