Most famous for his “midnight ride” that alerted the colonial militia of the approach of British forces prior to the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, Paul Revere (1734–1818) was a printer, an engraver, a silversmith, and an industrialist. He was responsible for engraving and/or printing some of the most influential political cartoons of the revolutionary period.

The Able Doctor, or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught

Though it was first published in London Magazine in April 1774, this cartoon of the Boston Tea Party became famous when a copy of it, created by Paul Revere, appeared in the Royal American Magazine in June of the same year. It was created at the time of the Boston Port Bill, which was signed into law on March 31, 1774, and by which Britain officially closed Boston Harbor as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. According to the Library of Congress, the cartoon shows Lord North, with the “Boston Port Bill” extending from a pocket, forcing tea (the Intolerable Acts) down the throat of a partially draped Native American female figure representing “America” whose arms are restrained by Lord Mansfield, while Lord Sandwich, a notorious womanizer, restrains her feet and peeks up her skirt. “Britannia,” standing behind “America,” turns away and shields her face with her left hand as figures representing France and Spain look on from the left and a figure holding “military law” stands to the right.