The Wasp — 1877 — page 282: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is the cover of *The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp* (Vol. 2, No. 9, December 1, 1877), priced at 10 cents. The main cartoon depicts "Uncle Sam" (the bearded man in formal dress and top hat) paying debts to "California's Cornucopia" (the female allegorical figure representing California's wealth, seated in an ornate shell chariot). The caption reads: "HOW UNCLE SAM PAYS HIS DEBTS FROM CALIFORNIA'S CORNUCOPIA." This satirizes federal dependence on California's resources and tax revenue to finance national obligations. The image suggests the federal government extracts California's riches to settle debts elsewhere, portraying California as generously but perhaps resentfully supporting the broader nation—a commentary on economic relationships between the state and federal government during the Reconstruction era.