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Primary sourcePaintingOctober 31, 1774

The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering

Philip Dawe · October 31, 1774

A 1774 Boston satirical print showing a tarring and feathering attack, made during the period when Thomas Hutchinson governed Massachusetts.

Shows the violent Boston protests against tax collectors in 1774, during the years Hutchinson governed the province.

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Engraved print of a tarring and feathering scene. A man in a feathered coat is being held down by figures in tricorn hats beneath a tree with a hanging noose; a sign reads LIBERTY TREE. Ships with masts are at left, and a tar pot and bucket sit near the foreground. A figure in a kilt-like skirt stands at right, and a pot of tar is on the ground.
Philip Dawe, The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering, October 31, 1774. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

About this source

What it is

This print, dated October 31, 1774, is a mezzotint and etching by Philip Dawe titled The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering. It is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a bequest of Charles Allen Munn in 1924. The engraved scene shows a man in a feathered coat held down by figures in tricorn hats beneath a tree with a hanging noose. A sign reads "LIBERTY TREE," and a tar pot and bucket sit near the foreground.

Why it matters

Tarring and feathering was a violent public humiliation used against tax collectors and other officials in the colonies. The print shows the tension of 1774, the period when Thomas Hutchinson governed Massachusetts Bay. Its maker was British, so the image reflects one side's view of the Boston protests. Students can compare it with accounts written by colonists who saw the events differently.

Look closer

  • Who is shown as the victim and who as the attackers, and how does the artist signal this?
  • Why might the artist have placed the scene beneath a tree labeled Liberty Tree?
  • What does the print leave out about the reasons for the attack?

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

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