A cryptic satire critical of Lewis Cass and incumbent President James K. Polk. The work probably appeared prior to the Whig national convention (June 9-10), since reference is made to a Clay-Fillmore ticket. (The convention nominated Taylor and Fillmore.) On a stone pavement above a moat, Lewis Cass (center) presides over a grisly scene of execution. To the left of Cass stands Polk, wearing an executioner's smock and resting his hands upon an ax. A man named "Morton" lies on the block before them, having just been decapitated. His head falls into the moat, which holds the mutilated corpses of several previous victims. ("Morton" may be Marcus Morton, a perennial Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts, who won only two elections in fifteen years.) Cass leads four more victims in chains (left) toward the block, saying, "Here are some of the Ring Leaders I think we had better dispose of them first." Polk replies, "Bring them on Cass, I'll soon do their business." The first "Ring Leader," named "Lawrence," says to Cass, "I am willing to pass through your Guillotine but I will not do your dirty work." Abbott Lawrence was a leading candidate for the 1848 vice presidential nomination. Above Cass and Polk the words "Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin" appear in a burst of light. These words come from the Old Testament, Dan. 5: 25-28: "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." At right appear Henry Clay, Millard Fillmore, "Hall," "Graham," and a crowd of Clay supporters. Clay points to the words in the sky. Behind them is a mound with a Temple of Liberty on top, inscribed with the words, "Clay, Fillmore, Free Soil & No Extension of Slavery." Behind Cass and Polk stand a line of troops. In the left background is a portal through which the Custom-House, symbol of Democratic patronage, is visible. Several men with arms folded stand in front of it.|Lith. & pubd. by H.R. Robinson, 31 Park Row N.Y. (Adjoining Lovejoy's Hotel.)|Probably drawn by "W.J.C."|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 92.|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 1848-36.

A virulent attack on Vice-President George M. Dallas, charging the former Pennsylvania attorney and senator with duplicity in his stand on the tariff of 1846. "Jesuitism" was a strong contemporary term for deception and intrigue, and the artist portrays Dallas's support of the 1846 tariff as a reversal of his campaign pledge to support the popular tariff of 1842. In 1846, the Polk administration introduced and passed (Dallas's own vote as president of the Senate being a deciding factor) the Walker Tariff. The 1846 tariff involved a reduction of the tariff of 1842, which had been supported by the Democratic platform in the 1844 election. The later measure, a revenue tariff rather than a protectionist one, was reviled by the considerable industrial interests of Pennsylvania and other northeastern states. In the print, Dallas (right) addresses a crowd in the street from the steps of his law office. He displays a large banner reading, "Polk, Dallas, Shunk [successful Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francis M. Shunk] And The Tariff of 1842." Dallas: "Friends & Fellow Citizens, the Tariff of 1842 is a democratic measure & as such will be supported by Mr. Polk & Myself! I am, as my friend Joel B. Sutherland [former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania] says, a man of principle according to my interest!" Various comments from the crowd: "Go it George We all want Protection!" An Irishman with shillelagh: "That's the way to talk! Dan [i.e., Whig senator and champion of protectionism Daniel Webster] himself couldn't bate that be Jasus!" "Hurah! a true Pennsylvanian every inch of im." In the lower left a conversation among several gentlemen: "I told you that Polk & Dallas were more in favor of the Tariff of 42 than [1844 Whig presidential candidate Henry] Clay!" "I'll believe it when I see it!" "who does he [i.e., Dallas] remind you of?" "He's very much like Talleyrand in hair & Principles--in all else wanting." A Pennsylvania German with a clay pipe remarks, "I says noding but I dinks so much!" Francis Shunk enters from the left with arms full of papers with the names of western Pennsylvania counties on them. He announces to Dallas, "Hold on till I bring some big Democratic Guns from the west--to bear on the question! When it come to the point then I'll talk, For I'm the real Simon "Pure!""|Entered . . . 1846 by H.R. Robinson. |Lith. of H.R. Robinson 142 Nassau St. N.Y.|Probably drawn by Edward Williams Clay.|T.B. Peterson Agent 98 Chesnut St. Phila.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 87.|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 1846-11.

