For those of our readers who attempted to unpack the rebus, America to her Mistaken Mother, last week, here’s the quick solution to the puzzle:
America to her mistaken mother.
You silly old woman that you have sent a dove to us is very plain to draw our attention from our real interests but we are determin’d to abide by our own ways of thinking your five children you have sent to us shall be treated as visitors, & safely sent home again You may consult them & admire them, but you must not expect one of your puppets will come home to you as sweet as you sent him, twas cruel to send so pretty a man so many 1000 miles & to have the fatigue of returning back after spiking his coat & dirting those red heel shoes if you are wise follow your own advice you gave to me take home your ships soldiers guard well your own trifling & leave me to myself as I am at age to know my own interests without your foolish advice & know that I shall always regard you & my Brothers as relations but not as friends. I am your greatly injured, Daughter America.The rebus was written in 1778 during the American Revolution. In February of that year, the United States and France signed a treaty of alliance, which caused great anxieties to the British government. Shortly thereafter, authorities in London sent the Carlisle Peace Commissioners, a five-man delegation, to Philadelphia to attempt a potential reconciliation between the empire and her colonies, but the American Congress rejected the idea. Two months after the failed negotiations, English printsellers and caricaturists, Mary and Matthew Darly published two satirical rebus prints ridiculing the peace attempts in the form of a plea from a rejected mother (Britannia to America) and a response from a rebellious daughter (America to her Mistaken Mother).
For those readers who love to solve a puzzle, we feature here the print Britannia to America (May 6, 1778). The answer to it and a more technical reading of the two puzzles can be found here. Britannia to America can be found as the rightmost thumbnail image.
