Judge — July 15, 1899 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Same Old Reptile" - Judge, July 15, 1899 This political cartoon depicts **Uncle Sam** (representing the United States) confronting a large snake shedding its skin. The Capitol building appears in the background. The caption reads: "Oh, I see! The anti-imperialist of to-day is only the copperhead of 1861 shedding its skin." The satire equates **anti-imperialists** (opponents of American imperial expansion, a major 1890s debate) with **Copperheads**—Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War. The snake imagery suggests these groups are fundamentally the same, merely disguising themselves in new rhetoric. By invoking the Copperhead label, the cartoonist delegitimizes anti-imperialists as unpatriotic, comparing their opposition to American expansion with disloyalty during the Civil War.