The artist forecasts with obvious relish the ouster of Van Buren and his cronies from office by William Henry Harrison. Van Buren is shown leaving Washington in a large cart drawn by supporters (left to right) Thomas Hart Benton, Levi Woodbury, and John C. Calhoun, and pushed from behind by Francis Preston Blair. The cart is piled high with a large sphere marked "Solitary and Alone," an issue of Blair's newspaper the "Globe," a box of "Mint Drops," and a throne, scepter, and crown. Tied beneath the cart are several dogs marked "Cuba," referring to the administration's controversial use of Cuban bloodhounds against the Seminoles in Florida. (See "The Secretary of War" and "A Bivouack in Safety," nos. 1840-5 and -6.) Henry Clay (on the White House steps at right) presents Van Buren with a "notice to quit" and holds a large key in his left hand. Behind him stands William Henry Harrison. Van Buren: "Push a head Blair, let's get out of this ungrateful City. This is the reward of all my patriotic service." Blair: "Hard work to get out of this City Globe and all but go we must." Benton: "Take care of my 'mint drops' we shall want them in Missouri." "Mint drops" was a colloquialism for gold coins, referring to bullionist Benton's advocacy of a high ratio of gold to silver in circulation. Calhoun: "It's a heavy car to draw Mr. Secretary." Woodbury: Yes--but we have notice to quit and must carry off all we can." Harrison: "Softly, don't hurry the Gentleman. See him safe to his farm. Take care of his moveables." Clay: "He has fairly carried off the spoils General."|Printed & published by H.R. Robinson, no. 52 Cortlandt St. N.Y.|Signed: HD (Henry Dacre?).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Lorant, p. 159, 175.|Weitenkampf, p. 60-61.|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 1840-37.

A general parody on the 1860 presidential contest, highlighting the impact of the Dred Scott decision on the race. That controversial decision, handed down in 1857 by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, ruled that neither the federal government nor territorial governments could prohibit slavery in the territories. The burning question of the future of slavery in the United States was addressed by several of the contenders during the 1860 race. Here the four presidential candidates dance with members of their supposed respective constituencies. The music is fiddled by Dred Scott, the former slave whose suit precipitated the court's decision. Scott sits on a chair at center. In the upper left is Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge. He is paired with Democratic incumbent and ally James Buchanan, depicted as a goat or (as he was nicknamed) "Buck." At the upper right Republican Abraham Lincoln prances arm-in-arm with a black woman, a pejorative reference to his party's alignment with the abolitionists. At lower right Constitutional Union party candidate John Bell dances with an Indian brave. This pairing is puzzling but may allude to Bell's brief flirtation with Native American interests. (For one instance of the use of the Indian as a nativist symbol see "Know Nothing Soap," no. 1854-3.) At lower left Stephen A. Douglas dances with a ragged Irishman. Associated with Douglas in several cartoons (see "The Undecided Political Prize Fight," no. 1860-22) the Irishman, here wearing a cross, may be intended as a reference to Douglas's backing among Irish immigrants and allegations of the candidate's Catholicism. "The Political Quadrille's" stylistic similarity to the "Undecided Political Prize Fight" and "Dividing The National Map" (nos. 1860-22 and 1860-24) suggests a common authorship. |Title appears as it is written on the item.|"The Lincoln Image," p. 42.|Weitenkampf, p. 123.|Wilson, p. 18-19.|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 1860-23.

