It is important for students to know how to evaluate messages conveyed by the news media. Exploration of the artistic techniques used in political cartoons leads to critical questioning.

Students explore and analyze the techniques that political (or editorial) cartoonists use and draw conclusions about why the cartoonists choose those techniques to communicate their messages.

A swipe at President Van Buren's independent treasury system and his continuation of the monetary policies of predecessor Andrew Jackson. The artist, clearly in sympathy with the Whigs, links corruption in the federal customs and postal systems with the sub-treasury system, whereby federal funds were to be retained by the revenue-collecting agencies and other designated repositories, instead of private banks. The artist forecasts Van Buren's defeat in the 1840 elections. Van Buren, hypnotized by Jackson, is on a couch with a royal crown and scepter on one side and sword and purse on the other. Jackson, his toes touching Van Buren's, sits in a chair to the left with his white plug hat and cane next to him. On the right Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury (arms crossed), Postmaster General Amos Kendall, and "Globe" editor Francis Preston Blair (far right) observe. Jackson: "Are you asleep? Do you hear me? Tell me what you see?" Van Buren: "I am asleep. I hear nobody but you.--I see a great pole, and a crowd of people. They are cheering an elderly man; whom they hail as President of the United States. On their banners are inscribed Whig Principles!!! I see a little man tumbling down a precipice; on his back is a mill stone inscribed Sub-treasury! oh! lord, oh! lord! Why it is myself!" Woodbury: "Ask him Dr. Jackson, if he sees any thing of "Price" or Swartwout?" (See "Price Current" and "Sub Treasurers Meeting in England," nos. 1838-21 and -20.) Kendall: "Ask him at what rate the Express Mail for North is going now?" Blair: "This will make a good paragraph for the Globe!"|Entered . . . 1839 by John Childs.|New York. Published & sold by J. Childs, Lithographer. 119, Fulton-Street.|Signed with monogram: EWC (Edward Williams Clay).|The Library's impression of the print was deposited for copyright on February 22, 1839.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Davison, no. 122.|Weitenkampf, p. 58.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1839-2.

A cynical look at the opposition to American annexation of Texas during the 1844 campaign. At the head of a motley procession is Whig candidate and professed anti-annexationist Henry Clay, riding a raccoon (which looks more like a fox). He is followed by three groups of men. The first (right) are the "Hartford Convention Blue-Lights," who shout, "God save the King!" and "Millions for Tribute! not a cent for defence Go it Strong!" Next (center) is a line of "Sunday Mail Petitioners," led by Clay's strongly religious running-mate Theodore Frelinghuysen, riding a donkey and dressed in clerical robes. They represent the proponents of eliminating postal service on Sundays in the United States, whose campaign was criticized by many as a threat to the separation of church and state. One of them remarks, "I go for the Good old times! wholesome, Fine and Imprisonment!" Prominent antislavery advocate William Lloyd Garrison leads the third group. He displays the banner of "Non Resistance, No Government No Laws--Except the 15 Gallon Law!" His folllowers are the "Abolition Martyrs" (far left), who have been tarred-and-feathered for their activism.|Entered . . . 1844 by J. Baillie.|Lith. & pubd. by James Baillie 118 Nassau St. N.Y.|Signed: H. Bucholzer.|The Library's impression was deposited for copyright on August 26, 1844.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 77.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1844-43.

An illustrated sheet music cover for a march dedicated to the Masons. According to the text the march was performed "at the Ceremony of laying the Corner Stone of the Masonic Temple, Boston." The illustration parodies the national convention of the Antimasonic party, held in September 1831 in Baltimore ("Valdimor"). The convention nominated William Wirt for President and Amos Ellmaker for Vice President. The attendees are pictured as asses, geese, goats, and other animals gathered at a table presided over by a donkey wearing spectacles (center). A horse at left says, "Mr. President I should like to know what course we are to pursue with regard to the Presidency. I hope no candidate will be entered who is not a "full blooded" Antimason. rather than vote for any other I will "run" for the office myself." A cat in the background says, "No secret societies." A pig at right: "...I agree with my friend opposite. To save my own "Bacon" I would not vote for any man who would not go the "Whole Hog" for Antimasonry. A dog: "...I'm not used to many words. I never spin out a long yarn without getting into a "snarl." I've only to say, that since I have em"barked" in this business I am resolved to go the hull figure." On the wall in the background a clock reads five minutes to midnight.|Boston. Published by C. Bradlee 164 Washington St.|Drawn by David Claypool Johnston.|Entered . . . 1832 by C. Bradlee.|The print appears to have been drawn by David Claypool Johnston. Malcolm Johnson records a sketch for the illustration in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society. D. C. Johnston's "Much Ado about Nothing" (see 1832-3), published in Boston slightly later, is akin in style, lettering, and in the nature of the scene. Both prints include the motif of a clock on the background wall.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Johnson, no. 141.|Weitenkampf, p. 27.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1832-1.

