Introduction
Providential Detection
Hover over the markers for clues about the meaning of the cartoon!
- What is Thomas Jefferson holding? What does he intend to do with this document?
- Why is the eagle (symbol for America) trying to attack or stop Thomas Jefferson?
- Who might the eye in the sky represent? Why is it watching Jefferson?
In the cartoon, Thomas Jefferson kneels before the "altar of Gallic despotism" (which mocks Jefferson's allegiance to the French) as God and an American eagle attempt to prevent him from destroying the United States Constitution. He is about to fling a document labeled "Constitution & Independence U.S.A." into the fire fed by the flames of radical writings. Jefferson's alleged attack on George Washington and John Adams in the form of a letter to Philip Mazzei falls from Jefferson's pocket. Jefferson is supported by Satan, the writings of Thomas Paine, and the French philosophers.