A figurative portrayal -- clearly sympathetic to the Whig party -- of the 1836 presidential election contest as a horse race between four candidates. The four are identified in the legend as (left to right): "Old Tippecanoe" (William Henry Harrison), "The Kinderhook Poney" (Martin Van Buren), "Black Dan of Massachusetts" (Daniel Webster), and "Tennessee White" (Tennessee senator Hugh Lawson White). The horses with the Whig candidates' heads are ridden by figures representing the various sectional interests of the country. Harrison is ridden by a frontiersman in buckskins, Webster by a Jack Downing/Uncle Sam figure symbolizing Yankee New England, and White by a jockey representing Southern agrarian interests. Van Buren, the Democratic candidate, is ridden by his advocate Andrew Jackson. A crowd cheers them on. The print probably appeared early in 1836 when Webster and White's respective hopes for the Whig nomination were still considered realistic. Moreover, the dialogue alludes to the Whig strategy pursued early in the campaign, of dividing the electorate regionally in order to attract the largest number of voters away from Van Buren. The horse in the lead is William Henry Harrison. His rider says: "Old Tip" has been in training but a short time, yet his wind and bottom are staunch as his backers are honest. I say "Old Hickory" that Kinderhook Nag of yours has been over trained!!! Jackson (whipping his horse and losing his hat): By the Eternal! I'll never back a Northern Horse again. They have neither wind nor bottom, and so cursed slippery withal that it's hard to keep your seat on them. The People too are all throwing their caps for "Old Tip" and "White Surrey," while this cursed "cold blooded" animal is disgracing his groom and training. I say Old Boy if you'll stop a minute I'll jump off & beat you myself. Southerner: The game is up! "Old Tip" is winning the prize notwithstanding the training of Old Hickory. I always told him when he was backing that "Cold blooded Kinderhooker;" he would find him wanting bottom in the hour of trial, & any thing but a race horse. Thank God he's beaten! so we may as well hold up." Jack Downing: " . . . I guess I'll jist tote along & kinder look out in case Old Tip he mout git a tumble. As for that tarnel "Kinderhooker," by ging he's used up & he wont only be distanced, but I kinder think he'll throw his rider into that 'are dirty pool near the Central Post!" Judging from similarities in theme, drawing style, and rendering of the figures (in particular the Westerner) to Edward Williams Clay's "Set-to Between the Champion Old Tip . . ." (no. 1836-12) attribution to Clay is reasonable.|Drawn by Edward Williams Clay?|Printed and published by H.R. Robinson, 48 & 52 Cortlandt St. New York.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 45.|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 1836-13.

The artist foresees a Democratic defeat in the 1844 presidential election. Party figures Martin Van Buren, Thomas Hart Benton, vice-presidential candidate George M. Dallas, Andrew Jackson, and presidential nominee James K. Polk are in a dinghy towed by the "Steamer Ballot Box" up Salt River toward political defeat. The bow of the dinghy is adorned with the head of presidential incumbent John Tyler. On a staff on the steamer's stern is mounted a large cabbage, a symbol which during the 1840 election campaign represented Whig hopes of retiring Van Buren to his home at Kinderhook "to raise cabbages." Here Van Buren has the body of a fox and Polk that of a long-necked bird, perhaps a goose or a crane. Van Buren: "I never sailed so far up this river before. We must be near the head of navigation." Polk, standing on the stern of the boat: "We've got up so far that the water grows shallow. I think I could get out & wade now." Jackson exclaims: "By the eternal! Polk don't give up the "ship."" |Drawn by H. Bucholzer.|Entered . . . 1844 by James Baillie.|Lithography & print coloring on reasonable terms by James Baillie No.33 Spruce St. New York.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|The Library's impression was deposited for copyright on July 10, 1844.|Weitenkampf, p. 80.|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 1844-34.

Henry Clay's easy ascent to the presidency here is in contrast to the serious difficulties experienced by his Democratic opponent James K. Polk. Clay has reached the top of a large pole and has the "Civic Crown" in his grasp. Below him Polk is pushed and prodded by influential supporters Andrew Jackson (left) and Thomas Hart Benton, while John C. Calhoun (far left) watches aghast. Clay: "With ease I reach the goal, when the hearts of my countrymen are with me." Polk to Jackson, who prods him with his cane in the seat of his pants: "Almighty hero! desist. I beseech you: for this courtesy is more honored in the "breech" than in the observance." Benton: "His situation Looks rather "pokerish."" Calhoun: "Ye gods! what a climber this is! The more he is "poked," the more he don't go up!"|Drawn by H. Bucholzer.|Entered . . . 1844 by James Baillie. |Lith & pub. by James Baillie 33 Spruce St. N.Y.|The Library's impression of the print was deposited for copyright on June 26, 1844.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 74.|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 1844-22.

