Senators Thomas Hart Benton and Henry S. Foote are paired here in a facetious farewell scene, as Benton departs the "Shop of the Senate." In reality Benton lost his Senate seat in a January 1851 election, largely because of his refusal to honor the Missouri Resolutions on Slavery (also known as the Jackson-Napton Resolutions of 1849). He charged that the resolutions were engineered by John C. Calhoun, Foote, and a few other Senate foes. Benton's term ended on March 3. In the center stands Benton dressed as a ragged Irishman, a stock character common in Yankee theatre productions of the New York stage at the time. He smokes a cigar, and stands near a mangy donkey which is laden with saddle, pack, and whip, a bundle marked "Life & Times of Thos H. Benton [bound] for California" at his feet. His California destination has several possible explanations. It may be an oblique allusion to Benton's antislavery stance, as Benton was embroiled in the dispute during his last Senate term, on the admission of California to the Union as a free state. He was also a prominent advocate of a transcontinental railroad. Also likely is the artist's association of the recent California Gold Rush with Benton's career-long bullionist ideology. Benton looks left and shakes the hand of Foote, who is dressed as a New York fireman or street tough, with a visored cap and boots. Foote: "So, yer goin ter leave us, ha Benton? well if I had my Pocket Hankercher about me I'de cry." Benton: "Thank yer Foote! any other time will do, the fact is I won't work in no Shop where the Boss is all the time a findin fault with me work, & the Fellers in the Shop is all the time a Laughin at me." At the far left Calhoun and two others watch from a window with the sign "Cabinet Work." Weitenkampf dates the print 1850. But it is unlikely that it appeared long before the March 3, 1851, expiration of Benton's term in the Senate.|Probably drawn by John L. Magee.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Reilly, p. 162.|Weitenkampf, p. 101-102.|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 1851-3.

The artist forecasts a Whig electoral victory and dramatizes the politically ruinous effects of Van Buren's fiscal policy and his alignment with Loco Foco forces in New York. Whig candidate William Henry Harrison comes to the aid of a shipwrecked vessel, the "United States," and its crew of Democrats. Harrison, wearing a sailor's outfit, retrieves editor Francis Preston Blair from the surf with a gaff hook. He stands on a raft made of barrels of "Hard Cider" rowed by Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, and flying a flag "Tippecanoe and Reform." Clinging to the hull of their capsized vessel are (left to right) Levi Woodbury, Thomas Hart Benton, John C. Calhoun, and Martin Van Buren. Only the hands of Amos Kendall remain above the waves. The vessel has run aground on "Distress Rocks" and "Loco Foco Quicksand." A lighthouse "Constitution Light" appears in the background. Webster: "Dont be losing time Old Tip picking up the worthless crew who have so long mismanaged the vessel, but let us try to get her off the rocks and save her cargo." Clay: "Aye, Aye, I'll be bound they will take care of themselves unless their pockets are so full that it will sink them." Harrison: "I have hooked one of the precious crew! Lord bless me what a scare crow." Woodbury: "I cant hang on much longer! . . . and I cant swim against this current of popular opinion." Benton (to Woodbury): "It is your infernal Wall Street kite flying and cramming your pocket so full that has capsized us . . . !" Calhoun (to Van Buren): "You are a d---d pretty lubber to take charge of the helm! I knew you were carrying too much sail for your ballast, and now you have spilt the whole lot of us." Van Buren: "I wanted to try a experiment and thought I had hard money enough to ballast my subtreasury sails, and that we should have come to a safe anchor in the harbor of public security."|Entered . . . 1840 by John Childs.|Published by John Childs, 90 Nassau St. New York.|Signed with monogram: EWC (Edward Williams Clay).|The Library's impression of the print was deposited for copyright on August 31, 1840.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 66.|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 1840-56.

A Whig vision of the rout of Van Buren in the presidential election of 1840. In a stormy sea Van Buren grasps the mast (labeled "Maine") of a foundering vessel "O.K." (the initials for "Old Kinderhook," a Van Buren nickname derived from his birthplace and home in Kinderhook, New York). In the water are supporters John Calhoun, Amos Kendall, Francis Preston Blair, Thomas Hart Benton, and Levi Woodbury. The gale seems to emanate from three faces which appear in the clouds: William C. Rives, William Henry Harrison, and Nathaniel P. Tallmadge. The image represents the formidable alliance of conservatives and Whigs that Van Buren faced in the election. (Tallmadge and Rives were conservative Democrats-turned-Whigs in opposition to Van Buren's fiscal programs.) Van Buren: "I can hold no longer to be forsaken at such a time by Maryland & Georgia too. Oh Curse that Cataline to force me to pass the Sub-Treasure Bill." Calhoun: "If I had minded what [ally and political editor] Duff Green said to me this would not have happend." Woodbury: "This is worse than getting White Washed." Kendall: "Oh my dear Babys." Kendall's remark probably refers to an incident in May of 1840 when a Whig mob discharged a cannon on his front lawn, frightening his children. This, combined with Van Buren's reference to the Independent Treasury Bill, passed by Congress in July 1840, suggests that "The Shipwreck" appeared during the second half of the year.|Entered . . . 1840 by H.R. Robinson.|Printed & published by H.R. Robinson, 52 Cortlandt St. N.Y. & Pennsa. Avenue Washington D.C.|Signed: N. Sarony (Napoleon Sarony).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 66.|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 1840-41.

