Read a historical political cartoon: symbols, labels and message

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   The snake reused, 1765 to 1775 (cards A to D). Card A, a summary in our words from the Library of Congress guide to Chronicling America: on September 21, 1765, the "Join or Die" image appeared on the masthead of The Constitutional Courant; on July 7, 1774, The Massachusetts Spy printed a different "Join or Die" cartoon under its masthead, in which the snake confronts a winged beast; on July 27, 1774, The Pennsylvania Journal printed a changed version reading "Unite or Die"; and on December 27, 1775, a writer using the pseudonym "American Guesser," another Franklin pseudonym, described a rattlesnake on a marines' drum with the motto "Don't Tread on Me." The guide says the call was now for the colonies to join against the British for independence. Card B, a summary in our words from the National Park Service article on printmaking in the colonies: after the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, Parliament imposed severe restrictions on Massachusetts with the Intolerable Acts in 1774. The acts caused general unrest and led to the revival of Franklin's image from 1754. "Join or Die" or "Unite or Die" with a snake became part of newspaper mastheads in Boston, New York and Philadelphia through 1775, and the Massachusetts Spy printed it under its masthead beginning in 1774. Card C, from the same article, in our words: a coiled snake was used often as a symbol of colonial hostility against British policies. The most enduring example was the flag designed by South Carolinian Christopher Gadsden for the colonial navy in 1775, with the words "Don't Tread on Me." Card D, from the same article, exact: "Some image motifs like coffins, rattlesnakes, and billowing smoke were likely very effective since printmakers used them repeatedly." The article ends that such images, serving as propaganda, "likely helped garner support for the revolutionary cause."

2. 1.

   Why would printers in several cities put the snake under their mastheads in 1774 and 1775, Bo asks?

   • To obey an order from Parliament to print the snake on the front page of the paper
   • To show off the printers' skill with woodcuts to rival newspapers
   • To remind readers in each issue of a call to unite against British policy
   • To show Britain wanted the colonies to stay united
3. 2.

   Cards A and B both say the Massachusetts Spy printed the snake in 1774. What does the agreement show, Esme asks?

   • It shows nothing, since both sources are modern and so cannot agree
   • It raises confidence in the date, though both may use the same pages
   • It confirms the cartoon caused the Revolution to begin in 1774
   • It shows the sources disagree about the date of the Spy's cartoon
4. 3.

   A student writes: "The snake appeared only in Massachusetts." How strong is that claim, given cards A and B, Kira asks?

   • Strong: card A names the Massachusetts Spy, a Massachusetts paper
   • Strong: card C names a South Carolinian who used the snake on a flag in 1775
   • Weak: cards A and B name papers in Pennsylvania, New York and Boston
   • Weak: card B says the snake was banned in Massachusetts
5. 4.

   A student writes: "The snake cartoons caused the colonies to unite." How strong is that claim, given card D, Luz asks?

   • Strong: card A shows the snake printed in several cities
   • Weak: card D says the images "likely helped," which is not proof
   • Weak: card D says the images had no effect on anyone
   • Strong: card B says the acts caused unrest, so the snake caused the rest
6. 5.

   How might a Patriot printer and a Loyalist reader each take the 1774 snake, Milo asks?

   • Both would take it as a friendly message from Britain to the colonies
   • The printer a call to unite; the Loyalist an attack on the king's government
   • Neither would notice a picture on a masthead
   • The Loyalist would praise it as loyal to the king and to Parliament
7. 6.

   Card D hedges its claim about the images with one word. What does the hedge tell a reader, Noah asks?

   • The author doubts that the images mattered
   • The author is judging from how often printmakers repeated the images
   • The author copied the claim from a 1774 newspaper
   • The author has proof of the effect on most readers of the images printed in 1774
8. 7.

   In the 1774 Massachusetts Spy version, the snake confronts a winged beast (card A). How should a reader decide what the beast stands for, Pia asks?

   • Ask what a winged beast means in a movie today
   • Assume it is a dragon, because dragons are winged and fierce in stories
   • Choose whichever meaning seems most interesting
   • Check captions and 1774 text, since meaning depends on viewers then
9. 8.

   The Gadsden flag was designed for the colonial navy in 1775 (card C). What was its snake and motto for, Tala asks?

   • A symbol of colonial hostility to British policy, on a navy flag
   • A call for the colonial navy to join Britain's fleet
   • A symbol of the new alliance with France against Britain
   • A trademark for South Carolina merchants selling goods across the colonies
10. 9.

    What new evidence would best test whether the snake images "helped garner support," Zee asks?

    • A Patriot speech praising the snake as a cause of unity
    • A modern poster of the Gadsden flag from a gift shop
    • Letters and newspaper replies from 1774 and 1775 that mention the snake
    • More copies of the same masthead from the same newspaper, printed again
11. 10.

    Card A (a marines' drum) and card C (a navy flag) both have "Don't Tread on Me" in 1775. What do they together support, Ari asks?

    • The motto began in 1754 with Franklin's first woodcut in the Gazette
    • Gadsden designed the drum as well as the flag
    • The rattlesnake with that motto was in use in 1775 on a drum and a flag
    • The drum and the flag were the same object