Taxes, the Tea Party, and Those Revolting Rebels: A History in Comics of the American Revolution

by Stan Mack

Overview

Presenting the American Revolution in a fun, easy-to-understand fashion, Stan Mack’s illustrated rendition makes history entertaining while providing lucid insight into the revolution’s real-life participants, as well as its successes and failures. This graphic account of the birth of the United States stars a chubby, insecure King George III, rebellious and misunderstood colonists, and loudmouthed and insensitive aristocrats, providing information about the Boston Tea Party and the revolt against the status quo. Uncannily relevant to today’s world, this whimsical and informative pictorial history tells the story of the original peoples’ insurgence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561636976
Publisher:	N B M Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/01/2012
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Stan Mack is a writer and artist who pioneered a documentary style of comics with his notorious strip Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies, which ran in the Village Voice. He also created Stan Mack’s Out-takes, which appeared in Adweek and covered the New York media scene. He is the author of Fight for Freedom, Hard Time, Janet & Me, The Road to Revolution, and The Story of the Jews: A 4,000-Year Adventure. He is a former art director for the New York Times Sunday Magazine. He lives in New York City.

Read an Excerpt

Taxes the Tea Party and Those Revolting Rebels

A History in Comics of the American Revolution

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By Stan Mack

NBM Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Stan Mack
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-56163-722-5

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CHAPTER 1

1761 - 1775

MONARCHY & MOBS

IT'S THE EARLY 1760s AND BRITAIN HAS FINALLY DEFEATED THE FRENCH AND KICKED THEM OUT OF THE NEW WORLD. THE BRITISH TROOPS HEAD FOR HOME.

SO LONG, THANK THE KING FOR US.

HAVE A NICE TRIP BACK.

HERE IN AMERICA, ENGLAND'S COLONIES ARE BUSILY RIDING A POPULATION EXPLOSION AND BUSINESS BOOM.

HOORAY, THEY'RE FINALLY GONE!

THOUGHT THEY'D NEVER LEAVE!

COLONIAL MERCHANTS AND SHIPBUILDERS ARE RAKING IN BIG PROFITS ...

SHOULD WE GIVE OUR WORKERS A RAISE?

NA! THAT'LL SPOIL THEM.

... AND EVERYONE IS BUSY SMUGGLING TO AVOID TRADE RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED BY GREAT BRITAIN.

ENGLAND IS HAVING FITS. SHE HAS A HUGE WAR DEBT, SHE CAN'T SQUEEZE ANY MORE TAXES OUT OF THER OWN PEOPLE. AND SHE'S WATCHING SMUGGLERS MAKE A MOCKERY OF HER ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE TRADE THROUGHOUT HER EMPIRE.

THE WHOLE POINT OF HAVING COLONIES IS TO EXPLOIT THEM!

THE COLONIES BLATANTLY IGNORE BRITISH TRADE DUTIES AND SMUGGLE FRENCH SUGAR FOR THEIR LUCRATIVE RUM BUSINESS, PART OF THE INFAMOUS TRIANGULAR TRADE.

HOW THE TRIANGULAR TRADE WORKS

COLONIAL SHIPPERS CARRY SUGAR AND MOLASSES FROM THE WEST INDIES TO NEW ENGLAND WHERE THEY'RE CONVERTED TO RUM. THE RUM IS SHIPPED TO AFRICA ...

... WHERE AFRICANS, ARABS, AND EUROPEANS HAVE LONG BEEN IN THE SLAVE BUSINESS. THE RUM IS TRADED FOR AFRICANS WHO HAVE BEEN DRAGGED FROM THEIR VILLAGES AND JAMMED ON SHIPS.

THE SHIPS SAIL TO THE WEST INDIES, CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, AND THE COLONIES. THEY SELL THEIR HUMAN CARGO, LOAD UP ON SUGAR, AND START AGAIN.

FRUSTRATED, ENGLAND TURNS TO WRITS OF ASSISTANCE, GENERAL SEARCH WARRANTS THAT ALLOW HER TO BOARD SHIPS SUSPECTED OF SMUGGLING. AND SO:

IN THE PORT CITY OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS:

OPEN THOSE BARRELS!

GET OFF THIS BOAT! GO TO RHODE ISLAND - LOTS OF SMUGGLERS THERE!

THIS IS ILLEGAL! WE'RE CALLING A LAWYER!

COLONISTS, LIVING UNDER THE BRITISH MONARCHY, HAD MORE LEGAL RIGHTS THAN MOST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. IF NOT FOR THESE FREEDOMS, THEY MIGHT NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO REBEL AT ALL.

IN 1761, A TRIAL IS HELD BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME COURT. THE LAWYER FOR THE MERCHANTS IS BRILLIANT, ERRATIC, MAGNETIC JAMES OTIS. (JAMES ALSO HATES THE BOSTON ELITE BECAUSE THEY SLIGHTED HIS LAWYER FATHER.)

THE LAWYER FOR THE CROWN SAYS THE EXPECTED:

THE WRITS ARE NECESSARY BECAUSE ...

... COLLECTING TAXES IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYONE'S RIGHTS.

THEN OTIS MAKES HIS REBUTTAL. HE USES IDEAS LIFTED FROM THE PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES OF THE DAY!

A QUICK LOOK AT SOME OF THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE AND IDEAS THAT INFLUENCED THE COLONISTS.

NEW ENGLAND PURITANISM

MAN HAS A DUTY TO HIS GOD TO WORK HARD, BE THRIFTY, AND BE UNFOMFORTABLE WITH LUXURY.

MAN WHO TOILS HONESTLY AND PRAISES GOD WILL PROSPER AND FIND SALVATION.

GOD SAYS IF I WORK HARD. I'LL PROSPER. BUT IF I PROSPER, I'LL GET RICH. AND RICHES ARE DECADENT.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

JOHN LOCKE 1632-1704 ENGLISH INTELLECTUAL

SOCIETY IS AN AGREEMENT AMONG MEN AIMED AT PROTECTING SELF- INTEREST AND INDIVIDUAL AFREEDOMS.

REBELLION IS PROPER TO PROTECT LIBERTY AND PROPERTY. (THIS ONLY APPLIES TO THE ARISTOCRACY. THE LOWE CLASSES SHOULD BE TRAINED AS SERVANTS.)

JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU 1712-1778 FRENCH PHILOSOPHER

GO TO NATURE AND THERE WORSHIP THE NOBLE SAVAGE.

ALL MEN IN NATURE ARE EQUAL. IT IS CIVILIZATION THAT BRINGS GOOD AND EVIL.

SIR ISSAC NEWTON 1642-1727 ENGLISH SCIENTIST

OUR WORLD IS A WATCH AND GOD IS THE WATCHMAKER.

THE UNIVERSE IS GUIDED BY SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES, AND IIT IS MAN'S DUTY TO LEARN ITS SECRETS. FOR EXAMPLE, WHY DOES AN APPLE FALL?

GRAVITY WAS A HARD IDEA TO GRASP IN THOSE DAYS.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Taxes the Tea Party and Those Revolting Rebels by Stan Mack. Copyright © 2012 Stan Mack. Excerpted by permission of NBM Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

1 1761 - 1775 MONARCHY & MOBS,
1761 THE WRITS OF ASSISTANCE,
1763 THE COLONIES,
1764 SUGAR ACT,
1765 STAMP ACT,
1767 TOWNSHEND DUTIES,
1770 BOSTON MASSACRE,
1773 BOSTON TEA PARTY,
1774 1st CONTINENTAL CONGRESS,
1175 LEXINGTON & CONCORD,
2 1775 - 1781 REDCOATS & GUERRILLAS,
1775 2ND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS,
1775 BUNKER HILL,
1775 GEORGE WASHINGTON,
1775 TICONDEROGA / CANADA,
1776 TOM PAINE,
1776 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
1776 LONG ISLAND OF TRENTON,
1777 SARATOGA,
1778 VALLEY FORGE,
1779 TROUBLE AT HOME,
1781 WEST POINT,
1780 WAR IN THE SOUTH,
1781 YORKTOWN,
3 1782 - 1789 PROFIT & VIRTUE,
1782 THE CONFEDERATION,
1786 SHAYS' REBELLION,
1787 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION,
1789 BILL OF RIGHTS,