The print is a fragment of a larger lithograph entitled "Invasion of Cuba," composed of two panels, applauding American "filibustering" expeditions to liberate Cuba from Spain. (See also "The Great Naval Blockade of Round Island" and "Genl Lopez the Cuban Patriot Getting His Cash," nos. 1849-5 and 1850-10.) "Invasion of Cuba" evidently appeared in the wake of Lopez's second failed invasion of Cuba in August 1851. The left panel, "The Expedition," expresses sympathy with American intervention there in defiance of Great Britain. Our panel criticizes the Fillmore administration's conciliatory attitude toward Cuba, and alignment of the island's Spanish rule with the Catholic Church and other conservative powers in Europe. Spanish governor Jose Gutierez de la Concha sits on a throne in the center of a crowded scene, his left foot on the face of the recumbent female figure of Cuba, as he decorates American consul A. F. Owen, who kneels at left. In the right foreground American Secretary of State Daniel Webster holds a "Secret Treaty with Spain" in one hand and behind his back clasps hands with Britain, represented by a lion in sailor's costume. Nearby stands a fox in uniform, probably representing France. To the right of the throne stand various prelates, bishops, and the pope, along with several beasts wearing crowns. On the left of the throne are ministers with star-shaped heads, in a state of agitation. In the left foreground Brother Jonathan, smoking a cigar and waving a saber, carries off a Cuban flag. Above Gutierez's throne are several smaller scenes of Spanish atrocities. On the left is the execution by a Cuban firing squad of American volunteers under W. H. Crittenden in Havana, August 16, 1851. The captive Americans are bound and kneeling. In the center, expedition commander Narciso Lopez is garroted by a black man, as he sits in a chair decorated with a small cross (an anti-Catholic reference). The scene on the right shows two ships, one American and one Cuban, and has the date August 13. It may represent the capture of Crittenden's retreating forces on the high seas. Below the print is the caustic commentary: "Our Consul at Havana decorated by Don Quixote with the Order of the Golden Fleeze for his Neutrality in the Cuba Question under the Applause of the Absolute Powers! The Stars in Consternation. Jonathan runs off swearing: 'Cuba must be smoked' anyhow!"|Signed with monogram: AW.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Murrell, p. 188-189 (reproduces the complete print).|Weitenkampf, p. 104.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1851-4.

Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

A dramatic portrayal, clearly biased toward the northern point of view, of an incident in Congress which inflamed sectional passions in 1856. The artist recreates the May 22 attack and severe beating of Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner by Representative Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina. Brooks's actions were provoked by Sumner's insulting public remarks against his cousin, Senator Andrew Pickens Butler, and against Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas, delivered in the Senate two days earlier. The print shows an enraged Brooks (right) standing over the seated Sumner in the Senate chamber, about to land on him a heavy blow of his cane. The unsuspecting Sumner sits writing at his desk. At left is another group. Brooks's fellow South Carolinian Representative Lawrence M. Keitt stands in the center, raising his own cane menacingly to stay possible intervention by the other legislators present. Clearly no help for Sumner is forthcoming. Behind Keitt's back, concealed in his left hand, Keitt holds a pistol. In the foreground are Georgia senator Robert Toombs (far left) and Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas (hands in pockets) looking vindicated by the event. Behind them elderly Kentucky senator John J. Crittenden is restrained by a fifth, unidentified man. Above the scene is a quote from Henry Ward Beecher's May 31 speech at a Sumner rally in New York, where he proclaimed, "The symbol of the North is the pen; the symbol of the South is the bludgeon." David Tatham attributes the print to the Bufford shop, and suggests that the Library's copy of the print, the only known example, may have been a trial impression, and that the print may not actually have been released. The attribution to Homer was first made by Milton Kaplan.|Probably printed by John H. Bufford, Boston.|Signed with monogram: WH (Winslow Homer).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Tatham, "Pictorial Responses to the Caning of Senator Sumner," p. 15-16.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1856-1.|Exhibited: American Treasures of the Library of Congress.

