Early American magazines present contrasting views of the state of intellect and literature in a newly formed nation.  Through the printed word, Americans reveal a nationalistic desire to further free themselves from Great Britain by creating a new, distinctly American brand of literature.  In the beginning, British writings consumed the bulk of American magazine space to the growing displeasure of the patriotic citizenship. Magazine editors begged for local, original contributions, often publishing multiple writings of the same authorship anonymously or under pseudonyms attempting to fill their pages with works agreeable to and promoting the American ideal.  The Age of Nationalism arrived and American critics found their voice in magazines. Noah Webster called for a national language while William Tudor, founder of the North American Review, declared war against the imitation of all things British.  Claims circulated that a nation so young lacked the history and culture to supply sufficient fodder for literary endeavors; others cited the inadequacy of a republican government to foster scholars and even suggested a general inferiority of the American intellect.  Critics conceded that the baby republic lacked in national history, but argued for a superior form of literati rooted in nature.

Magazines provided a medium to publish political discussion and propaganda, reinforced by illustrations and cartoons.  The able doctor, or America swallowing the bitter draught, illustrates the tendency of American magazines to borrow from magazines in the mother country.  This cartoon was printed in the Royal American Magazine as the work of midnight rider Paul Revere, while actually copied exactly from a print originally published in a London magazine.  Some versions include tea written on the teapot by Revere, the only distinction from the original.  The image depicts a half-naked America held down and forced to swallow the Intolerable Acts of the British.  The cartoon utilizes stereotypes and well-known figures to increase its political potency.  The French and Spanish characters gape and point as ‘America’ suffers.  The notoriously womanizing Lord Sandwich peeks up ‘America’s’ skirt as Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice administers the drought.  This engraving portrays American views of domineering England and offends for a higher purpose.  Ironically, despite its British origins, this cartoon emerges as a distinctly American call to arms against the tyranny of British rule.