Ch 7 SSS3 A Cartoon With A Caption - B

In the spring of 1754, England and France were on the verge of war, and America was to be their battleground. England's chain of 13 colonies skirted the Atlantic Coast. France claimed the territory along the St. Lawrence River valley and across the Appalachian Mountains. As English settlers began moving west, they were constantly being attacked by the French and their Indian allies.

To cement an alliance with the Iroquois Indians, seven English colonies sent delegates to a meeting in June that year in Albany, New York. Benjamin Franklin, a delegate from Pennsylvania, also had another purpose in mind. He proposed a plan that "one general government may be formed in America including all the said colonies." Although the group adopted Franklin's Albany Plan of Union, the plan was never carried out.

Hoping that people would support his plan, Franklin published the cartoon shown here. It was the first American political cartoon ever. A political cartoon uses symbols to say something about current political issues or events.

Decoding the Cartoon. In this political cartoon, Franklin played on a popular myth of his time that a snake, cut into pieces, would grow whole again. Study the cartoon carefully.

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