Colonial Political Cartoon

An American colonist reads with concern the royal proclamation of a tax on tea in the colonies as a British soldier stands nearby with rifle and bayonet, Boston, 1767. The tax on tea was one of the clauses of the Townshend acts and was repealed by the Tea Act of 1773 much to the chagrin of tea smugglers who, deprived of their livelihood, then embarked upon the famous Boston Tea Party. Text reads 'Nothing was thought of but this taxation/And the easiest method of liquidation/T-A-X/'Twas enough to vex/The souls of the men of Boston town/To read this under the seal of the crown/They were loyal subjects of George the Third/So they believed and so they averred/But this bristling offensive placard set/On the walls, was worse than a bayonet.' (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)