Judge — July 8, 1899 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Cause of It All" — Judge Magazine Political Cartoon This cartoon depicts a large cannon labeled "EXPANSION" erupting clouds of confetti and stars above crowds of American citizens waving flags below. The caption "The Cause of It All" suggests the cartoon critiques American expansionism as the root cause of some contemporary problem or social upheaval. The imagery—with ordinary people celebrating beneath the explosive expansion rhetoric—appears satirical, implying that jingoistic expansionist policies have destabilized the nation. The cartoon likely references late 19th-century American imperialism (possibly the Spanish-American War era), criticizing how nationalist expansion rhetoric affects domestic society. The "greatest factors in our National Expansion" note at bottom reinforces this critical interpretation of expansion's consequences.