{{Short description|1889 American political cartoon}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{italic title}} [[File:The Bosses of the Senate by Joseph Keppler.jpg|thumb|265x265px|Keppler's 1889 cartoon depicts monopolists as dominating American politics as the "Bosses of the Senate".]] '''''The Bosses of the Senate''''' is an American [[Propaganda|propagandistic]] [[political cartoon]] by [[Joseph Keppler]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Driving Question: Analyze and identify the causes of the rise of Populism in the 1890's |url=https://digital.library.sc.edu/blogs/academy/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2019/06/OS_L_DBQ_Populism_Labor_Reform_sources.pdf |website=University of South Carolina}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=From Progress to Poverty: America's Long Gilded Age |url=https://www.bunkhistory.org/resources/2355 |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=Bunk}}</ref> published in the January 23, 1889, issue of ''[[Puck (magazine)|Puck]]'' magazine.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=1889 |title=The Bosses of the Senate |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002718861/ |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=Library of Congress |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
The cartoon depicts the [[United States Senate]] as a body under the control of "[[Captain of industry|captains of industry]]". [[Robber baron (industrialist)|Robber baron]]s representing [[Trust (business)|trusts]] in various industries,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Miranda |date=2017 |title=The Bosses of the Senate |url=https://prezi.com/p/ouzc0ae5_dej/the-bosses-of-the-senate/ |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=prezi.com |language=en}}</ref> depicted as [[Obesity|obese]], domineering, and powerful figures with swollen [[Money bag|money bag]]s for bodies, with their nature being juxtaposed with that of the senators of the [[50th United States Congress|50th Congress]], who Keppler implies are under the industrialists' control. The cartoon discusses with concern the rise of industry in the [[Gilded Age]],<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Handout B: "The Bosses of the Senate" |url=https://live-bri-dos.pantheonsite.io/activities/handout-b-the-bosses-of-the-senate/ |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=Bill of Rights Institute |language=en}}</ref> the expanding influence of monopolies and trusts, and the role of [[Lobbying in the United States|American lobbying]]. It is generally recognized as an early [[Competition law in the United States|antitrust]] work of propaganda that played a role in the development of the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anti-trust cartoon depicting giant corporations as 'the bosses of the Senate', 1889 (colour litho) |url=https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-US/american-school/anti-trust-cartoon-depicting-giant-corporations-as-the-bosses-of-the-senate-1889-colour-litho/nomedium/asset/322040 |access-date=2022-11-20 |website= |language=en}}</ref>
According to the Senate, ''The Bosses of the Senate'' is a "frequently reproduced cartoon, long a staple of textbooks and studies of Congress".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Keppler |first=Joseph |date=1889 |title=U.S. Senate: The Bosses of the Senate. |url=https://www.senate.gov/art-artifacts/historical-images/political-cartoons-caricatures/38_00392.htm#:~:text=Keppler%27s%20cartoon%20reflected%20the%20phenomenal,Anti-Trust%20Act%20in%201890. |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=www.senate.gov}}</ref> [[NPR]] has called the cartoon "the defining image of late 19th-century [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=NPR: Bosses of the Senate – Big Money and Politics |url=https://legacy.npr.org/news/specials/democracy/money/bosses.html |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=legacy.npr.org}}</ref> Historian [[Josh Brown (historian)|Josh Brown]] has stated that it "expresses general public discontent and concern about the growing impact and power of large businesses" and "their control over the political process".<ref>{{Citation |last=NBC News |title=Bosses of the Senate |date=May 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J7aEnXe25I |language=en |access-date=2022-11-20|via=YouTube}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosses Of The Senate}} [[Category:American political satire]] [[Category:United States Senate]] [[Category:Editorial cartoons]] [[Category:1889 works]] [[Category:Satirical cartoons]] [[Category:Criticism of capitalism]] [[Category:Propaganda art]] [[Category:Propaganda]]