Civil War cartoon satirizing the awkward foreign relations between the United States and Great Britain caused by the royal proclamation of neutrality in 1861. The Queen issued the proclamation, which recognized the seceded states as having belligerent rights, in response to the Union blockades of Southern ports and its effect on international maritime trade and privateering. Consequently, the United States feared that Great Britain had acknowledged the Confederacy as an independent government. Shows John Bull and "Pat" on a dock discussing the sailor's enlistment in the Navy. Bull, the royal proclamation under his arm, warns the American that should he enlist with "either of the Belligerents" he would not be protected by Britain if taken as a pirate. "Pat" responds he does not want his protection and that the "stars and stripes" for which he fights will protect him. In the background, an American flag waves near a dock house adorned with a Union recruitment poster and a broadside highlighting the major themes of the royal proclamation including "Strict Neutrality"; "Privateering"; and "Letters of Marque.", Date supplied by Weitenkampf., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of miscellaneous Civil War materials., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War.
Creator
Currier & Ives
Date
[1862]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons 1862-1W [5780.F.b]