Editorial Reviews

This re-issue of cartoonist and social chronicler Mack's thoroughly researched 1994 history of the American Revolution offers a spectacular, unvarnished account that runs counter to the mythology-as-history often taught in American schools. Mack's re-telling avoids speechifying and presents realistic motivations for the rebels. It also manages to depict the towering figures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other founding fathers as mere men, some of whom were not necessarily as commanding or even competent as legend would have it. For those raised on the hyperbolic children's book versions of the people and events surrounding our nation's independence, this is a strongly recommended work whose "cartoony" art style works well with a narrative that openly addresses the roles played by women, slaves, and Native Americans in the twenty-eight year struggle and its aftermath. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"A cartoonist de-mythologizes the Founding Fathers and makes them more like us."  —New York Times

"Delightfully illustrated in his distinctive minimalist cartoon style, Mack's first original book-length effort puts the 'real life' back into our revolutionary roots, providing capsule portraits of the prominent activists of the time, along with their many idiosyncrasies, comic flaws, and strategic bungling."  —Publishers Weekly

"Mack the populist does not write dispassionately."  —Harvey Pekar


"A people's-eye view of history, an attempt to get beyond and behind the idealized accounts of the deeds of kings, generals, and heroes."  —Houston Chronicle


"Mack's loose cartoony art captures its loudly contentious cast without either mythologizing or condescending to them. Recommended reading for those of us who only hazily remember our public school history classes." —Seattle Post Intelligencer


"This humanized account of the dawn of the American project is a beautiful piece of work, and a strong tonic against the whitewash of history. There's bravery in this history, and sacrifice, and cunning and resolve. But with the founders' failings and flaws on display, we can see that America's problems have been there since the start." —www.BoingBoing.net


"Mack's history of the American Revolution strikes just the right balance. It's packed with names, dates, places, and ideas, but they only come up when they're needed, as though Mack is giving an enthusiastic, on-the-fly lecture rather than laying out information to be memorized." —Teacher Librarian (December 2012)


"Accessible, thought-provoking, and highly discussable, this version of how the United States became independent of the British Crown may well inspire readers to see the relevant aspects of studying history as well as reading nonfiction comics." —School Library Journal (November 2012)

From the Publisher

When one thinks of jazz in the '60s, Dixieland is hardly the first thing that comes to mind. Jazz enthusiasts will always associate the '60s with modal post-bop, free jazz, and funky soul-jazz organ combos, but not Dixieland -- a style of jazz that reached its creative peak in the '20s. Nonetheless, plenty of Dixieland revivalists were still doing their thing in the '60s, including the Original Salty Dogs (who had been around since 1947). Demonstrating that worthwhile Dixieland did not end with Prohibition, this reissue focuses on two Salty Dogs appearances in the '60s. Nine of the reissue's 15 tracks were recorded at the Hinsdale Community Center in Hinsdale, IL, in 1966, while six previously unreleased bonus tracks are from a 1969 gig at Sloppy Joe's in Chicago. At both venues, the Salty Dogs are faithful to the spirit of '20s Dixieland. Few surprises occur, but the band is spirited and enjoyable on Dixieland staples like Jelly Roll Morton's "Wolverine Blues" and Bix Beiderbecke's "Davenport Blues." Most of the performances are {|instrumental|}, which is a good thing because the weak vocal on {|"Oh, Mama"|} is the reissue's low point. On the {|Dixieland revival|} circuit, it isn't uncommon for instrumentalists who are inferior vocalists to go ahead and sing anyway; however, they would do well to leave the singing to the experts and stick with what they do best: playing their instruments. But for the most part, {|New Orleans Shuffle|} is an enjoyable, if derivative, reissue that die-hard {|Dixieland|} fans will appreciate. ~ Alex Henderson

Library Journal