Political cartoons relating to reform in Great Britain and the United States

description below

A series of crude (and in some cases explicitly racist) lithographed cards numbered 1-16, with scenes relating to political reform on both sides of the Atlantic. On British side, they cover the reforms to the franchise made by the 1832 Reform Act, poking fun at ‘poor distress’d turn’d out Boroughmongers’ (No. 1), the rural squirearchy (No. 7), Taxes (No. 9), the established Church (No. 10) and Irishmen (no. 12), among others. United States political issues are shown in the second card which reuses – with added racist slurs – the design of Edward Williams Clay (1799-1857) entitled ‘Hurrah! hurrah for Genl. Jackson!!’ under the caption ‘Life in Philadelphia’. Cards nos. 4 and 7, with yet more overt racism, use references to American segregationism to caricature British political positions.

  • Title: [Political cartoons relating to reform in Great Britain and the United States] [graphic].
  • Publication: [York, England] : W.F. Wodson, lith., Pavement, York, [approximately 1832]

Catalog Record

724 832 P769

Acquired July 2023

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *