A sheet music cover illustrated with the American nativist device of an eye in an aureole of light. The watchful eye (a commonplace in Masonic iconography) here symbolizes the Know Nothings' vigilance against "foreign influence" in American politics and government. For an earlier instance of the nativist use of this motif see the certificate of the Order of United Americans (no. 1848-1).|Entered . . . 1854 by J. Couenhoven. |Philadelphia James Couenhoven 162 Chesnut St.|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 1854-1.

An illustrated advertising label for soap manufactured in Boston, interesting for its imagery and allusion to the popular "Know Nothing" or nativist movement. In the foreground are two American Indians, emblematic of the movement's prejudice against the foreign-born. In the lower right is a seated brave, leaning against a rock and holding a pipe. Above him a large American flag, with thirty-one stars, unfurls across the main picture area. The flag is supported in the upper left corner by an Indian woman, who points to the words "Know Nothing Soap" emblazoned on it. In the background is a landscape with tepees and a campfire on the bank of a stream.|Entered . . . 1854 by G.A. Hill . . . Massachusetts.|Geo. A. Hill & Co. 56 Federal Street, Boston. L.H. Bradford & Cos. Lith.|The Library's impression of the label was deposited for copyright on October 20, 1854.|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 1854-3.

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1865 by Gibson & Co. in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the Southern District of Ohio.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

A satire on the controversy surrounding charges of election fraud against New York State tobacco inspector James B. Glentworth and other Whigs during the election of 1838. The allegations were made two years later, in October 1840, by New York Federal District Attorney Benjamin F. Butler, a Democrat. The cartoon echoes pervasive Whig countercharges that Glentworth was used by Democrats in a last-ditch effort to win the presidential election of that year. The print's title facetiously refers to incumbent Democrat Martin Van Buren's description of the Butler inquiry as "a card yet to be played" in his reelection strategy. Glentworth stands before city recorder Robert H. Morris, saying "Let me alone for that I'll blow em sky High Harrison Hard Cider and Log Cabins. I'll tell a tough yarn and the Whigs cant defend themselves before the election." Morris was charged by Governor Seward to hear testimony in the case. One of several observers remarks "It is a lie that will last us Locos [i.e., Loco Focos or radical Democrats] till after the Election." Another, a Bowery tough in striped trousers, remarks, "I think we have the British Whigs now." Morris says, "I say Whiting [i.e., New York City District Attorney James R. Whiting] I am afraid we are barking up the wrong tree. This is Butler's great card but I fear we have turned up the Knave of Clubs." Whiting (seated at table to Morris's right) confides, "My fears are that the Whigs will turn the tables upon us." A man standing on Whiting's right, says "It goes against my religion and my conscience to charge honorable men on the testimony of such rascals but my friend Van Buren must be taken care of." This may be John W. Edmonds, an influential friend of Van Buren involved in the case. A second witness, an obviously disaffected Whig, says, "Now Glentworth give it to Seward for not re-appointing "us." Dont stand on trifles "we" will provide for you." Although the signature "Spoodlyks" is certainly pseudonymous, "The Last Card. Tip Overthrown" is evidently one in a series of satires on the Glentworth scandal, executed by the same artist. Others in this series are "Loco Foco Consternation" and "Evenhanded Justice" (nos. 1840-61 and -62).|Printed and published by H.R. Robinson, 52 Cortlandt St. New York.|Signed: Spoodlyks 1840|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 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 1840-60.

A searing, election-year indictment of four prominent figures in the Democratic party, three of them former Confederate officers. Former New York governor and Democratic presidential nominee Horatio Seymour is portrayed as a "rioter." Standing in a burning city, he waves his hat in the air while he steps on the back of a crawling figure. In the background a corpse hangs from a lamppost. Between 1862 and 1864 Seymour had opposed Lincoln's war policies, and he was branded as instigator of the 1863 New York draft riots. (See "The Meeting of the Friends, City Hall Park," no. 1863-12.) Below the portrait are inflammatory passages from his speeches. Tennessee general Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, and infamous for his role in the massacre of surrendered Union troops at Fort Pillow, is called "The Butcher Forrest." He waves a flag labeled "No Quarter" and fires a pistol. Extracts from reports of the Pillow massacre are given below his picture. Confederate admiral Raphael Semmes is portrayed as a pirate, wielding a knife in one hand and holding aloft a flaming torch in the other. Behind him flies a flag with a skull and crossbones. To the right a family cowers in fright. Semmes was the scourge of Union shipping during the Civil War. Under his command the "Alabama," a British-built ship, captured sixty-two merchant vessels, most of which were burned. An excerpt from Semmes's July 1868 speech at Mobile, Alabama, appears below this image. Confederate cavalry officer Wade Hampton appears as a hangman. He holds his plumed hat at his side and wears a uniform embossed with a skull and crossbones and a belt inscribed "C.S.A" (Confederate States of America). In the distance three Yankee soldiers hang from a gallows. |Signed: Th. Nast.|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 1868-7.