Signed in stone: J. Cn.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

A small card bearing a vitriolic indictment of the Confederacy. The artist particularly attacks the the institution of slavery, the foundation of Southern economy. A large shield is flanked by two figures: a planter (left) and a slave. The planter wears spurs and a broad-brimmed hat and smokes a cigar. The slave is clad only in breeches, and his hands are manacled. Above the shield are two crossed flags, the Confederate flag and one bearing a skull and crossbones and the number 290. Between the flags are a rooster and a streamer with the motto "servitudo esto perpetua." On the shield are images associated with the South: a mint julep, a bottle of "Old Rye," a pistol and dagger, a whip and manacles, cotton, tobacco, and sugar plants, and slaves hoeing. In the background left, dominated by the palmetto tree of South Carolina, three planters, one holding a whip, play cards at a table. Beyond, two men duel with pistols. On the right, a female slave is auctioned as two slave children stand by and a black woman watches from a cabin doorway.|G.H. Heap Inv. [i.e., published].|H.H. Tilley Del. et Sc.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1862-13.

A puzzling caricature, probably dealing with Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson's administration. The work is quite crudely drawn. An acrobat, with mustache and sideburns and wearing a jester's cap, holds in each hand a mask, one grinning and one frowning. His legs stretch from the head of Pennsylvania congressman Thaddeus Stevens, who holds a paper labeled "Committee of 15" and is seated on a black man, who crawls on all fours, to the head of an unidentified man (probably Johnson) who holds the U.S. Constitution. The latter's back is turned to the viewer and several geese, some alive and some dead, appear at his feet. Stevens, an abolitionist, was one of the most prominent members of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, composed of fifteen members of Congress. The fool remarks, "As yet, I have found no difficulty in standing upon my own platform."|Entered according to Act of Congress June 8th 1866.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 153.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1866-3.

The artist conveys some of the profound disappointment and anger among Henry Clay's many supporters at the nomination of Zachary Taylor at the June 1848 Whig convention in Philadelphia. The convention's act was seen as a betrayal of the elder Whig statesman. In a scene based on act 3, scene 1 of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," the artist portrays Clay's opponents as treacherous conspirators stalking the unsuspecting statesman. Clay is pictured seated in the library of his estate at Ashland in Kentucky, reading the New York "Tribune," whose editor Horace Greeley was a Clay stalwart. Ten men with raised daggers prepare to attack him from behind. These include various Whig powers Daniel Webster, editor James Watson Webb, former New York mayor William V. Brady, Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot, Kentucky senator and former Clay ally John J. Crittenden, and New York state party boss Thurlow Weed. Webster: "How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport" Webb: "Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!!!" Wilmot: "Go to the Pulpit Brutus" Brady: "And you too Cassius" Crittenden: "Stand fast together, lest some friend of Caesar's Should Chance" Weed: "By the necessity of my Nature, Your Enemy".|Drawn by "W.J.C."|Entered . . . 1848 by H.R. Robinson.|Published by H.R. Robinson 31 Park Row, (Opposite the Park Fountain) N. York.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Lorant, p. 188.|Weitenkampf, p. 93.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1848-22.

The National Union Convention met in Philadelphia in August 1866 to create a political party that would back President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction program and to elect a new Congress. Here, the convention is portrayed as a gathering of muzzled dogs, their collars inscribed with state names, who file toward a large doghouse, the "Wigwam." Except for the unwelcome arrival of Copperheads or Peace Democrats Fernando Wood and C. L. Vallandigham, the meeting was surprisingly harmonious even with the participation of representatives from both North and South. Here two dogs, "Massachusetts" and "South Carolina," side by side, lead the pack toward the Wigwam. Wood and Vallandigham are portrayed as cats, each held by the scruff of its neck by guard dogs Edgar Cowan and J. R. Doolittle. At bottom left stands a dog with a brush and a pail marked "N.Y. Times" tied to its tail. In the background "The Dead Dog of The White House," incumbent Andrew Johnson, lies in the road in front of the presidential mansion, which flies from its roof an American flag labeled "My Policy." "My Policy" was Johnson's campaign catchword. The Philadelphia movement ultimately failed, and anti-Johnson Republicans achieved more than a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. |Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 154.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1866-4.

