Judge — May 23, 1896 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1896 Judge cartoon satirizes the free-trade debate dividing American politics. The emaciated figure labeled "Starving American Workingman" stands amid closed factories and industrial decay, holding a sign about "Unrestricted Importations" and "Wilson-Gorman Free Trade Tariff." The cartoon argues that free trade—advocated by figures like John Bull (representing British interests)—devastates American workers and industry. The desolate landscape with shuttered factories emphasizes economic damage. The skeletal workman contrasts sharply with the prosperity free-trade advocates claim to promote. This reflects the intense protectionist-versus-free-trade political conflict of the 1890s, with American manufacturers and workers opposing imports that undercut domestic production. The cartoonist clearly sides with protectionists, depicting free trade as poisonous to American labor.