A satire attacking Andrew Jackson's plan to distribute treasury funds, formerly kept in the Bank of the United States, among "branch banks" in various states. The artist also alleges Vice-President Van Buren's manipulation of administration fiscal policy. Jackson appears as a jack-ass "dancing among the Chickens" (the branch banks) to the alarm of the hen "U.S.Bank." Martin Van Buren, as a fox, and Jack Downing, as a cock, look on. On the left sit five chained dogs, representing the "Albany Argus, Journal of Commerce," and other newspapers sympathetic to Jackson's program. In the left foreground a sow with the head of Jackson advisor Francis Preston Blair lies on a copy of his newspaper, the "Globe." Jack Downing: "Yankee doodle doodle doo!" Jackson: "Sing away Major Downing. This is a capital Experiment by the Eternal!" Dogs: "He looks like a "Lion!" How dignified! What "correct" Steps! in such "good time!" Can any thing equal him! The "greatest" and "best" Ass we ever knew!" Blair: "I feel quite at home on this dung heap." Van Buren: ""Sly" is the word!" |Published and for sale wholesale and retail at Imbert's Caricature Store No. 104 Broadway N.Y.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 33.|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 1833-7.

A sheet music cover for a humorous song on the origins of Grant's campaign slogan, "Let Us Have Peace." In actuality, those were the closing words of his letter of May 29, 1868, accepting the Republican presidential nomination. Here, the general is shown seated at a dinner table laden with wine and fruit. He is accompanied by two male friends, while a waiter stands ready to wait on him. Even with all the food, Grant requests, "Let us have pease." His secretary (background left) misunderstands, and transcribes, "Let us have peace."|A.E. Blackmar, New-Orleans & New-York.|Lith. H. Wehrmann, N.O.|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 1868-12.

An allegory of printing and liberty, illustrating a broadside of a June 24, 1826, letter from Thomas Jefferson on American democracy. The female figure of Liberty displays to the Four Continents the art of printing. Liberty stands to the right of a hand printing press over which hovers the figure of Fame. On the left stand female personifications of Asia and Europe; on the right are an Indian Queen (representing the Americas) and a kneeling black woman (Africa). In the foreground left is a pile of volumes and a scroll with the names of early printers Faustus, Caxton, and Bradford. In the right distance is a Temple of Liberty. In the left background a dark figure or demon falls from the sky. Jefferson's letter to the Mayor of Washington expresses his regret at not being able to attend the fiftieth anniversary celebration of American Independence in Washington. Jefferson describes the Declaration of Independence as "the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, . . . ." Jefferson died ten days after writing the letter.|Signed: Brown D. Anderson S.|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 1826-1.

The only obvious portrait in this crudely drawn satire is that of Republican candidate John C. Fremont (right). An emaciated man (center) sits in a chair near an open window. He is apparently James Buchanan, and is dressed as an old woman, reminiscent of earlier effeminate portrayals of his Democratic predecessor Andrew Jackson in cartoons such as "New Edition of Macbeth" and "Treasury Note" (nos. 1837-7 and 1837-9). Obviously waning, he is bled by a third man, possibly either Democratic rival Stephen Douglas (unlikely), American party candidate Millard Fillmore, or Fremont running mate William L. Dayton. This man holds Buchanan's arm, having just cut his vein with a razor, and watches as blood flows into a bowl held by Fremont. The Capitol appears through the window. The bloodletting motif may have been inspired by a popular text or speech of the day, since mention of "drops of Democratic blood" with reference to Buchanan also occurs in "The Grand National Fight" (no. 1856-16).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 51.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1856-14.