Here Clay is critical of James K. Polk's public advocacy of the 54.40 parallel as the northern boundary of American territory in Oregon. The cartoon also alludes to widespread uncertainty as to the course the secretive Polk would actually pursue on the issue. The artist invokes the specter of an earlier Democratic president, Andrew Jackson, as the inspiration for what he considers Polk's rash and autocratic handling of the dispute. Standing at the foot of Polk's bed in a cloud of smoke is a devil, who, concealing himself behind the mask and hat of Andrew Jackson, commands the sleeping Polk, "Child of my adoption, on whom my mantle hath fallen, swear never to take your toe off that line should you deluge your country with seas of blood, produce a servile insurrection and dislocate every joint of this happy and prosperous union!!!" Polk, slumbering in a large canopied bed, has one toe on the 54.40 line of a map of Oregon which lies on floor. Also next to bed is a potted "Poke" weed (a pun on his name) and a table with his readings: "Art of War, Calvin's Works, Practical Piety," and "Life of Napoleon." Polk answers the devil, "I do my venerated and lamented chieftain! I do, by the eternal!" (The vow "By the eternal" was a well-known Jacksonism.) At left, dressed in nightshirts, three cabinet members steal into the room. They are (left to right) George Bancroft, James Buchanan, and Robert J. Walker. Treasury Secretary Walker carries a "Tariff" document, no doubt the controversial and recently introduced tariff bill of which he was generally considered the architect, and comments, "It seems to me there's the devil to pay with the president; yet behold his great toe, greater than any Pope's fixed firmly on the line 54.40. Patriotic even in dreams!" Behind Walker Secretary of State Buchanan, holding a candle and a portfolio marked "Packenham Correspondence," says, "There's certainly a strong smell of brimstone in the room! Perhaps his excellency has been practising pyrotechnics previous to commencing his campaign." The "Packenham Correspondence" refers to Buchanan's July 1845 note to British ambassador Richard Pakenham, wherein the forty-ninth parallel was proposed as a compromise. Pakenham's response, a rejection, touched off Polk's pursuit (at least temporarily) of a more hard-line stance, claiming the 54.40 boundary. "I guess there's a screw loose here! I wonder what Polk's going to do!" muses Navy Secretary Bancroft.|Entered . . . 1846 by James Baillie. |Lith. & pub. by James Baillie, 118, Nassau St. N.Y.|Signed with monogram: C (Edward Williams Clay).|The Library's impression was deposited for copyright on April 8, 1846.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Davison, no. 191.|Blaisdell and Selz, no. 19.|Weitenkampf, p. 85-86.|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 1846-2.|Exhibited in: American treasures of the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 2003.

The presidential aspirations of Whig general Winfield Scott during the 1852 election are again belittled. Scott, in a tattered uniform and supporting himself on a crutch, extends his feathered cap toward the figure of Columbia or Liberty, who stands in the doorway of the "Capitol" holding a liberty cap and staff. Liberty asks Brother Jonathan, who is seated on a small mound beside the doorway, "Jonathan? what does that old fellow want." Jonathan replies, pointing toward Scott, "He's come for his Ticket for--Soup!!" In the background at left is the White House, which has been relabeled "Soup House." (For the origin of the soup joke, see "Distinguished Military Operations with a Hasty Bowl of Soup, "no. 1846-15.)|Drawn by John L. Magee.|Pub. at the Office of Yankee Notions 98 Nassau St. N.Y.|Thomas W. Strong Lith. 98 Nassau St. N.Y.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 106.|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 1852-17.

