
The Bosses of the Senate
1889 American political cartoon

1889 American political cartoon
The Bosses of the Senate is an American propagandistic political cartoon by Joseph Keppler, published in the January 23, 1889, issue of Puck magazine. The cartoon depicts the United States Senate as a body under the control of "captains of industry". Robber barons representing trusts in various industries, depicted as obese, domineering, and powerful figures with swollen money bags for bodies, with their nature being juxtaposed with that of the senators of the 50th Congress, who Keppler implies are under the industrialists' control. The cartoon discusses with concern the rise of industry in the Gilded Age, the expanding influence of monopolies and trusts, and the role of American lobbying. It is generally recognized as an early antitrust work of propaganda that played a role in the development of the Sherman Antitrust Act. According to the Senate, The Bosses of the Senate is a "frequently reproduced cartoon, long a staple of textbooks and studies of Congress". NPR has called the cartoon...
Read on Wikipedia · Image Joseph Keppler, Public domain
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