A burlesque triumphal procession representing victory for the Democratic platform in the election of 1848. In a chariot drawn by Democrats Lewis Cass and William O. Butler (shown as two horses), Uncle Sam drives toward the White House. On his way he rides over and cuts in two a black man representing abolitionism and then continues over Free Soil candidate Martin Van Buren. Whig candidates Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore trail along behind, sharing the saddle of the same bucking horse. Uncle Sam's chariot, called "Firm Confederation," is composed of a cab formed of large eagle wings and a shield. In it ride four crowned Liberty figures. They hold spears with banners reading: "Tariff of 1846," "Welcome [----] Oppressed," "No National Bank," and "Honor and Peace." Uncle Sam remarks enthusiastically, "Do tell now, ain't this the way to make a happy Republic?" Van Buren, visible beneath the chariot's wheels, groans, "Second sober thoughts--I wish I had been out of this muss!" Fillmore comments, "I say Taylor, we two have been too weighty for the Old buster! [i.e., their horse]" Taylor replies, "No, the Old thing was in a very bad condition when we mounted him."|Published by Peter E. Abel & Durang, Philada.|Signed with initials: E.F.D. (E.F. Durang).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 95.|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 1848-43.

A bitter indictment of the Democratic administration's responsibility for violence and bloodshed in Kansas in the wake of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act. (See also "Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Freesoiler" and "Democratic Platform Illustrated," nos. 1856-8 and 1856-11.) The print appeared during the presidential campaign of 1856. In the center stands Democratic incumbent Franklin Pierce, dressed in the buckskins of a "border ruffian," as the violent, proslavery invaders of the Kansas territory from Missouri were known. He has planted his foot on an American flag which is draped over Liberty, who kneels at his feet imploring, "O spare me gentlemen, spare me!!" Pierce is armed with a rifle, and has a tomahawk, dagger, pistol, and scalp on his belt. At right a similarly outfitted Lewis Cass stands licking his lips and scoffing, "Poor little Dear. We wouldnt hurt her for the world, would we Frank? ha! ha! ha! . . ." At the far right Democratic senator Stephen Douglas kneels over a slain farmer and holds up the hapless victim's scalp, exclaiming, "Hurrah for our side! Victory! Victory! "We will subdue them yet." "On the far left Democratic candidate James Buchanan and secretary of state William Marcy (with his characteristic fifty-cent" trouser patch) kneel over another victim and empty his pockets. Buchanan lifts the man's watch, saying,"T'was your's once but its mine now, "Might makes right," dont it." Pierce responds, "You may bet your life on that, ole Puddinhead," and says to Liberty, "Come Sis--sy, you go along wid me, I'le take Good care of "you" (hic) "over the left."" In the left background a cottage burns, and the mad widow of a murdered settler stands before a group of ruffians. Widow: "Come husband let us go to heaven, where our poor Children are." Ruffian, thumbing his nose: "Ho! ho! She thinks I'm her husband, we Scalped the Cus and she like a D--m fool went Crazy on it, and now she wants me to go to heaven with her, . . . " In the distance are further scenes of pillage and murder. Attribution to Magee is based on the print's clear stylistic similarity to his "Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Freesoiler" (no. 1856-8). A number of satires published by John Childs during the 1856 campaign are also attributable to Magee on stylistic grounds.|Drawn by John L. Magee.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Murrell, p. 190.|Weitenkampf, p. 115.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1856-9.

An allegorical Unionist sheet music cover for a song by Ohio composer J.T. Wamelink with lyrics by C.B. Barr. Beneath an arch "Union," which rests on two bases "Liberty" and "Law," sits a classical female figure. She holds a staff and Phrygian cap in one hand and the scales of justice in the other. To the right are the arms of the state of Pennsylvania, inscribed with the motto of the state, "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence." About the figure are symbols of prosperity--a strongbox, coins, and a cornucopia. A locomotive crosses a bridge at left.Two plants, an oak and a laurel, spring from the earth at left and right. The arch is draped with American flags, and above them are an eagle and a rising sun. |1st Edition, Pittsburgh, Pa. Wamelink & Barr.|Entered . . . 1864 by Wamelink & Barr, Pennsylvania.|Krebs & Bro. Lith. Pittsburgh.|The Library's copy of the music sheet was deposited for copyright on September 12, 1864.|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 1864-10.