A crudely drawn satire bitterly attacking Democratic presidential candidate Franklin Pierce and appealing to the "Freemen of America." The print, possibly executed by a free black, criticizes the Democrats' platform, as established by the Baltimore Convention, which in the interest of preserving the Union endorsed the Compromise of 1850. More specifically the artist condemns Pierce's pledge to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, included in the compromise as a submission to southern slaveholding interests. In the center Pierce prostrates himself before a "Slave holder & Peace Maker," a bearded man in wide-brimmed hat and striped trousers holding a cat-o-nine-tails and manacles. The upper half of Pierce is over the Mason Dixon line, his face in the dirt on the "Baltimore Platform." The slaveholder says: "Save the Union, / And with the "meanest" Yankee grease / Smear the hinges of your knees / And in "silence" pray for peace." Pierce, dubbed "one of the Southern "dirt" eaters "Saving" the Union," replies, "I accept this cheerfully." The Democratic platform is labeled "Southern pine" and is inscribed with reference to the compromise, "Fugitive Slave Law and nigger catching, and resist agitation on the Slavery question &c." On it lie a skull and crossbones, manacles, and a serpent. At far left is "the Devil come up to attend his revival," who commends, "Well done my faithful servants!" On the right is the infamous Hungarian general Julius von Haynau, who carries a whip and wears a "Barclay's Brewery" pitcher on his head. (Haynau was assaulted by Barclay employees while in England.) The Hungarian extends his hand toward the slaveholder, saying, "I feel quite at home in this company give me your hand my good fellow." Further to the right are Lewis Cass and Stephen A. Douglas, disappointed aspirants for the 1852 Democratic nomination. Cass says, "We are down Douglass, "Pierce" has bid lower than either of us." Douglas: "There is nothing impossible for a New Hampshire "Hunker" [i.e., conservative] Democrat to do in that line." On the ground nearby are the words, "the "slave&1ocratic miscalled the Democratic party, how they obey the "crack" of the slaveholder's whip!"|Entered . . . 1852 by William K. Leach, Massachusetts.|Sold by Bela Marsh no. 25 Cornhill Boston Mass.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Blaisdell and Selz, no. 22.|Weitenkampf, p. 106.|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 1852-25.

A satire on the antagonism between Northern abolitionists on the one hand, and Secretary of State Daniel Webster and other supporters of enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Here abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (left) holds a slave woman in one arm and points a pistol toward a burly slave catcher mounted on the back of Daniel Webster. The slave catcher, wielding a noose and manacles, is expensively dressed, and may represent the federal marshals or commissioners authorized by the act (and paid) to apprehend and return fugitive slaves to their owners. Behind Garrison a black man also aims a pistol toward the group on the right, while another seizes a cowering slaveholder by the hair and is about to whip him saying, "It's my turn now Old Slave Driver." Garrison: "Don't be alarmed Susanna, you're safe enough." Slave catcher: "Don't back out Webster, if you do we're ruind." Webster, holding "Constitution": "This, though Constitutional, is "extremely disagreeable." "Man holding volumes "Law & Gospel": "We will give these fellows a touch of South Carolina."Man with quill and ledger: "I goes in for Law & Order." A fallen slaveholder: "This is all "your" fault Webster." In the background is a Temple of Liberty flying two flags, one reading "A day, an hour, of virtuous Liberty, is worth an age of Servitude" and the other, "All men are born free & equal." The print may (as Weitenkampf suggests) be the work of New York artist Edward Williams Clay. The signature, the expressive animation of the figures, and especially the political viewpoint are, however, uncharacteristic of Clay. (Compare for instance that artist's "What's Sauce for the Goose," no. 1851-5.) It is more likely that the print was produced in Boston, a center of bitter opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 and 1851.|Signed: E.C. Del.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Century, p. 70-71.|Weitenkampf, p. 102-103.|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 1851-6.

