# The Bosses of the Senate > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Bosses_of_the_Senate > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Bosses_of_the_Senate.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bosses_of_the_Senate > Source revision: 1345425736 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1889 American political cartoon Keppler's 1889 cartoon depicts monopolists as dominating American politics as the "Bosses of the Senate". ***The Bosses of the Senate*** is an American [propagandistic](/source/Propaganda) [political cartoon](/source/Political_cartoon) by [Joseph Keppler](/source/Joseph_Keppler),[1][2] published in the January 23, 1889, issue of *[Puck](/source/Puck_(magazine))* magazine.[3][4] The cartoon depicts the [United States Senate](/source/United_States_Senate) as a body under the control of "[captains of industry](/source/Captain_of_industry)". [Robber barons](/source/Robber_baron_(industrialist)) representing [trusts](/source/Trust_(business)) in various industries,[5] depicted as [obese](/source/Obesity), domineering, and powerful figures with swollen [money bags](/source/Money_bag) for bodies, with their nature being juxtaposed with that of the senators of the [50th Congress](/source/50th_United_States_Congress), who Keppler implies are under the industrialists' control. The cartoon discusses with concern the rise of industry in the [Gilded Age](/source/Gilded_Age),[2][6] the expanding influence of monopolies and trusts, and the role of [American lobbying](/source/Lobbying_in_the_United_States). It is generally recognized as an early [antitrust](/source/Competition_law_in_the_United_States) work of propaganda that played a role in the development of the [Sherman Antitrust Act](/source/Sherman_Antitrust_Act).[7] According to the Senate, *The Bosses of the Senate* is a "frequently reproduced cartoon, long a staple of textbooks and studies of Congress".[4] [NPR](/source/NPR) has called the cartoon "the defining image of late 19th-century [Washington](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.)".[8] Historian [Josh Brown](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Josh_Brown_(historian)&action=edit&redlink=1) 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".[9] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Driving Question: Analyze and identify the causes of the rise of Populism in the 1890's"](https://digital.library.sc.edu/blogs/academy/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2019/06/OS_L_DBQ_Populism_Labor_Reform_sources.pdf) (PDF). *University of South Carolina*. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_2-1) ["From Progress to Poverty: America's Long Gilded Age"](https://www.bunkhistory.org/resources/2355). *Bunk*. Retrieved November 20, 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_3-0)** ["The Bosses of the Senate"](https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002718861/). *Library of Congress*. 1889. Retrieved November 20, 2022. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_4-1) Keppler, Joseph (1889). ["U.S. Senate: The Bosses of the Senate"](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.). *www.senate.gov*. Retrieved November 20, 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Lee, Miranda (2017). ["The Bosses of the Senate"](https://prezi.com/p/ouzc0ae5_dej/the-bosses-of-the-senate/). *prezi.com*. Retrieved November 20, 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Handout B: "The Bosses of the Senate""](https://live-bri-dos.pantheonsite.io/activities/handout-b-the-bosses-of-the-senate/). *Bill of Rights Institute*. Retrieved November 20, 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Anti-trust cartoon depicting giant corporations as 'the bosses of the Senate', 1889 (colour litho)"](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). Retrieved November 20, 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["NPR: Bosses of the Senate – Big Money and Politics"](https://legacy.npr.org/news/specials/democracy/money/bosses.html). *legacy.npr.org*. Retrieved November 20, 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** NBC News (May 2020), [*Bosses of the Senate*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J7aEnXe25I), retrieved November 20, 2022 – via YouTube --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Bosses of the Senate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bosses_of_the_Senate) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bosses_of_the_Senate?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.