Rival presidential nominees Lincoln and Douglas are matched in a footrace, in which Lincoln's long stride is a clear advantage. Both sprint down a path toward the U.S. Capitol, which appears in the background right. They are separated from it by a rail fence, a reference to Lincoln's popular image as a rail-splitter. Douglas, whose characteristic shortness is here exaggerated to dwarfish dimensions, wonders aloud, "How can I get over this Rail Fence." Over his shoulder he carries a cane on which hangs a jug marked "M.C.," which probably refers to the Missouri Compromise, repealed in 1854 largely through Douglas's efforts. As he runs, playing cards spill from his pockets (suggesting perhaps a penchant for gambling). Lincoln, whose height is equally exaggerated, runs along beside him waving his hat and carrying a rail-splitter's maul over his shoulder. He says confidently, "It [i.e., the rail fence] can't sto\p me for I built it." From the fence on the far right a black youth taunts Douglas, "You can find me in dis yer Fence Massa Duglis." The last is evidently a reference to the slavery question central to the election campaign. The print probably appeared late in the campaign, as the Library's impression was deposited for copyright on September 21, 1860. The footrace image is also used in a similar cartoon discussed by Wilson, entitled "A Political Race" (Wilson, p. 52).|Entered . . . 1860 . . . by J. Sage & Sons.|Published by J. Sage & Sons 209 Main St. Buffalo N.Y.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 121-122.|Wilson, p. 20-21.|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 1860-38.

Campaign sheet music for the Lincoln candidacy. The cover illustration features an oval bust portrait of Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln, surrounded by vignettes and motifs recalling his early backwoods career. In a vignette above the portrait the candidate is shown splitting fence rails near a small cottage. A second scene, below the portrait, features a flatboat and its crew on a river. The vignettes and central portrait are framed by branches and vines. Cornstalks grow from the upper branches, and berries or olives from the lower ones. On the left are an ax, mallet, and splitting wedges. On the right are paddles, an anchor, a pike, and a rudder--implements of river life.|Signed with initials: H.W. (H. Whatley).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|"The Lincoln Image," p. 35.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1860-8.

The contest for the presidency in 1864 is depicted as a game of bagatelle (a game similar to pool) between Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln and Democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln (left) holds a cue "Baltimore" (the site of the Republican national convention) and is about to shoot a ball on "The Union Board." He says to running mate Andrew Johnson (upper right), "I'll do the best I can Andy, I can do no more." Johnson encourages him, "Hurrah for our side, go ahead Old Abe! O aint he bully on the bagatelle? you're only got a few more to make, It's A Sure Thing!!" Johnson points to the scoreboard which reads "Nix" for the "Copper" (i.e., Copperheads or Peace Democrats). The Union side of the board is blank. At left McClellan, dressed as a child, holds a cue "Chicago" (site of the Democratic national convention) and stands on a toppling "Chicago Platform," which appears to have been given a nudge by Lincoln's foot. A "Peace" plank has fallen from it. (McClellan was never entirely committed to the "peace at any price" principle advocated by Copperhead leader Clement L. Vallandigham.) McClellan complains, "This Cue 'is too heavy! and the' Platform's 'shakey!! O! O! I want to go back in the yard!!" His running mate George H. Pendleton (far left) retorts impatiently, "O see here. We cant stand this! Old Abe's getting in all the pots on the board, this game will have to be played over again or there'l be a fight, THAT'S CERTAIN." At the far right Vallandigham sits with crossed legs, saying to McClellan, "There is nothing the matter with the Cue or the Platform, you had the first red and didn't make anything, now he'll win the game." Union general Ulysses S. Grant smokes a pipe and stands near the middle of the table. He advises McClellan, " . . . you travel too near the ground to play on this board, better surrender UNCONDITIONALLY." A grinning black waiter with a tray of drinks watches Pendleton and McClellan. In the foreground are a cat named "Miss Cegenation" (i.e., miscegenation) and a black dog, tied together at the tails by a string attached to a kettle. They chase two rats, "Old Lea" and "Wood," across a paper holding "Caces Sugar Plumbs."|Published by J.L. Magee, South East cor. Third & Dock Sts. Philada.|Signed: J.L.M. (John L. Magee).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 145-146.|Wilson, p. 272-273.|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 1864-16.

