The American Rattle Snake
April 12, 1782
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
plate (partly clipped): 8 5/8 x 12 11/16 in. (21.9 x 32.2 cm) sheet: 9 7/16 x 12 15/16 in. (23.9 x 32.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883
Accession Number
83.2.1041
Tags
About this artwork
This political cartoon, published on April 12, 1782, depicts an enormous rattlesnake coiled in three circles, symbolizing American military victories over British forces. The snake, a popular American symbol before the stars and stripes flag, has a label from its mouth reading "Two British Armies I have thus Burgoyn'd, And room for more I've got behind." Inside two coils are solid squares of British soldiers with flags on the ground, representing the armies of General John Burgoyne, who surrende...