The Sot-weed Factor: or, A Voyage to Maryland. A Satyr.: In which is Describ'd The Laws, Government, Courts and Constitutions of the Country, and also the Buildings, Feasts, Frolicks, Entertainments and Drunken Humours of the Inhabitants of that Part of America. In Burlesque Verse.

"The Sot-weed Factor: or, A Voyage to Maryland. A Satyr." by Ebenezer Cooke is a satirical poem first published in 1708. Written in Hudibrastic couplets, it follows a tobacco merchant who travels to colonial Maryland expecting profit but encounters brutal conditions and corrupt colonists. The narrator faces swindling lawyers and shocking behavior from both Native Americans and English settlers, ultimately fleeing in disgust. Critics debate whether Cooke satirizes only the colony or also mocks the narrow-minded merchant himself, unable to adapt to American life. (This is an automatically generated summary.)