Philip Dawe: Edenton Tea Party Satirical Print

This cartoon by a British artist was intended to mock a boycott led by colonial women. It was typical of the inexpensive prints showing figures and events of the day that were sold in large numbers during the late 1700s in England and its North American colonies. The growing push for the colonies’ independence in the 1760s and 1770s inspired artists on both sides of the Atlantic to produce prints that either celebrated the cause (from the colonists’ perspective) or ridiculed it (from the British perspective). With the British government seeking measures that would both limit colonial autonomy and extract more in taxes from the colonists after the French and Indian War, relations grew strained. The colonists sought ways of either avoiding or undermining London’s attempts to impose duties on imported commodities such as textiles and tea. The most effective tactic proved to be boycotts, which were often organized by those traditionally responsible for the purchase of certain goods: colonial women.