Last stand of the anti-imperialist
Anti-imperialists George Frisbie Hoar, Carl Schurz, Edward Atkinson, Charles Francis Adams, and Andrew Carnegie are drowning in “Quicksand of Public Opinion,” with the U.S. Capitol building in the background.
Comments and Context
The underlying issues of America’s anti-imperialists (the men depicted here, as well as Mark Twain and several other prominent figures) remained in 1902. Those included the constitutionality and moral implications of empire, but as Spain’s surrendered territories accommodated themselves to new flags and occupiers, the problems receded from headlines. A month before this cartoon’s publication, President Roosevelt formally (though not entirely cleanly) ended armed conflict in the Philippines. Rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo and other insurgents surrendered, military atrocity charges were addressed, and a general amnesty for rebels was declared. Anti-imperialists back in America might have felt subsumed by the quicksand of irrelevance.