The Wasp — 1888 — page 330: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes the **Chinese Exclusion Act**, depicted as a brick wall with spiked top. A caricatured Uncle Sam figure—identified by his striped pants and top hat—wields a club labeled "FRONTIER VIGILANCE," preparing to strike at what appears to be a rat attempting to enter through a gap. The cartoon's caption, "Now Shut the Back Gate," suggests the joke: despite official exclusion legislation, Chinese immigrants allegedly continued entering through illegal or informal routes. The rat symbolizes Chinese laborers evading the law. The cartoon mocks both the inadequacy of enforcement and, through its racist imagery, reflects the era's anti-Chinese sentiment that fueled such restrictive immigration policies. The publication date places this during peak restrictive immigration debate in American politics.