In 1822–1823 Mathews toured the United States (US) to great success. During his stay, he developed a number of impressions of American types. One of these was the African American, said to have been based on the American black actor James Hewlett, who performed Shakespeare roles at the African Grove. In his next show, "A Trip to America", Mathews sang a version of the popular slave freedom song, "Possum Up a Gum Tree", performing in dialect and possibly in blackface. One author called him "the paterfamilias of the Yankee theatre and the progenitor of all native American dialect comedy." Mathews won 3,000 crowns' damages after bringing an action for libel against the "Philadelphia Gazette".