The Van Buren administration's record, particularly with regard to the handling of public finances, is condemned as corrupt and a perpetuation of unpopular Jacksonian policies. The artist echoes perennial Whig charges of the Democrats' disregard for the Constitution and their autocratic style of governing. The nursery rhyme theme of "The House that Jack built" employed here was also used in several earlier cartoons. (See nos. 1820-1 and 1833-6.) Murrell also reproduces an earlier and somewhat similar E. W. Clay version of the "House that Jack built," probably dating from the bank wars of around 1834. Here, the "House" is Jackson's subtreasury system, represented above by a banking house interior whose floor rests on "Constitutional Currency," and whose cellar stocked with empty boxes. The scene appears in a cloud of smoke, which comes from the pipes of Andrew Jackson (on the left) and advisor and publicist Amos Kendall (on the right). Kendall's pipe also blows bubbles, symbolizing vanity or idle schemes. Nine verses from the nursery rhyme and corresponding satirical scenes appear below. 1. "This is the Malt that laid in the House that Jack built." The scene shows crates labeled "Post Office Revenue," "Public Land Sales," "Custom House," "Bonds," and "Pension Fund," suggestive of administration graft and intrigues in a cellar. 2. "This is the Rat that eat the Malt . . ." shows Van Buren's Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury as a rat. 3. "This is the Cat that caught the Rat . . ." shows Daniel Webster as a cat toying with Woodbury. 4. "This is the Dog That worried the Cat, . . ." has Thomas Hart Benton as a dog threatening the cat Webster, who is now standing on a book "Constitution" atop a chair. 5. "This is the Cow, Whit the crumpled Horn, That tossed the Dog . . ." shows Henry Clay as a cow tossing Benton aloft. 6. "This is the Maiden all forlorn, That milked the Cow, . . ." John C. Calhoun as a milkmaid laments over a spilled bucket "Nullification" as the cow runs away with a sheet marked "Tariff." The reference is to Calhoun's role in the nullification crisis of 1832-33, and Clay's compromise tariff which temporarily resolved the conflict. 7. "This is the Man, all tattered and torn, That kissed the Maiden . . ." has Martin Van Buren in old Dutch clothing, wheeling a barrow of cabbages, saying "Here's your fine Kinderhook Early York Kabbitches." (Van Buren's home was in Kinderhook, New York.) 8. "This is the Priest all shaven and shorn, That married the Man . . ." Washington "Globe" editor Francis Preston Blair in liturgical vestment presides over the wedding of Calhoun and Van Buren, ridiculing the unlikely political alliance forged in 1840. 9. "This is the Cock of the walk, that crowed in the morn, That waked the Priest all shaven and shorn, . . ." A rooster with the head of William Henry Harrison stands on a globe "Ohio" as the sun rises behind it.|Davison lists a version of the print with the Childs address at 90 Nassau Street.|Entered . . . 1840 by John Childs.|Pub. by John Childs 119 Fulton St. New York.|Signed with monogram: EWC (Edward Williams Clay).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Davison, no. 155.|Murrell, p. 141 (earlier version).|Weitenkampf, p. 62-63.|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 1840-48.

Election ticket for Jackson delegates from various Ohio counties in the presidential contest of 1828, illustrated with an image of a straw broom. The broom, a traditional pictorial and literary symbol of reform, is linked here to one of the mythological labors of Hercules -- his cleansing of the Augean stables.|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 1828-13.

