Description
- Abstract:
- Ink and pencil (graphite & blue) on paper, matted. Drawn during a period of active transatlantic negotiation, this cartoon depicts a U.S. diplomatic figure in Paris, seemingly more interested in Moliere and Montaigne than in the competing summons of European rulers. Messages from monarchs pile at his feet, suggesting both the intensity of foreign expectations and the diplomat's deliberate composure amid shifting great-power politics. The contrast is pointed. Europe’s monarchs chase territory, railways and markets; Hay turns instead to Europe’s own literary and philosophical traditions. The cartoon assigns composure to the newcomer and imperial frenzy to the old powers, presenting American influence as cultivated restraint rather than territorial conquest. The United States enters imperial politics without crowns or colonies, claiming authority through diplomacy and by invoking Europe’s own literary and philosophical canon.
- Notes:
- Loafin' Around the Thrones, John Hay Papers, Ms.Hay Box 22XXX, Folder 5, Brown University Library
- Digital object made available by: Brown University Library, John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts, Box A, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, U.S.A., (http://library.brown.edu/)
Access Conditions
- Rights
- Not in Copyright
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
"Loafin' Around the Thrones"
(1903).
John Hay's China Policy.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:b9gzqqy8/
Relations
Has Parts:
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Loafin' Around the Thrones
- Type: Page-Image
- Order: 1
Collection:
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John Hay's China Policy
John Hay (Class of 1858), one of Brown University’s most distinguished alumni, served as US Secretary of State from 1898 until his death in 1905. Hay’s career spanned many arenas of American public life, and his China policies—especially the Open …...