WAR OF 1812 SATIRICAL CARTOON CRITICIZING BRITISH PROMISES OF FREEDOM TO ENSLAVED AMERICANS, PHILANTHROPIE MODERNE, NEW YORK, CA. 1813

Philanthropie moderne. Hand-colored engraving. New York: Smith, ca 1813. Image 12 1/16 x 8 1/8 in. Visible 13 x 9 5/8 in. Handsomely presented in modern mat and burl wood frame. 

VERY RARE. Only one other copy has ever sold at auction. We located only 2 copies held in institutions (American Antiquarian Society and The New York Historical Society). 

A satirical political cartoon critical of the British tactic of attempting to undermine the American slave economy by enticing Black men to join the British cause with the promise of freedom. At left, A British politician embraces a Black man wearing a British redcoat with one arm while holding a paper reading "Liberté des Nègres" [Freedom for Blacks] at arm's length.

Another British soldier similarly embraces a Black man, armed with a shoulder belt and a saber, while simultaneously setting a building labeled "Washington" to the torch. Underfoot, he tramples papers reading "Droit des Gens" [Rights of the People] and "Droit de la Guerre entre nations civilisées" [Rules of war between civilized nations]. In the foreground, farming implements smolder, bookended by a Black man wearing a redcoat fleeing with a bale of cotton. 

During the War of 1812, over 600 slaves from the Chesapeake Bay joined the British Colonial Marines and marched with the redcoats on Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. An additional 4,000 to 5,000 enslaved individuals fled to British lines and were evacuated to Bermuda, Canada, or Trinidad. This was further encouraged when Admiral Alexander Cochrane issued a proclamation on 2 April 1814 offering immediate emancipation to any person willing to take up arms and join the colonial marines. 

References:

Gene Allen Smith. Fighting for Freedom: African Americans and the War of 1812. National Park Service. 

"African Americans and the War of 1812." Annapolis: Maryland State Archives, 2023. 

[War of 1812, James Madison, Battle of Lake Erie, Battle of Plattsburgh, Fort McHenry, Battle of New Orleans, Treaty of Ghent, Andrew Jackson]  [Manuscripts, Ephemera, Art, Engraving, Prints, Visual Culture, Political Cartoons, Cartoon History, Political History] [African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation]