Judge — January 22, 1898 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This **Judge** magazine cartoon by Victor Gillam depicts Uncle Sam (left, wearing stars-and-stripes) observing a chaotic scene across water. A female figure stands elevated above a crowd of people in distress, gesturing dramatically. A sign reads "RIGHT OF EVERY TEN COLONIZED PEOPLE TO SELF DETERMINATION" (partially legible). The cartoon appears to satirize American imperial or interventionist foreign policy. Uncle Sam "holds the gun" while observing colonial populations demanding self-determination—likely critiquing the gap between stated American ideals of freedom and actual imperial practices. The drowning/desperate figures suggest colonized peoples' suffering under such policies. Without a specific date visible, the exact historical context remains unclear, though this aligns with early 20th-century debates over American colonialism.