Once again Polk's handling of the Oregon territorial dispute between the United States and Great Britain is criticized. (See "Polk's Dream" and "War! or No War!" nos. 1846-2 and 1846-4). Here the artist seems to suggest political motivation behind Polk's insistence on the 54.40 parallel as the northern boundary to American territory. At the 54.40 line, two small boys bait "Donkey" Polk with a "Re-election" cabbage. The boy holding the cabbage comments, "Come here Jem, here's a animal as sees something and wont move no how you can fix it!" His friend encourages him to "Coax along with a cabbage Bill, if that wont move him put a locofoco match under his nose!" "Loco Foco" was a type of match as well as a nickname for radical Democrats of the time. Polk exclaims, "Here I am by the order or masters of the Baltimore Convention, with my nose down to this line and here I shall stick, though I fall a martyr to my devotion to the great Democratic party!" The Baltimore Convention of 1844, which nominated Polk for the presidency, also wedded the party's platform to the 54.40 parallel on the Oregon question. Three groups of men surround Polk. To the left stand the "Whig Members" of Congress, one of whom says to the expansionist Democrats in the center, "Take your own course, gentlemen, with your own animal! He is a sorry one at best, and won't be worth a copper after you've got him out of that fit. Its nothing more nor less than the blind staggers!" Lewis Cass and Ohio senators William Allen and Edward Hannegan stand in the center group behind Polk. Cass, in military uniform, says, "It's my opinion, Hannegan, that he's going to back out! His nose is not so near the line by three inches as it was a week ago!" Allen begs of Cass, "Oh don't let him flinch General. It's our only hope!" Hannegan says, "By heaven! it cannot be General! If he does he's worse than a second Arnold. We must be ready to cut him down at once! Let me have your sword?" The third group (far right) stands at the forty-ninth parallel. It includes more conservative Democrats (left to right) John Clayton, John Calhoun, Thomas Hart Benton, and William Henry Haywood, Jr. (labeled "Hayward"). Clayton inquires, "How shall we get him off? He has not budged or brayed for the last month!" John Calhoun remarks, "I see how it is gentlemen! He has got it into his head that to be great is to be silent and obstinate! Coaxing will be of no use! You might as well use force at once!" Benton adds, "In my opinion it's a very miserable imitation of old Hickory's firmness and independence." Haywood assures everyone, "I, gentlemen, am the only man in the field that knows when that jackass is going to move."|Entered . . . 1846 by J. Baillie.|Lith & pub. by James Baillie, 118, Nassau St. N.Y.|Signed with monogram: C (Edward Williams Clay).|The Library's impression was deposited for copyright on April 8, 1946, on the same day as "Polk's Dream,"also by Clay.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Davison, no. 192.|Weitenkampf, p. 85.|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 1846-3.

Entered according to Act of Congress in 1839 by H.R. Robinson in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the U.S. for the Southern District of New York.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

Once again, Lewis Cass is attacked as a militaristic expansionist. (See "A War President," no. 1848-16.) His support during the 1846 Oregon boundary dispute of the expansionist 54 40' parallel and his War of 1812 military record are invoked as evidence of his hawkish character. Cass (center) sits on a pile of cannon balls inscribed "54.40" signing a declaration of war with a quill pen dipped in blood. He uses a military drum for a desk top. In his left hand he holds a broken saber, memento of a well-publicized incident during the War of 1812 when Cass defied his superior officer's orders to surrender to the British at Detroit. Rather than surrender his troops he chose instead to break his sword. Here he says, "The first thing I'll do will be to sign this declaration of war--leaving the name of the Country blank to fill up afterward--if the People did not want more bloodshed why the devil did they make "me" Genl. (C)Ass President--holloa Scott are you ready?" To the right, Gen. Winfield Scott stands next to a cannon, eating a bowl of soup. He says, "All right Mr. President. I have nearly finished the "hasty bowl of soup" only keep Quiet two minutes longer & I'll get my friend Barnum to give you the "other" piece of "that broken sword." " (For the origin of the "hasty bowl of soup" joke, see "Distinguished Military Operations with a Hasty Bowl of Soup," no. 1846-15). To the left stands Whig nominee Zachary Taylor, as a military drummer boy, accompanied by two bloodhounds. The dogs allude to Taylor's controversial use of bloodhounds against Indians in the Second Seminole War in Florida. (For an extremely defamatory treatment of this theme see James Baillie's "Hunting Indians in Florida with Blood-Hounds," no. 1848-20) He exclaims, "Too bad by Jessy!! here I am at the old trade again, instead of being President dammme if they have not made me drummer." In the background stand a row of soldiers, one holding a flag marked "54.40."|Lith. & pub. by H.R. Robinson 31 Park-Row N.Y. (Adjoining Lovejoy's Hotel.)|Signed: By 54.40|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 1848-17.

