Judge — January 20, 1900 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This four-panel cartoon traces American military conflicts across a century, comparing them through Uncle Sam's perspective. **Panel 1 (1812)**: American sailors ("Yankee tars") defeat British warships—a celebrated moment of American naval prowess. **Panel 2 (1861)**: The Civil War devastates an American city, presenting internal conflict as destructive chaos. **Panels 3-4 (1899-1900)**: The Filipino Rebellion and subsequent conflict. A figure (likely representing American expansionism or "Sammy") fights Filipino rebels while claiming it's "for civilization." Uncle Sam then expresses difficulty choosing between two "brave" opponents—suggesting moral ambiguity about American imperialism in the Philippines. **The satire's point**: This appears to critique American military expansion in the Philippines (a contemporary 1899-1900 issue), contrasting earlier "justified" wars with questionable imperial intervention. The cartoon implies that fighting for "civilization" rings hollow when Americans kill fellow independence fighters. The title suggests these conflicts should be examined critically by the public.