Visual Analysis of America's War for Independence

Running head: VISUAL ANALYSIS
VISUAL ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1VISUAL ANALYSIS
Identification of the visual representation
The visual representation which has been chosen for the purpose of analysis has taken
form the book titled U.S. History authored jointly by P. Scott Corbett, Volker Janssen, John M.
Lund, Todd Pfannestiel and Paul Vickery, published in the year 2014. The chosen visual
representation has been taken from the sixth chapter of the book, titled America’s War for
Independence, 1775 - 1783. The visual representation is originally an engraving which had been
made by German artist Daniel Chodowiecki in the year 1784. It is related to the time period
when the American War of Independence had come to an end and the victory of the Americans
over the colonizer Britain (Corbett).

2VISUAL ANALYSIS
Description of the visual representation
The visual representation does not portray anything abstract, it is extremely straight
forward and portrays the defeat of the army of the coloniser nation Britain against the American
forces in the American war of Independence, and that Great Britain has accepted their defeat and
that America had turned out to be victorious in the war, and successful in overthrowing the
British colonial rule. The American soldiers can be seen as keeping their heads and arms up in
the air, while the British soldiers hanging their head down in a bowing position expressing a
sense of humility and accepting their defeat. The gesture of the American soldiers in the
engraving is also symbolic of the fact that they have secured the right to determine and manage
their affairs by themselves and the days of being subservient to the British Crown has come to an
end (Corbett). The political message of the visual representation is extremely significant and is
way beyond the victory of America over the British colonialist forces. The fact that the visual
representation has been created by a German national is also politically significant which shall be
discussed later in the essay.
Analysis of the historical context of the visual representation
Context of the visual representation
The context is set against the background of the American War of Independence, the end
of the war, Britain accepting the terms and conditions of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and
recognizing the sovereignty of the United States of America. The lack of violence in the chosen
visual representation shows that the peace treaty had been accepted by Britain and the eight year
long war from 1775 had finally come to an end in the year 1783, on the third of September
(Judd).