Updated: January 14, 2026
A global view of the American Revolution as discovered through the images behind our videos and posts. These visuals shape how we remember — and reimagine — the Revolutionary Era. Each image tells its own story, highlighting a key figure, event, or idea, with context about the artist and historical significance. Explore these Revolutionary Era visuals to dig even deeper into history.
Explore the Images of the American Revolution – A Global View
One of my favorite aspects of the American Revolution is its wonderful images. A global view of the American Revolution through these images complement our videos and posts, where there is often little space to share more about the images themselves, their artists, and their backstories. Yet we believe you should know them — at least to some extent — because they add depth to how we Americans perceive and picture the Revolution and, equally important, how our collective memory of the Revolutionary Era has been shaped and reshaped over the centuries.
Almost all of the images we use in our program, as well as the music, are in the Public Domain. For those that aren’t, we’ve included links, licenses, and attributions. If you use any of these images, please provide proper credit and include links when required.
A global view of the American Revolution is presented in individual images, each with its historical significance and the artist’s background. These posts are designed for exploration — enjoy browsing, learning, and linking to related history posts. Explore these Revolutionary Era visuals to dig even deeper into history.
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali (r. 1761–1782) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Mysore was an independent state from 1399 until the late 18th century, after which it became a princely state under British suzerainty. In 1950, with the formation of the Republic of India, the princely state of Mysore was formally integrated into modern India.
He is important to the history of the American Revolution because he allied with the French and furiously fought the British in India. So to save its highly profitable holdings in India, the British Empire had to divert resources from the American Revolution to India.
Steven Pincus, a historian and its Empire, explains in our program that without Hyder Ali the British would likely not have been pinned down in Yorktown and Gen. Cornwallis may not have surrendered. This is because the ships and troops that could have helped Cornwallis and his troops in Yorktown, were instead fighting the French and Mysorean forces in India. Dr. Blaufarb also connects India to Yorktown with the same perspective.
In addition to the above, Dr. Pincus explores with me the meaning of revolution, how revolutions happen and what they share in common. I will provide a link to that interview when it publishes in 2026.
The Patriots were fascinated by Hyder Ali. His bravery was noted by Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania State Navy commissioned a warship christened as Hyder-Ally. Phillip Morin Freneau (1752-1832), referred to as the “Poet of the American Revolution”, wrote a poem in honor of Hyder-Ally.
This engraving is by William Dickes (1815-92) and was first published in 1846.
What’s interesting about Dickes is that unlike the other artists identified in this post, he did not primarily focus on historical figures or events. Rather, he illustrated literary works (such as Walter Scott’s) and specialized in natural history (e.g., Anne Pratt’s works). Dickes’ work won him many awards during his lifetime and are now displayed in the British Museum.
This image is in the Public Domain.
Qing Dynasty
This is the “Yellow Dragon Flag”. In 1862, the triangular version of this flag was adopted as the China’s governmental flag for the Qing dynasty (1636-1912). In 1889, the rectangular version became the first national flag of China.
The dragon in the flag was the Azure Dragon (Qinglong). Note its five claws. It was associated with royalty. The dragon represented the emperor and his family, and the yellow color of the field was for the imperial throne. The red flaming pearl represented wealth, wisdom, good luck and prosperity.
We displayed the “Yellow Dragon Flag” in our introductory video because trade with China played an important role in the American Revolution and afterward. This is a story that is much bigger than the Boston Tea Party, and is explained by Dael A. Norwood in an interview that will publish in 2026. Dr. Norwood is the author of Trading in Freedom: How Trade with China Defined Early America, a book that he and I talk about during our podcast conversation.
It should be noted that the China trade was a significant economic consideration and consternation for the British Empire. As you well know, the British loved their tea, most of which was imported from China. But the Qing Dynasty believed that Europeans, whom it considered barbarians, had nothing to offer to China – except for hard currency, mostly silver. Exporting hard currency to China, instead of raw materials and/or good produced in Great Britain and its colonies, created an untenable trade imbalance with far-reaching ramifications, even affecting the American Revolution. For example, in our program, Farley Grubb explains the impact of British limits on hard currency in the American colonies. Dr. Grubb is the author of The Continental Dollar: How the American Revolution was Financed with Paper Money, a book that we discuss in an interview that will publish in 2026.