Again partisan bitterness, over the perceived Whig betrayal of Henry Clay's hopes for the presidential nomination and over subsequent efforts to obtain Clay's endorsement of Zachary Taylor's candidacy, is vented in this scene. The "available" label is applied in a pejorative sense, suggesting a party whose choice of a candidate was guided not by principles but by public image or popularity. Henry Clay is seated at a desk before three men who present him with a document that reads: "MR. CLAY, we have called on you to humbly request that you will state to your Friends, that you approve of the Philadelphia Convention, and that you Endorse General Taylor as a good Whig." William V. Brady, former mayor of New York City, stands closest to Clay and explains, "Mr. Clay while I was Mayor of the City of New York I used all the Influence I had to have you nominated, you have always been my first choice." Seated in a chair at far right is Senator John J. Crittenden, who urges Brady to tell Clay ". . . that he was our first Choice." Standing next to Brady, holding the endorsement document, is James Watson Webb, publisher of the New York "Courier & Enquirer. " He warns, "hold your tounge [sic] Crittenden you will ruin every thing." Clay responds to their request, "Gentlemen I cannot endorse a note that the drawer himself has not signed," a cunning reference to Taylor's well-known reluctance to specifically commit himself to Whig principles. Portraits of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson hang on the wall behind Clay. |Drawn by "W.J.C."|Entered . . . 1848 by H.R. Robinson.|Published by H.R. Robinson 31, Park Row directly opposite the Park Fountain, adjoining Lovejoys Hotel.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 93.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1848-23.

The artist predicts a decisive Whig victory in the presidential election of 1848, with Whig candidate Zachary Taylor "bagging" all of the states in an electoral sweep. (Taylor actually carried only fifteen of the thirty states.) A kneeling Taylor (left) gathers fallen pigeons, each bearing a state's name, into a bag. Holding up the New York bird he muses, "My purpose would be suited without this fellow, however I'll take him: the more the merrier for the 4th of March next." Taylor's strength in New York was considered questionable before the election. Standing to the right is Lewis Cass with a musket at his side. Looking over at Taylor, he marvels, "What an all devouring appetite the fellow has: I expect he'll bag me in the bargain!" In the background Martin Van Buren is caught by the seat of his trousers on the nails of a fence. Holding a rooster labeled "Proviso" he cries, "Cass, come and help an old crony won't you!" Peering over from behind the fence is Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot, author of the Wilmot Proviso, who threatens Van Buren with a switch, "I'll teach you to come ta robbing my barn!" Van Buren and the Barnburner Democrats adopted the proviso, which barred slavery in American territory gained in the Mexican War, as the main plank in their 1848 campaign platform.|Probably drawn by E.F. Durang.|Pubd. by Able [i.e., Peter E. Abel] & Durang. Philada.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 97.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1848-46.

Reflecting Whig preelection confidence in the campaign of 1844, the artist portrays that party's ascendancy over the Democrats in the race for the presidency. Bucholzer uses the metaphor of a hot-air balloon race between Whig candidates Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen (on the right) and Democratic nominee James K. Polk. The Whigs ascend with ease; Clay waves a flag and Frelinghuysen points toward the "Presidential Chair" which appears at left on a bed of clouds. The Democratic balloon fails to rise for lack of gas and is prodded with a cane by Andrew Jackson. Jackson says, "I'll use my best endeavours to "poke" [i.e., "Polk"] it up. But it's harder work than gaining the battle of New Orleans!" In the balloon's carriage (actually a wooden tub) are Polk, a Loco Foco Democrat (looking upward through a telescope), and a bag of "Mint drops" (symbolizing the hard-money policies pursued by the Democrats). The carriage is supported by party stalwarts Thomas Hart Benton and John C. Calhoun. Polk says: "I think my friends have placed me in a very ridiculous position! They set me up here only to "poke" fun at me." Calhoun warns: "Push hard, Benton, or they'll never get any higher." Benton: "I'm afraid they'll have to throw the mint drops overboard!" From above, Clay offers: "Throw us a line, Polk, and we'll give you a tow!" Meanwhile, in the background a fox with the head of Martin van Buren slinks away saying, "If you had had the wit to put me in there, it would have gone up." He voices his disappointment at not being chosen Democratic nominee.|Entered . . . 1844 by James Baillie.|Lith. & pub. by James Baillie 33 Spruce St. N.Y.|Signed: H. Bucholzer.|The Library has two states of the print, one a proof before title (Landauer Collection; LC-USZ62-90665). The titled impression was deposited for copyright on June 26, 1844. It was followed two weeks later by the same artist's "Bursting the Balloon" (no. 1844-33), a companion piece or sequel.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 78.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1844-32.

