01/05/2026
"This political cartoon illustrates the divide within Great Britain over the “American question” as it was often called in the period. Did the colonies deserve equal representation, civil rights, and treatment as British citizens, as many of the Whig politicians depicted here believed? Or was the rebellion the unnatural selfishness of a petulant child against its parent, as the author of this political cartoon clearly believed? It was a question that would plague Great Britain and her American colonies for the next seven years."
, May 1, 1776, “The Westminster Magazine” published this political cartoon in London. Titled “The Parricide, A Sketch of Modern Patriotism,” the cartoon depicts an enraged America (depicted by a woman in Native headdress with dagger and hatchet) attacking the prone Britannia, stepping on Britannia’s fallen shield and broken spear.
To America’s left is a person of color, brandishing a pair of torches and with snakes for hair. To her right is John Wilkes, English politician and pro-Patriot radical, pointing the way. Britannia is restrained on the left by the Duke of Grafton, a Whig politician and former Prime Minister who favored a conciliatory approach to the American colonies. Holding Britannia’s other arm is likely George Haley, another Whig politician and Wilkes’ brother-in-law. In the background, a man with the head of a fox is a stand-in for Charles James Fox, another pro-Patriot Whig politician. The man on crutches at the far right is likely William Pitt “The Elder” former Prime Minister who was sympathetic to the Patriot cause and who had in 1768 resigned for health reasons. Another sympathetic Whig politician, Charles Pratt, known as Judge Camden, holds the reins to bit in the mouth of a lion. The lion typically depicts England, especially the English crown. Is Camden directing the lion to attack Britannia? Or is he restraining the lion from attacking America?
Although it depicts many British politicians sympathetic to the American cause, the cartoon is a sharp critique of their actions. “Parricide” means the killing of a parent – in this instance, America and her British political allies are killing Britannia, America’s parent. The snake-locked person at left is likely an early example of the use of Medusa as an illustration of the monstrousness of revolution, reinforced by the fiery torches held overhead. Snakes were also often used to depict America in this period, which may be another reason for their inclusion. In the foreground, a large medallion depicts “the pelican in her piety,” a reference to the self-sacrifice of a pelican wounding herself to feed her young, often an analogy for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but here clearly meant to depict the sacrifice of Britain to care for her colonies.
This political cartoon illustrates the divide within Great Britain over the “American question” as it was often called in the period. Did the colonies deserve equal representation, civil rights, and treatment as British citizens, as many of the Whig politicians depicted here believed? Or was the rebellion the unnatural selfishness of a petulant child against its parent, as the author of this political cartoon clearly believed? It was a question that would plague Great Britain and her American colonies for the next seven years.
Image: “The Parricide, A Sketch of Modern Patriotism” political cartoon published May 1, 1776, in “The Westminster Magazine,” London. Library of Congress.
