Skip to main content

Primary sourcePaintingpublished 1774

The Wicked Statesman political cartoon

Paul Revere · published 1774

A political cartoon engraved by Paul Revere in 1774 attacking Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson as a traitor facing death.

Revere created this cartoon attacking Governor Hutchinson, showing his role as a Patriot propagandist.

Ask Paul Revere about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Black-and-white woodcut-style print. A skeleton figure labeled Death thrusts a spear toward a seated man in a wig and coat, who has a halo of light behind him. A horned devil holds a tablet reading "List of Crimes" and is behind the skeleton. A skull and a money bag are on a table. A caption below reads "The wicked Statesman, or the Traitor to his Country, at the Hour of Death."
Paul Revere, The Wicked Statesman, or the Traitor to his Country, at the Hour of Death, 1774.

About this source

What it is

This is a political cartoon engraved by Paul Revere, published in 1774. It shows a skeleton figure representing Death attacking Thomas Hutchinson, the royal governor of Massachusetts, while a devil holds a list of his supposed crimes. The caption reads "The wicked Statesman, or the Traitor to his Country, at the Hour of Death."

Why it matters

Revere used his engraving skills not just for portraits but for sharp political attacks. This cartoon reflects the deep anger many colonists, including Revere, felt toward royal officials like Hutchinson in the years before the American Revolution. It shows how propaganda images shaped public opinion against British rule.

Look closer

  • What feelings is Revere trying to create in the viewer through this image?
  • Why might Revere have chosen Death and a devil as symbols in this cartoon?
  • How might Hutchinson himself have responded to this image?

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

More Paul Revere sources

Meet the AI Paul Revere →
Hand-colored engraving titled 'The Bloody Massacre' showing British redcoat soldiers firing volleys of musket smoke at a crowd in King Street, Boston, with bodies on the ground and a Town House building in the background. Verse text and a caption appear below.Painting

Primary source

The Bloody Massacre

Paul Revere · 1770

Oil portrait of a man with short brown hair in a white linen shirt and dark green vest, resting his right hand against his chin. His left hand holds a polished silver teapot on a round wooden stand. Tools lie on the dark wooden table in front of him against a black background.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Paul Revere

John Singleton Copley · 1768

A large polished silver punch bowl on a glass pedestal in a museum gallery, with engraved inscription and scrolling decoration around its outer rim. Behind it hang gilt-framed portraits on gray walls, including a man in a white shirt and dark waistcoat resting his hand on his chin beside a teapot, and a display case holding silver pieces.Artifact

Primary source

Sons of Liberty Bowl

Paul Revere · 1768

Scanned page 27 of an 1861 magazine, headed 'Paul Revere's Ride', showing the poem's title and opening stanzas in two columns of printed text, with prose from the preceding article above.Book

Secondary source

Paul Revere's Ride

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · 1860

Exterior front view of a two-story wooden clapboard house with a shingled gabled roof, diamond-paned leaded windows, and a stone foundation. A brick chimney rises at the right, and a dark wooden door with a metal grate is on the ground floor.Artifact

Primary source

Paul Revere House

c. 1680

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Paul Revere now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions