Life, 1899-11-16 · page 1 of 20
Life — November 16, 1899 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This Life magazine cover from November 16, 1899 depicts a scene titled "Just Returned from the Philippines" with the dialogue: "And what was your greatest difficulty in your missionary work?" "Lack of ammunition." The cartoon satirizes the American-Philippines War (1899-1902). A missionary has apparently returned from the Philippines, but his answer reveals that missionary work there involved armed conflict rather than purely religious conversion. The dark humor suggests that American "civilizing missions" in the newly-acquired Philippines were actually violent military campaigns. The missionary's candid admission that ammunition shortage—not theological obstacles—was his chief problem mocks the hypocrisy of framing colonial military conquest as humanitarian religious work. This reflects contemporary criticism of American imperialism disguised as benevolent mission activity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME XXXIV. NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 16, 1899. NUMBER 886. Entered at the New York Post Office as Second-Ciaas Mall Matter. Copyright, 1899, by Lire PcwLisuinc Company. JUST RETURNED FROM THE PHILIPPINES. AND WHAT WAS YOUR OREATEST DIFYICULTY IN YOUR MISSIONARY WORK?” “LACK OF AMMUNITION.”