The Wasp — 1887 — page 145: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The cartoon depicts a storekeeper foreclosing on an Arkansas plantation owner named Dave Bennett. The visual shows the storekeeper dismounting from his horse while confronting Dave and his family about an unpaid mortgage on their cotton patch. The satirical point concerns predatory rural lending practices of the era. The storekeeper exploits poor farmers through mortgages, then forecloses when payments lapse. The title "Cut-Throat Mortgage" emphasizes the exploitative nature of these financial instruments. The accompanying dialogue reveals the farmer's desperation—he's been unable to pay due to crop failures and financial hardship. This reflects post-Civil War economic struggles affecting Southern agricultural communities, where debt cycles trapped sharecroppers and small farmers in poverty.