A parody of the often worthless fractional currencies or "shinplasters" issued by banks, businesses, and municipalities in lieu of coin. These fractional notes proliferated during the Panic of 1837 with the emergency suspension of specie (i.e., gold and silver) payments by New York banks on May 10, 1837. "Treasury Note" differs from two similar mock bank notes, "6 Cents. Humbug Glory Bank" and "Fifty Cents. Shin Plaster" (nos. 1837-10 and -11) in being payable "out of the joint funds of the United States Treasury." It may mimic the interim notes, first proposed by the administration in September 1837, to be issued by the federal government to relieve the shortage of gold and silver during the crisis. The artist broadly attacks President Van Buren's pursuit of predecessor Andrew Jackson's hard-money policies as the source of the crisis. Witness the caricature at the right, of Jackson as an ass excreting coins or "Mint Drops," collected in a hat by a Van Buren monkey. Note also the presence of the former President at left, as an old woman clad in bunting, standing near a cracked globe (a punning allusion to the name of Francis Preston Blair's administration organ newspaper). The print also caricatures Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, an ardent bullionist and supporter of Jackson's and Van Buren's fiscal programs. Benton is shown as a tumblebug pushing a large ball, a motif given fuller treatment in "N. Tom O' Logical Studies" (no. 1837-14). In the main scene Van Buren appears as a winged monster on a wagon driven by Calhoun and drawn by a team of men in yokes through a narrow arch labeled "Wall Street" and "Safety Fund Banks." This may refer to the influence Van Buren exerted on New York banks through the Safety Fund system, whereby member banks observed a certain ratio of notes (paper money) to specie (coin) set by a state banking commission. The wagon crushes several men beneath its wheels. The Van Buren beast reclines on several weapons (symbolizing treachery) and sacks of treasury notes. In his tail he grasps a torch, having set off the destruction of a town which burns in the distance. Nearby stand Andrew Jackson and another man, perhaps fiscal adviser Reuben Whitney or Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury. Jackson says, "I did not think John C. could crack such a good whip." The second man responds, "Oh! Matty has had him in training, the nullifying turncoat." This is a swipe at Whig senator John Calhoun's recent support for Democratic measures in Congress.|"Printed & publd. by H.R. Robinson, 52 Cortlandt Street."|Signed: Napoleon Sarony.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Murrell, p. 152.|Weitenkampf, p. 49-50.|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 1837-9.

One of the few satires sympathetic to the Democrats to appear during the 1844 presidential contest. Democratic presidential nominee James Polk is portrayed as a buckskinned hunter who has treed "coons" Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen. (Clay's nickname "that old coon" had wide currency in the campaign.) Holding a knife in his left hand, Polk grasps the Clay coon by the tail, saying "You've got up the wrong tree this time! Down you must come." At left former President Andrew Jackson stands on a ladder leaning against the "Hickory" tree and chops at the branch holding the two Whigs. He exclaims "Get down from my tree you vermin!" Frelinghuysen says, "from this old man good Lord deliver us!" Clay adds in verse: The state of things is quite surprisin. / Such d--d bad luck my Frelinghuysen. / My struggles are of no avail / For Polk has got me by the Tail. Two other Democrats, John C. Calhoun and Richard M. Johnson, appear as dogs rushing in from the left, saying, "Down with the Coons." Another Democratic ex-President, Martin Van Buren, watches from the right, remarking, "This works according to my wish--The Coons are treed at last." In the right foreground incumbent President John Tyler sets his dogs on the coons, saying, "At them Bobby! Catch them Johnny! Dont let the other dogs get in before you I shall beat them yet." His dogs are son Robert Tyler (labeled "Repeal" for his activism on behalf of the Irish Repeal movement) and John Beauchamp Jones, editor of the newspaper the "Madisonian," organ of the Tyler administration. They also chant, "Down with the Coons."|Drawn by H. Bucholzer.|Entered . . . 1844 by A. Purdy.|Pub. by A. Purdy. Sold wholesale & retail at 98 Nassau St. N.Y.|The print was among a group of nine caricatures by Bucholzer registered for copyright on June 26, 1844. (See also nos. 1844-21 through -27, and 1844-32.) The Library's impression of this print was actually deposited the following day.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 79.|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 1844-20.

An anti-Tyler satire, lampooning the incumbent's efforts to secure a second term against challengers Henry Clay and James Polk. With his shoulder to the door Tyler bars the entry of (left to right) John C. Calhoun, Clay, Polk, and Andrew Jackson. Tyler: "D--n you keep out. I tell you Uncle Sam dont want any new servants--he likes "me" too well, he only wants a man that will work like a niggar for nothing." Clay: "Uncle Sam Calls me, you rogue--nobody can shut me out & I will come in." Polk: "I Knows Uncle Sam don't want a servant to work for nothing, Matty got "fat" in his service before. So may I. Give me a push behind, General." Jackson, pushing Polk: "By the Eternal! I'll poke you in at all events." Seeing Tyler's efforts Uncle Sam kicks him from behind, saying, "Holloa you impudent rascal, let those persons in I'll examine them myself--Ah! Harry [i.e., Clay] is that you? Come in--I want you--and [to Tyler] do you get out with that kick, and never show me your false face again." Uncle Sam is portrayed in an unusual manner, as an old man wearing knee-breeches and a wide-brimmed straw hat.|Entered . . . 1844 by James Baillie.|Lith. & pub. by James Baillie 33 Spruce St. N.Y.|Signed: H. Bucholzer.|The Library's impression was deposited for copyright on June 26, 1844.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 73.|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 1844-26.

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