The Chinese Question

Columbia — the female personification of America — stands protectively over a kneeling Chinese man, with exaggerated features, queue, and humble posture. Behind her, a mob of white workingmen advance with menacing gestures, while to the right a burning building labeled Colored Orphan Asylum recalls anti-Black violence. The arch behind Columbia is plastered with actual anti-Chinese slogans of the day — 'Coolie, Slave, Pauper, Rat-Eater,' 'Barbarian,' 'Idolater' — attributed to trade unions, politicians, and newspapers. The caption reads: 'Hands off, Gentlemen! America means Fair Play for All Men.' Nast, a staunch Republican who championed Black civil rights throughout Reconstruction, here turns his pen against nativist labor agitation, arguing that bigotry toward Chinese immigrants contradicts America's founding promise.