This image is in the Public Domain.
Bernardo de Gálvez
Although most of us did not learn about Gálvez in school, his portrait here is displayed in the U.S. Capitol.
In addition, Galveston, Texas, and Galvez, Louisiana, are named after Gálvez. And Gálvez Day is a local holiday in Pensacola.
But why?
Because Gálvez was a hero of the American Revolution.
During the Revolutionary War, he fought and defeated the British and conquered West Florida in the culminating and successful siege of Pensacola (May 1781). This eliminated the British naval presence in the Gulf region and opening up supply lines that were integral to American war efforts. Additionally, Gálvez’s war against the British had the all-important effect of pinning down British land forces and preventing them from partaking in the war against the colonists.
Gálvez was the Spanish Governor of Louisiana (1777–1783) and the military commander of Spanish forces in the region. He later became the Viceroy of New Spain from June 1785 until his death in Nov. 1786.
In our program, Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia discusses Gálvez’s contribution to the American cause and reveals how Spain frustrated the British military—Navy and land forces—not just in and around the American colonies, but also in Europe. Dr. Quintero is the author of Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Hero of the American Revolution and Spain and the American Revolution: New Approaches and Perspectives. He is also a career Spanish diplomat, including his 2013-18 appointment as the Counselor at the Embassy of Spain to the United States of America. I will post a link to my interview with him when it publishes in 2026.
This image (c. 1783-84) is by Mariano Salvador Maella Pérez (1739-1819), who in 1774 became Spain’s King Charles IV’s chamber painter. He was well known for his royal portrait and religious frescoes. As primary court painters, in 1799 he and Francisco Goya began restoration of several royal sites.
This image is in the Public Domain.
About This Program
Analyzing American Revolution (AAR) is a special series podcast production of the History Behind News program. In this series, 33 professors (and counting) analyze the American Revolution from 33 different angles through in-depth interviews with host Adel Aali.
Themes of the Revolution
Tap below for a closer look at the Revolutionary Era themes we examine—and to meet our guest scholars.
Visit our Revolutionary Era Blog page for
- Interview Transcript Highlights
- Interview Image and Artist Highlights
- Quiz Answers and Backstories
Visual Index of the American Revolution
Explore the backstories and artist bios behind images of our Founding—before and after the American Revolution. These visuals shape how we remember—and reimagine—the Revolutionary Era.
Experienced Analysis of History
About HbN Program:
The History Behind News program (HbN) is committed to making in-depth history researched and written by scholars enjoyable and accessible to everyone. Our motto is bridging scholarly works to everyday news.
The histories we’ve uncovered encompass an impressively wide range of subjects from ancient history to U.S. politics and economy to race, women’s rights, immigration, climate, science, military, war, China, Europe, Middle East, Russia & Ukraine, Africa and the Americas to many other issues in the news. We also receive advanced copies of scholarly books and discuss them in our program (in the context of current news).
198 Scholars & Counting:
Our guests are scholars in prestigious institutions, such as Oxford, Yale, Caltech, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, the Hoover Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, King’s College London, Princeton University, Notre Dame, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, the Atlantic Council, Duke, Amherst College, University of Michigan, Rhodes College, Emory University, Northwestern Law, Vanderbilt University, US Naval War College, Air Command and Staff College, Marine Corp University, US Army War College, UVA, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, NYU, Rice, University of Chicago, White House Historical Association, Baylor University, USC, UC Berkeley, UCSF, UCI, UCSD, UC Davis, UCR, Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Israel Democracy Institute, University of Aberdeen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, University of Navarra, University of Seville, Helsinki University, Diego Portales University (Chile), Lund University (Sweden), University of Edinburgh, Near East University (Türkiye), Cardiff University, the Free University of Berlin and many others.
They include Pulitzer Prize winners, renowned documentary producers, former White House advisors and other high-ranking government officials, and current and former senior reporters at The Wall Street Journal and New York Times Magazine. Many have testified in Congressional hearings and others frequently contribute to major media outlets and widely read publications, ranging from the BBC, NPR, PBS and MSNBC to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
Think You Know the American Revolution?
