Judge — September 14, 1918 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Political Cartoon Analysis This post-World War I cartoon by W.K. Starrett depicts an American soldier standing triumphantly over defeated German prisoners. The caption reports that German POWs claim they'll emigrate to America after the war, then poses a provocative question: "Do You Want THIS—To Live Beside You, Work Beside You, and, Later, Vote Beside You?" The satire targets anti-immigrant and anti-German sentiment of the immediate postwar period. It appeals to American anxieties about German immigration and assimilation, suggesting that welcoming German immigrants poses a social and political threat. The image weaponizes the war's outcome to argue against German immigration—a significant policy debate in 1920s America as immigration restrictions were being debated in Congress.