The Deplorable State of America, or Scotch Government

What it is

This is an engraved political cartoon titled The Deplorable State of America, or Scotch Government. The Metropolitan Museum of Art dates it to March 22, 1765, and holds it as a gift of William H. Huntington, 1883. The print is an etching by an anonymous British artist of the 18th century. It shows a tree on the left sheltering figures. A noble figure in a cloak points toward a bearded figure and others. A seated woman reclines with a broken staff. A man in a feathered hat gestures on the right, and a face appears in clouds above. Banners carry text.

Why it matters

In 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which taxed printed paper in the American colonies. The colonies responded with protests, and this cartoon comments on that crisis from a British point of view. Patrick Henry's Resolves, also from 1765, were the Virginia legislature's answer to the same Stamp Act. The cartoon does not name Henry. It shows how the dispute looked in print to people in Britain, which helps students compare the two sides.

Look closer

• Which figures seem to hold power in this image, and which seem weak or defeated?
• What do the banners say, and how do they guide your reading of the cartoon?
• Who would have seen this print, and what might its maker have wanted them to think?