Again, the race motif is used to parody election-year rivalries. (See "Footrace, Pensylvania Avenue," no. 1844-41). Here the artist portrays the candidates as horses, lining up before a stand from which several prominent political figures watch. First in line is Henry Clay, ridden by jockey Daniel Webster, who says, "My horse was Foaled in the Old Dominion, bred in Kentuck--And has beat every thing out West!" Clay is closely followed by a bucking horse with the head of James Polk and jockied by an unidentified man who exclaims, "Old Diploma I think will beat them all except the "Mill Boy" [i.e., Clay] his Rider Black Dan is such a Jockey on the Course that he will always have the inside Track!" Next is pony Martin Van Buren with a fox's tail, ridden by Thomas Hart Benton, who complains, "I am afraid my Poney has been too badly beaten by old Tip ever to run again." He refers to the 1840 election when Van Buren was defeated by William Henry Harrison, "Old Tippecanoe." Hefty Alabama senator Dixon Lewis rides John C. Calhoun exclaiming, "I am call'd one half of Alabama. I would give the other half to have my high Mettled Racer Nullify them All!" A one-armed man riding Richard M. Johnson says, "Tecumseh [i.e., Johnson] cannot begin to run against the '"Mill Boy" of the Slashes' [Clay] he is so long in the Reach, and gathers so quick!" The last contestant is the stumbling nag John Tyler, ridden by his son Robert who is holding a paper labeled "repale" (i.e., Irish repeal) and says, "My Sire has ran well with Old Tip and by St. O'Connell, I think he would distance them all if it was not for his having those Cursed "Bolts" he must die! and nothing can save him." "St. O'Connell" is the Irish patriot leader of the repeal movement Daniel O'Connell. Watching from the grandstand are (left to right): editor Francis Preston Blair, an unidentified man, John M. Botts, lieutenant governor of New York and Van Buren foe Daniel S. Dickinson, and New York senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge.|Entered . . . 1844 by H.R. Robinson.|Litho. of H.R. Robinson 142 Nassau St. N.Y.|Signed with initials: E.W.C. (Edward Williams Clay).|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 1844-45.

A satire on William M. Price, federal district attorney of New York who fled to Europe after embezzling from the government approximately $72,000. Price followed coconspirator Samuel Swartwout, former collector of the port, who had earlier absconded with close to $1.23 million. The two Tammany officials were the focus of a federal investigation beginning in late November 1838. The scandal they created added considerable fuel to Whig opposition to Van Buren's "Sub-Treasury" or independent treasury program. After the scandal, Swartwout stayed in England until 1841 to avoid prosecution but then returned to the United States. On the left Price, in shirtsleeves, removes coins from a butter churn labeled "Sub-Treasury" saying, "It is time & by the Eternal I'll settle my accounts with this Government and follow my friend Sam!!" In the scene at right he strolls off following the footprints of Swartwout and carrying a sack labeled "$1,200,000" (an inflated figure). He remarks, "The Republican party have seen darker days than this!" Behind him a letter of resignation falls to the ground, and a ship sets sail in the background.|Entd . . . 1838 by H.R. Robinson.|Printed & pubd by H.R. Robinson, 52 Cortlandt & 11-1/2 Wall St. N.Y.|The print was registered for copyright on December 14, 1838, on the same day as Robinson's "Sub Treasurers Meeting in England" (no. 1838-20). Both are apparently by the same artist.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 53.|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 1838-21.

Patently militaristic propaganda for the Union cause in the form of a sheet music cover illustration. Columbia or Liberty stands on the ramparts of a fortress near a cannon pointed across a harbor toward a mountainous landscape. She wears a Phrygian cap and a long gown revealing her left shoulder and breast, and holds a shield and an American flag. At her feet are a fasces (symbol of Union) and an olive branch. With her left foot she crushes a crown. Two more symbols of aristocratic tyranny, a scepter and shackles, lie broken nearby. Surrounding the central picture are shields bearing the initials of the thirteen original states. On either side of the picture stand additional fasces. Below are a scroll (the Constitution) and a sword, and at the top two arrows. The title of the piece suggests that the illustration portrays an actual painted patriotic banner.|Memphis, Tenn. Published by E.A. Benson, no. 258 Main St.|Sarony, Major & Knapp Liths. 449 Broadway N.Y.|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 1860-3.