An illustrated sheet music cover for a "Patriotic Song. Written, to be sung at Baltimore during the Young Men's Whig Convention" of May 1840. The composer is identified as "a Pennsylvanian." The illustration, like the song itself, celebrates the distinguished military record of Whig presidential candidate William Henry Harrison. A ring of smoke issues from two cannons and frames the central view of a log cabin in the wilderness. Outside the house are a cider barrel, a plough, a covered wagon, and (in the foreground) an ox cart and driver. Superimposed on the smoke ring are nine ovals containing scenes from Harrison's military career. They are (counterclockwise from bottom): Ensign Harrison 19 years of age" "Lieut. Harrison at Maumee Rapids" "Govr. Harrison making a treaty with the Sacke & Fox Indians" "Genl. Harrison hastening at night to the assistance of Genl. Winchester" "Harrison's Victory at the Thames" "Harrison's Victory at Tippecanoe" "Genl. Harrison & his Army going into winter quarters at the Maumee Rapids, in 1812" "Genl.Harrison in 1812 at the Head of 7000 Troops" "Genl. Harrison at the Council of Vincennes with Tecumseh." At the top of the oval is a bust of Harrison flanked by flags, muskets, bayonets, and fasces. Over his head hovers a dove holding a star.|Entered . . . 1840 by Ld. Meignen & Co.|Leopold. Meignen & Co. Publishers & Importers of Music.|On Stone by James Queen.|P.S. Duval, Lith Phila.|The Library's impression of the print is damaged slightly, with a tear running through the log house.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1840-11.

Caricature of Fanny Elssler, in carriage being drawn by men with ears of jackasses, going to Baltimore.|Signed in stone: HB.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

Lith. & pub. by H.R. Robinson 142 Nassau St. N. York.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

A satire on the Barnburners, a radical faction of New York State Democrats, led by John Van Buren, whose commitment to social and monetary reforms was likened to a farmer's burning his barn to rid it of rats. Here the barn is ablaze, trapping several of the movement's leaders on its roof. Benjamin F. Butler, raising his arms, vows, "If I ever get out of this scrape safe it's the last act of Barn burning that I'll be guilty of." New York "Evening Post" editor and radical spokesman William Cullen Bryant despairs, "Woe is me! I can't get off, and if I stay up here it's sure destruction!" An unidentified man says, "Alas! alas! we're caught in a tight fix." At right John Van Buren vainly tries to raise a ladder to the roof, complaining, "I can't get near enough to help them down with the ladder, so old Dad you'd better jump off." His father, Martin Van Buren, appearing here as a fox, leaps from the other end of the roof, saying, "Our sufferings is intolerable! I'll take your advice my son and jump off--So here goes!" On the far right New Hampshire Democrat Franklin Pierce has mired his wagon in a muddy lane. It is loaded with boxes "Free Trade" and "No Internal Improvements," traditional Democratic planks. Pierce calls to Bryant, "there's more truth than poetry in what you say. We never needed your help more, for we are stuck in the mud and want your shoulder to the wheel." Although Weitenkampf tentatively dates the cartoon 1847, the inclusion of Franklin Pierce suggests a later date. The work apparently relates to the regular Democrats' 1852 solicitation of Barnburner support for Pierce, who was their presidential candidate that year.|Pubd. by John Childs, 84 Nassau St. N. York.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 89.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1852-36.