Political Cartoons of the 18th Century

The British were very busy for quite some time with the French and Indian war. They neglected the American colonies during the war; all their resources and power had to go into protecting their claim. This allowed the colonies to develop a sense of self, and thus a sense of independence. It was the beginning of a streak of bold actions that eventually led to the revolutionary war. These acts were viewed as rude, and disrespectful after all, Britain viewed itself as the “motherland” and felt that the colonies should obey their commands. They were even more insulted by the involvement of women in these rebellious activities. Britain viewed the colonials as rude, unruly, and uncouth because of their political Independence, and rebellion.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case, it may be worth more. In the cartoon, “Society of Patriotic Women of North Carolina”, we can definitely see what the British thought of the colonists. Empty bottles of gin tossed about the scene shows what there drinking habits where thought to be. Drinking was looked down upon during those days, it suggested that a person was uncivilized, especially when the liquor is not of high quality, and the colonists are drinking home made liquor. It can also be noted that the women are drinking, which was not acceptable during those times. Both the men and the women are depicted as vulgar, but the cartoon focuses on the women.

The cartoonist depicts women doing the things that are out of their role in society. This cartoon conveys that patriotism and activism is should not have been part of a women’s life. For example, all of them have either been put in compromising positions, or they are depicted with overtly manly physical features. They are all drinking and carousing around which is a stereotypically male activities. A typical task for women in the division of labor between the sexes is that women take care of the children, yet there is a child who is being totally neglected underneath the table and making a mess of himself, and the area around him. The cartoonist believes women should stay out of the political arena, because they will become corrupted, and vulgar. The cartoonist suggests a feeling that a woman’s place in the society is in the home.

The area of political strategy used against the British in which women were able to participate the most, is the boycott. Their refusal to buy imported tea and other goods was crucial. If they had not participated, and demanded for all the goods imported from England, the boycotts would have failed. This boycott strategy hurt the British greatly, because the colonist where major consumers of British goods. Refusing to pay the heavy taxes on the goods also hurt the British economy. The difference is there is less money going directly to the government to cover the costs of the French and Indian war. They would only receive taxes from those living in England. The British felt that the colonist where trying to get away with receiving the benefits of being British citizens but did not want to make any of the sacrifices. The French and Indian war for example, it was to protect the colonies from invasion by other empirical powers, namely France. So it would only be natural for the British to feel like they were cheated and to hold resentment for what is in their minds, and unpaid debt. Almost like an unruly child refusing its parents will. England had give in the financial and political support to for the creation of the colonies and now they were being very ungrateful. All of these factors lead to the views the British and about the American colonies as being rude, ungrateful people.

http://www.americanrevolution.org/nguyen.html

Comments

[Ching-Hiu Chan]

Overall your group did a very nice job on this post. You have a very good solid thesis. You argue it throught the post. You give good example and throughly explain your points. Like:Empty bottles of gin tossed about the scene shows what there drinking habits where thought to be. Drinking was looked down upon during those days, it suggested that a person was uncivilized...women are depicted as vulgar, but the cartoon focuses on the women." Areas that you can improve on are: First you have to underline the thesis so then the reader would know what your thesis is and what you are trying to prove. Then there are many run-on sentences. You can just split it into two sentences or find words that depict it a little better. For example, "Drinking was looked down upon during those days, it suggested that a person was uncivilized, especially when the liquor is not of high quality, and the colonists are drinking home made liquor." That sentence can be cut into different sentences. There are also a lot of extra words placed in that really dont need to be there. Rereading the sentences can really help you catch little errors made. THe last thing i would like to comment on is of the conclusion. Usually you restate your thesis in your conclusion and you do that, however the conclusion usually is a summary of what you wrote before that. Mainly you dont introduce new information at the conclusion. Adding a new paragraph and adding the thesis there would be better. SO then the reader isnt confused as much. OTherwise Great jOb>~!

[Joe McKay]

Great job on your post. The way that you proved that Britain viewed the colonials as “rude” and “uncouth” with the sentences in the first paragraph (“Empty bottles of Gin…not acceptable during those times.”), and “unruly” with the sentences in the second paragraph (“They are all drinking…become corrupted, and vulgar.”) shows me that the strongest part of your entry is your descriptive evidence because it fervently supports your argument. However, I suggest that your grammar, spelling, and concluding paragraph structure be revised. You have a few run-on sentences that should be either re-written or divided into two separate sentences. For example, “These acts were viewed as rude, and disrespectful after all, Britain viewed itself as the “motherland” and felt that the colonies should obey their commands,” could be revised to say, “These acts were viewed as rude and disrespectful. After all, Britain viewed itself as the ‘motherland’ and felt that the colonies should obey their commands.” The sentence, “Drinking was looked down upon during those days, it suggested that a person was uncivilized, especially when the liquor is not of high quality, and the colonists are drinking home made liquor,” is another run-on sentence that could be revised to say, “Drinking was looked down upon during those days and suggested that a person was uncivilized, especially when the liquor wasn’t of high quality; one should also keep in mind that the colonists were drinking home-made liquor.” You should also revise your entry to make sure you get the kinks out of your spelling. The sentences, “The British felt that the colonist where trying to get away with receiving the benefits of being British citizens but did not want to make any of the sacrifices,” and,” England had give in the financial and political support to for the creation of the colonies and now they were being very ungrateful,” are good examples of how to fix your spelling errors. In the first sentence “where” should be changed to “were,” and in the second sentence “give in” should be changed to “given.”
Despite these minor mistakes, your group did a good job on this post as it provided the reader with strong, descriptive evidence to back your argument.

[Jessica Jones]

Your blog was written fairly well except for some errors. You did not underline or bold your thesis. Some of your words are misspelled. A noun not a verb should follow this and that. On the other hand your blog was readable as in I didn't really stumble over what you meant in a sentence. Your blog was written with great style and keep up the good work.