Representative Henry A. Wise, vociferous opponent of the Van Buren administration, is portrayed as a surgeon, operating on Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury. The satire refers to the cross-examination of Woodbury in January 1839, during the congressional investigation of the Samuel Swartwout embezzlement. (See "Price Current" and "Sub Treasurers Meeting in England," nos. 1838-21 and -20.) Although no wrongdoing could be found of Woodbury, Swartwout's crime was perceived as an indictment of Van Buren's proposed independent treasury or "sub-treasury" system. Wise (center) makes an incision in Woodbury, who is bound to a table. Under the table is a chest whose various compartments are labeled: "Sub-Treasury," "Letters to Receivers," "Defalcations from 1 to 1500," "Bond Accounts," and "Accounts of Swartwout." Six attending men (perhaps members of the investigating committee) react to the gore with horror and disgust. Wise: "I think Gentlemen, you will now admit that it is time this was opened." Others say, "Who could have believed this? and he looked in such good health all the while" and "Can he survive this?" The artist's signature (apart from the pseudonym "Artful Dodge") appears, almost obliterated, at the lower left. Several other satires on the Woodbury inquiry, "A Bull Chase, "Worse than a Spanish Inquisition,"" and "A Select Committee of Enquiry Hard at Work" (nos. 1839-6 through -8) also appear to be by the same artist. Weitenkampf erroneously identifies the figure on the table as Van Buren.|Entd . . . 1839 by H.R. Robinson.|Printed & publd. by H.R. Robinson, 52 Cortlandt & 11-1/2 Wall St. N.Y.|Signed: Artful Dodge (Napoleon Sarony).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 57.|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 1839-9.

A scene in New York, outside the gates of City Hall Park. Two well-dressed men with top hats overturn the table of two apple-women. One of the men (from all appearances a Loco Foco radical Democrat) shouts at the women, "What right have you to live? Come, clear out!" The other man topples a table from which fall apples, cigars, and what looks like a cider churn, ordering them to "Clear out here!" Horrified by the men's actions, the women, who are surrounded by their ragged children, protest, "You take my life, when you take the means by which I live" and "God forgive the plunderers of my fatherless babes!" Watching the uproar is a genteel young couple walking at right. The woman asks her companion, "Law! Mr. Brown aint you glad that these disgusting beings will no longer offend the eyes of pious and respectable people?" He replies, in an affected accent, "Yes, my de--aw! They are werry of-fensive . . ." In the background is visible the north side of City Hall, from which flies an American flag with the cryptic words "Order Reigns in Warsaw." To the right appears another building marked "Post Office" (actually John Vanderlyn's Rotunda, which over time saw a number of uses as a public building). Weitenkampf suggests that the subject is David Hale, influential publisher of the New York "Journal of Commerce," and his campaign against work on Sundays. The man overturning the table is probably identifiable as Hale.|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, and is printed on the reverse side of "Loco Foco Triumphal Honors" (no. 1844-31).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 84.|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 1844-18.

A biting cartoon showing Confederate president Jefferson Davis in league with both the devil and Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold. Arnold and Davis stir a cauldron of "Treason Toddy," a brew into which the devil drops miniature black slaves. The devil holds a pitchfork and gloats, "I feel proud of my American sons--Benedict and Jeff." Davis, dressed in a bonnet, shawl, and dress (see "The Chas-ed "Old Lady" of the C.S.A.," no. 1865-11), explains to his fellow traitor, "Well, Arnold, the C.S.A. [Confederate States of America] are "done gone" so I have come home." Arnold greets him, "Welcome, Davis! Thou shalt be warmly received by thy father." At the cauldron base, marked "1865," lie two skulls, marked "Libby" and "Andersonville,"--no doubt intended to represent Union victims of the two notorious Confederate prisons Libby and Andersonville. Copperheads writhe on the ground. Near Davis's feet are a bag of "Stolen Gold" and a valise marked with his initials and "C.S.A. 1865."|Designed by Burgoo Zac.|Entered . . . 1865 by Oscar H. Harpel, (Opera House, Cincinnati) Ohio.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 148.|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 1865-12.