The American Rattlesnake Presenting Monsieur his Ally a Dish of Frogs

Conceived in London, this satire shows an American rattlesnake offering a Frenchman a basket of frogs—a stereotypically Gallic food to British viewers. Lines of verse below warn of dire consequences for England if the Franco-American alliance, formed during the Revolutionary War, continued to hold. France had entered the conflict after the decisive American victory at Saratoga in 1777; in 1781, it contributed to the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia. The present image was issued during the protracted, often bitter, peace negotiations of 1782–83. The rattlesnake was a familiar symbol of America’s potential strength, introduced by Benjamin Franklin in a 1754 cartoon that urged his fellow colonists to "Join, or Die."