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Primary sourcePainting1774

The Able Doctor, or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught

Paul Revere (after a British original) · 1774

A 1774 political cartoon engraved by Paul Revere, copying a British original, criticizing the Intolerable Acts.

Revere engraved this copy for an American audience, showing his role in spreading anti-British political imagery.

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Black and white engraving titled 'The able Doctor, or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught'. A reclining draped female figure representing America is forced to drink from a cup by a robed man in a wig, while a kneeling man in a hat pours from a tea-like vessel. Figures in tricorn hats stand at left and right, one holding a paper labeled 'Boston Port Bill'. Ships appear in the distant harbor labeled 'Boston cannonaded', and a figure with a sword and a 'Military Law' sash stands at right.
Paul Revere (after a British original), The Able Doctor, or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught, 1774. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This engraving was made by Paul Revere in 1774, copying an earlier London cartoon, and published in the Royal American Magazine. It is held by the Library of Congress.

The image shows a reclining female figure representing America being forced to drink from a cup by a robed man, while men in tricorn hats look on and ships burn in the background labeled 'Boston cannonaded'.

Why it matters

The cartoon criticized the 'Intolerable Acts', British laws punishing Boston after the Boston Tea Party. By copying a British original, Revere showed how political images crossed the Atlantic and were reused to stir colonial anger, and how he helped spread this message in America.

Look closer

  • What does the imagery of 'forced drinking' suggest about how the colonists saw British policy?
  • Why might Revere have copied a British cartoon instead of making an entirely new one?
  • What is left out of this image about the perspectives of the British government?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Paul Revere on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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