("Yankee Doodle") - [Narrator] Before the Stars and Stripes, the symbol of America was a rattlesnake.

The Gadsden flag and the political cartoon Join or Die are popular examples, including this illustration satirizing the aftermath of the 1777 Battle of Saratoga and the 1781 Siege of Yorktown.

This print is artist James Gillray's response to two crucial American victories.

Gillray's "The American Rattlesnake" depicts a snake coiled around British troops, mirroring how the French and American soldiers overwhelmed the British in both battles before the British surrendered.

Gillray sarcastically tells the British it's not worth it to keep fighting while bragging about the victories.

The cartoon forecasts the end of British rule in the colonies.

After years of fighting, the Siege of Yorktown became the final battle of the Revolutionary War.