During the 1864 presidential campaign a popular analogy was drawn between Democratic presidential candidate George B. McClellan and an acrobat uneasily straddling two horses at once. The artist here portrays the McClellan candidacy as trying to combine two seemingly irreconcilable causes, peace and war. In a circus ring McClellan stretches between horses marked "Letter of Acceptance" and "Chicago Platform." In Chicago on August 29, 1864, McClellan was nominated the Democratic candidate on a peace platform. In his letter of acceptance, however, the candidate expressed his support for the war. At left his running mate George H. Pendleton, wearing a dunce cap "PEACE!," eggs him on, saying, "I "say" Mac! Can't you hold on to "both" 'till the 8th of Nov.? [i.e., election day]" In the background a huge audience watches the spectacle. Among the instruments in the band is a drum inscribed "N.Y. World," one of McClellan's most vocal supporters.|Entered . . . 1864 . . . by N. Bangs Williams, Providence.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Murrell, p. 225.|Weitenkampf, p. 143.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1864-25.

Martin Van Buren, known as "the Little Magician" for his remarkable political agility, summons spirits to divine the Democratic or "Loco Foco" prospects for election in 1844. He sits in an astrological circle, conjuring up three imps in the smoke of his pipe, and addresses them: Spirits white and Gray appear! appear! / my call attend! my power revere! / Their destiny the Locos ask / Apply ye to the mighty Task! First spirit: Loco-Focos! desperate Chaps. / Make your speech & draw your Caps! / You've had your day--you've had free scope / And hanged yourselves with your own rope! Second spirit: When Arnold rises form the Tomb / To receive a Traitors doom! / When Yankee Children bear his name / And all are proud of Arnolds Fame! / Then Tyler shall his honors share, / And keep the Presidential chair! Third spirit: When the stars fall from above. / When the Globe shall cease to move, / When flowers grow amid the snow / And Lions fear the timid Roe. / When Lawyers shall refuse a feel / And misers pray for poverty /Till then, you'll find that many folk, / Will never vote for Master Polk! / Till then, they'd swing upon the Gallows / Before they'd vote for Master Dallas! Democratic nominees James K. Polk, wearing the striped trousers associated with the Loco Foco or radical wing of the Democratic party, and George M. Dallas stand at right. Visibly awed, Polk says, "By Heavens! these words remind me of the dream I had when I first heard of my nomination!" Dallas, fleeing to the right, asserts, "I'll get out of this scrape as quick as possible Texas wont save us!" On the left Andrew Jackson brandishes his cane and threatens, "By the Eternal! you old Hags! if I get hold of you, I'll hang you all up under the 7th section as I did Arbuthnot and Ambisiserter!" Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister (not "Ambister") were two Englishmen hung by Jackson during the Florida campaign in 1818, for aiding the Seminole Indians in their fight against the general's militia. The act was one which Jackson's political foes invoked throughout his career as evidence of his brutality. |Entered . . . 1844 by J. Baillie.|Lith and pubd. by J Baillie 118 Nassau St. N.Y.|Signed: H. Bucholzer.|The Library's impression was deposited for copyright on August 23, 1844.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 81.|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 1844-40.

Another satire on Van Buren's alliance with extremists, here personified by radical abolitionist Abby Folsom. Van Buren's emergence as candidate of the Free Soil party in the 1848 presidential race was viewed as a reversal of his earlier administration stand on the issue. By invoking the specter of Benedict Arnold here the artist may also be criticizing Van Buren's repudiation of the regular Democratic party. On the left the ghost of Revolutionary War turncoat Benedict Arnold has emerged from his grave. He points threateningly toward "Abby Fulsome" (center) and Van Buren (right), and says, "Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? Behold the Government is rent from thee, & is given to thy neighbor, even to [Democratic presidential nominee Lewis] "Cass." The Buffaloes will be delivered into the hand of thine enemies, & thou and thy Son shall be with me." The print must date between Van Buren's nomination at the Free Soil party convention, held in early August 1848 at Buffalo, N.Y., and Zachary Taylor's electoral victory over Cass in November. Van Buren and "Fulsome" recoil in horror at the sight of the spirit. Folsom observes, "An old man cometh up and he is covered with a mantle." Van Buren responds, "Our sufferings "is" intolerable." The quote was a well-known grammatical lapse of Van Buren's, widely exploited by the opposition during his term of office.|Entered . . . 1848 by J. Baillie. |Probably drawn by H. Bucholzer.|Published by James Baillie, 87th St. near 3d Avenue N.Y.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 90.|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 1848-58.

