Free Trade England Wants the Earth
- Title:
- Free Trade England Wants the Earth
- Alternate Title:
- Free Trade England Wants the Earth
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Gillam, Victor
- Date:
- 1888
- Date 2:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2324.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2324_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- Politics & Government
Pictorial
Money & Finance - Measurement:
- 23 x 21 on page 35 x 26 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- In the 1888 U.S. presidential campaign, the central issue was trade policy. The Democratic incumbent, Grover Cleveland, had proposed dramatic reductions in tariffs, which he saw as a burden on consumers. The Republican challenger, Benjamin Harrison, supported high tariff “protection” as a benefit to labor and industry. These points are highlighted in ID #1096 (“The Whole Story in a Nutshell! Harrison's Ideas! Cleveland's Ideas!”), a political broadside not attributed to either side but obviously the work of the Harrison campaign. Britain was the leading proponent and practitioner of free trade at the time. See, e.g., ID #2118, “A Determined Effort to Break England's Hold on the Commerce of the World and Give America a Chance,” another satirical map from 1888.
The owner of Judge Magazine, William J. Arkell, used it as a vehicle to support the Republican cause in general and specifically to attack the Cleveland Administration. Patterson 2008, 52. This image - “Free Trade England Wants the Earth” - appeared 10 days before election date. It shows John Bull with multiple arms reaching around the globe to grasp Canada, Gibraltar, Australia, New Zealand, South America and the Cape Colony. One arm hangs over the United States, which is illuminated by the light of “Protection” from above.
Cleveland narrowly won the popular vote, but because he failed to carry his home state of New York (see Notes for ID #1089), he lost the electoral vote to Harrison.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- Judge Magazine, October 27, 1888.
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.