Spotprent op de Rotterdamse bezwaren tegen de onteigeningswet, 1861 1861

"Spotprent op de Rotterdamse bezwaren tegen de onteigeningswet, 1861" is a political cartoon created by Johan Michaël Schmidt Crans in 1861. It depicts a train, labeled "LEIDEN" and "WOERDEN," traveling precariously on a tightrope over a landscape. The train is filled with figures clinging to poles and ropes, symbolizing the precariousness and instability of the situation. The title of the cartoon reveals its subject: Rotterdam's opposition to the expropriation law. This satire uses visual humor to express the Dutch city's anxieties about the proposed law and its potential consequences. The simple line drawing, characteristic of 19th-century caricature, captures the absurdity and fragility of the political situation.