The portrait of a viscount in women's clothing from the colonial government of New York addresses the climate of political corruption, conspiracy, slander, and rumormongering prevalent in his times. Also addressed are the postwar American Whig tendencies to completely discount colonial benevolence and well-kept provincial politics in favor of scorn and derision of the British colonial government.

Deerfield's first half-century, starting in 1670, was a struggle to survive numerous Indian attacks. But more than a site of bloodshed, Deerfield offers an extraordinary opportunity to study larger issues of colonial war and society.