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Mitchell Tobin

Professor Jahnke

Early United States History

31 October 2012

Image Analysis

Primary sources come in many shapes and sizes from many periods of history. One of the

more common forms of primary sources is that of an image such as a picture, engraving, portrait,

or painting. In studying the American Revolution this is doubly so due to the invention of the

printing press which allowed for widespread media such as newspapers. One etching is that of

the political cartoon called “Poor Old England Endeavoring to Reclaim his Wicked American

Children” created by Matthew Darly in April of 1777.

The creator Matthew Darly was married to Mary Darly and the two were printsellers and

caricaturists. They specialized in wry visual commentaries of social life. More specifically they

“drew upon and fed into changing notions of eccentricity and characteristics in the unstable

London political environment” (Shearer, 171). The Darly’s based their operations out of London

and published numerous cartoons and such over their years of business and ultimately etched the

cartoon “Poor Old England Endeavoring to Reclaim his Wicked American Children” in London

on April 1777. The picture contains numerous symbols for society at the time in which it was

etched.

The cartoon is in the broadest sense depicting the American Colonies under England rule

rebelling against England. The colonies are depicted by a group of young white gentlemen being

held onto by an elderly white gentleman, symbolizing England, via strings. The older man is

wearing typical aristocratic clothing including what appears to be a powdered wig. The symbol

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of England also shows battering in that the figure is using a crutch in order to remain standing

and has a wooden peg-leg which most likely represents the fact that England is or at the very

least was suffering from continuous warfare with its neighbors and other colonies. Additionally,

the character representing England also is holding a whip symbolizing that he is trying to beat his

rebellious “children,” the colonists of America, into submission. On the other hand, over a

crudely drawn and poor representation of the Atlantic Ocean which obviously skews the size of

the ocean making England seem closer to the colonists than it actually is, the figures representing

the colonies are obviously resisting against “Poor Old England.” The figures of the colonists are

all posed in nagging or insulting ways such as the front most character which is shaking his rear

at England whereas the fellow next to him appears to be holding a blow dart and is shooting a

dart at England, meanwhile the two in the farthest back are most likely yelling jeers and insulting

England. Last, but not least, the figure next to the one waving his buttocks at England appears to

be drawing what could only be a dagger in order to symbolically cut the ties with which England

is holding the colonists. Lastly, on the bottom of the picture there is some lettering which in

summary states, that England is trying to recover its lost children. The symbolism in this cartoon

also provides a good deal of context in which the image was produced.

In 1777 many things revolving England occurred, firstly the American Colonies rebelled

against England with the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This followed right on the heels

of the French and Indian War. Colonists who participated in the War were promised land in

payment, however in order to soothe relations with the Indians in order to prevent further war

Parliament declared that colonists were not allowed to traverse past the Appalachians.

Additionally, England was also expanding its “borders” by conquering and colonizing other

places around the globe such as territory in Africa and India. Additionally, England put into

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multiple acts such as the Stamp Act which caused taxation on the American Colonists who were

already angered over the lack of representation provided by England. Consequently in the

process of its expansion, England also neglected the colonists rights in their governing and did

not respect the wants of the colonists. The image by the Darly’s obviously did take these into

account with its symbolism of “Poor Old” England. In their etching of this cartoon they had a

specific audience in mind.

The audience to which the Darly’s were targeting in this cartoon was most likely the

upper echelon of English society, the English men, and potentially American colonists who

could manage to acquire the paper. The Darly’s were most likely trying to persuade English

citizens that the Americas did not have respect for their betters. Additionally, the Darly’s in

trying to show that, they were also probably trying to show that England was struggling to

maintain its hold on the America’s and that the colonists were able to break free whenever they

wanted, this ability to break free whenever is represented by the colonist with the dagger. Not to

mention, the picture also can symbolize that the English would be more hurt by trying to restrain

the colonies which is symbolized by the blow gun. Overall, this picture shows many things in the

big picture of what is occurring in the time period.

Overall, the picture shows that England is overworking and injuring itself in its rapid

expansion in the colonial era. They are firstly trying to maintain a hold on the American colonies

while at the same time they are trying to out expand France and Spain in addition to having to

fight wars in distant lands. The biggest one is the French and Indian war which left England

broke. As one of the main reasons the revolutionary war came about, the French and Indian war

left England ragged and made them create and enforce some silly acts such as the

aforementioned Stamp Act which placed unnecessary tax on an already disgruntled colonial

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America. Additionally, with the occurrence of the American Revolution, England was even

poorer financially and militarily. They lost access to some of the most resource rich land found

and made the French their enemies again.

In conclusion, by studying this picture numerous things can be learned and all of which

are important. England is obviously becoming tense due to its rebelling colony, its loss of

economy because of the numerous wars it fought, and because of the rapid expansion an

outbreak of war. Overall this picture symbolizes the just a small part of England and its acts

during the time period, but based on this picture one can see that England has more than just the

rebellious colonies to worry about and is trying its hardest to maintain hold on all of its assets.

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List of Works Consulted

West, Shearer. “The Darly Macaroni Prints And The Politics of ‘Private Man’.” Eigtheenth-

Century Life 25.2 (2001):170. Academic Search Complete.Web. 27 October 2012.

Darly, Matthew. "Poor Old England Endeavoring to Reclaim His Wicked American

Children."Poor Old England Endeavoring to Reclaim His Wicked American Children.

Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2012.