Again the theme of corruption in the Van Buren administration, here centering on the President's "Sub-Treasury" or independent treasury program, passed by Congress in July 1840. A large frigate "United States," rigged with "Sub Treasury Rags" sails, sits at anchor in a cove. From it several men empty barrels of "Treasury grains" into two dinghies. Rowing away in a third dinghy are (left to right) Martin Van Buren, John C. Calhoun, and Thomas Hart Benton. The boat is labeled "M. Von Kinder & Co. Shew Boat Absquabulation." Van Buren, sitting on the stern of the boat, declares, "I have taken Care of my self Let the People take care of themselves Heaven's for us all!" Calhoun sings as he rows:I came in your need, To serve you indeed; My views could scarcely soar higher, You must be aware, That the Plunder I'll share, Or I'll prove a staunch Nullifyer. Benton, also rowing: "I am Bent on Gulling the People to see the "promised" Gold & Silver [cropped] flowing up the Mississippi [cropped]." On the shore at left a group of people wave and hail William Henry Harrison, who leaves the bank in a boat. "Vox Populi, Vox Dei!" they cry, "Hurra Old Tip. / Dont Give up the Ship." In the background left is a log cabin, a fence, and a ploughman in a field. Though unsigned "The Little Magician" is no doubt the work of Philadelphia printmaker/satirist James Akin. In the peculiar handling of the figures and crowded composition it compares closely to his "The Massachusetts Hoar Outwitted" (no. 1845-6) and "Crib of Wolf Meat" (Quimby, no. 58). It also exhibits Akin's distinctive lettering and bordering style. "The Little Magician" is not listed in Quimby's checklist of Akin's work. |Drawn by James Akin, Philadelphia.|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 1840-40.

Several prospective Democratic presidential candidates travel along a canal in the "Salt River Barge," named after the proverbial river of political defeat. The passengers are (left to right): Lewis Cass, secretary of war William Marcy, Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas, former secretary of state James Buchanan, and Texas senator Sam Houston. Martin Van Buren, pictured as a fox, pulls the barge, saying, "Never fear my Coves. I'll carry you straight, for I am well acquainted with this Road!" Houston, seated on a barrel of "Cold Water" in the bow of the barge, holds a flag marked "Maine Liquor Law" with a crown at the top of the pole. The Maine Law of 1851 was a prohibition measure subsequently adopted by several other states. Houston says, "We dont travel quite so fast as I did in Texas once!" Behind him, Buchanan looks through a periscope and exclaims, "I dont know but it looks to me as if we had travelled this way before!" Douglas, noticeably shorter than the rest, complains, "These old Fogies are out of date Young America expects Progress! I am for the annexation of Cuba, Canada, Mexico, and Japan!" Douglas represented the Young America faction of the Democratic party, a youthful element which was, among other things, expansionist in nature. Marcy, with the "50 Cents" trouser patch (see "Executive Mercy/Marcy and the Bambers," no.1838-5), conjectures, "If Matty stands by me now I think with a little manouvering the chances are in my favor!" Finally Cass, lying on his back in the rear of the barge, instructs Buchanan to "Wake me up . . . if any thing in particular happens I'm going to take a nap." (This may be a comment on Cass's advanced age and/or his physical corpulence in 1852.) From the rear of the boat flies a banner marked "Intervintion," perhaps a reference to the Democrats' advocacy of nationalist and republican movements in Europe and the Caribbean, or more particularly to American efforts on behalf of Hungarian nationalist leader Louis Kossuth in 1850. The print must have appeared before the Democratic convention in early June 1852, when the aspirations of these hopefuls for the presidency were extinguished by the nomination of dark horse candidate Franklin Pierce. |Published by J. Childs 84 Nassau St. N. York.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 92-93.|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 1852-12.