Crusader Sam | Unisex Tee

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History Lesson: The Boxer Rebellion

"As twenty-four warships from Western powers, including the United States, lined the coast of northern China in the summer of 1900, an allied expedition marched from Tianjin to storm the walls of Beijing, along the way torching villages, shooting indiscriminately, raping, and looting to exact revenge. It was a calculated response to the Boxer Rebellion, an uprising of Chinese peasants who retaliated against Western encroachments. Shocking reports in the previous weeks in newspapers around the world alleged violence against foreigners in China, but particularly against Christians. A cartoon printed in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in August, entitled “The Logical Champion of Christendom,” depicted a Chinese Boxer with a torch in one hand, a sword in the other, and a look of diabolical ferocity on his face. Juxtaposed was “Uncle Sam” pictured with an uplifted cross and a sword with the inscription “Justice.” Though intended to resonate with patriotic U.S. Christians, the cartoon also elicited firm protest. The Sentinel, a Protestant journal published by Seventh-day Adventists, denounced it as grossly misleading. Contrary to popular belief, the Boxer Rebellion, insisted the Sentinel, was “not a movement against Christianity as such, but only to the extent that Christianity is identified in the Chinese mind with the greed and injustice that has driven China to desperation.”...

"Adventists claimed that, while the U.S. government was not seeking overt territorial annexation in China as it was in the Philippines, it was nonetheless establishing a kind of informal imperialism that was driven by the pursuit of commercial and political dominance. Casting the Open Door policy as free-trade imperialism, a sinister ploy to enforce U.S. commercial interests at the risk of war, Adventists indicted their own government’s duplicity in claiming to shun traditional colonialism while scheming to join other Western powers in a contest over spheres of influence in China that violated human rights and the right of national sovereignty. Positioning themselves against the U.S.-led missionary enterprise that was linked to Western empire-building, Adventists took the controversial position of seeking to vindicate the Chinese during the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901...

"As U.S. politicians touted their government’s policy as benevolent for not seeking the partitioning of China for acquisition of territory, Adventist leaders critiqued the Open Door policy as an informal imperial agenda backed by displays of military power to monopolize global markets. They characterized the existing notion of “international law” as a racially-motivated theory that privileged Euro-U.S. views of civilization at the expense of more vulnerable nations. As a professedly Christian nation, the United States, alleged the Adventists, was making a mockery of diplomacy and—more seriously, to them—a mockery of the religion of Jesus..."

READ THE FULL PAPER BELOW

- Jeffrey Rosario, Protestant Anti-Imperialism and the Vindication of the Boxer Rebellion, 1899–1901, Diplomatic History, Volume 46, Issue 2, April 2022, Pages 349–374, https://doi.org/10.1093/dh/dhab102

• 100% cotton for all-day comfort
• Unisex fit available in sizes S-3XL
• Ethically produced using sustainable US cotton

CARE INSTRUCTIONS:

To maintain the quality and fit of your t-shirt:

• Machine wash cold on gentle cycle
• Dry on low heat or hang dry
• Do not bleach, iron, or dry clean

Following these instructions will help prevent shrinkage and extend the life of your t-shirt.