A gently satirical commentary on Zachary Taylor's bid for the presidency. In a small office Taylor, hat in hand, is interviewed by a young Brother Jonathan, who sits in a rocking chair with his legs propped up on a "Treasury" strong-box. Jonathan smokes a cigar and stirs a mint julep which, together with a bottle of gin, rests on the table next to him. The various parts of his chair are inscribed symbolically: "Our Rights" (chair back), "Citizenship" (armrest), "Constitution" (seat), and "Freedom" (runner). Posted on a wall behind him is a map of the United States and a notice "White House to Let 4 Years lease from March 4th 1848. Terms moderate." At the far left a writing desk is visible. Taylor stands near the door at right, touching his forelock with his hand. In the dialogue, printed in the lower margin, Jonathan instructs Taylor on anti-subtreasury, soft money Whig fiscal doctrine. Jonathan: "Ah! Youre the Party that wants to Rent my Farm Eh!" Taylor: "If you Please Mr. Jonathan sir, I'm an old Soldier sir. Served in the Mexican Campaign sir." Jonathan: "Very well Mr. Taylor you can have it on one condition, that you offer no obstruction to the removal of the Subtreasury nuisance, so Detrimental to the River Currency, which as you know, sets all my Factories and Workshops a going."|Lith. & pub. by H.R. Robinson 31 Park Row N. York. (Adjoining Lovejoy's Hotel.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 97-98.|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 1848-40.

Text continues: Relics from over there. Captured German cannons, helmets, gas masks, bomb throwing machines, famous minnenweffers, machine guns of all kinds, whippet tank, armored car, and many other interesting articles. Free. Free. [blank spaces for local exhibition details] Poster is text only. Title from item.

A bitterly anti-Lincoln cartoon, based on slanderous newspaper reports of the President's callous disregard of the misery of Union troops at the front. The story that Lincoln had joked on the field at Antietam appeared in the "New York World." Holding a plaid Scotch cap (see "Abraham's Dream--"Coming Events Cast Their Shadows Before,"" no. 1864-42), Lincoln stands on the battlefield at Antietam, which is littered with Union dead and wounded. He instructs his friend Marshal Lamon, who stands with his back toward the viewer and his hand over his face, to "sing us PĚ_Ąicayune Butler,' or something else that's funny."|Signed with monogram: CAL?|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Century, p. 110-111.|Lorant, p. 263.|Weitenkampf, p. 141.|Wilson, p. 292-293.|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 1864-30.

In July 1790 Congress decided to move the seat of the federal government from its original site in New York to Washington, with Philadelphia as an interim capital. The unidentified satirist gives a cynical view of the profit opportunity which this presented for Philadelphians. A three-masted ship with a smaller boat in tow sails toward a fork in a river. It is being lured by a devil toward the lower fork (eventually leading to Philadelphia), which falls precipitously in a rocky cataract, and away from the fork which leads to the "Potowmack" river. A devil beckons them on, saying, "This way Bobby" (referring to Robert Morris, the alleged instigator of the move). A man in the bow of the ship remarks of the figurehead, "This looks more like a goose than an eagle's head." Behind him another says through a bullhorn, "Starboard your helm Coffer-- don't you hear your friend on the Rock." Another passenger waves a hat and shouts "Huzza for Philadelphia." A man (possibly Morris) holding the helm says, "I will venture all for Philadelphia." In the boat in tow the following conversation is in progress: "Cut the Painter [tow line] as soon as you see the Ship in danger." "I wonder what could have induced the Controller to sign our Clearance." "Self gratification I suppose for it cannot be any advantage to the owner." "If they had come round in the S. Union the constitution would not have been lost." "They might have known that the Ship would have been in danger by comeing this way." "Ay, Ay, I had best do it [cut the rope] now for I believe she is going to the devil." Below the falls, three men in a dinghy say, "If we can catch the cargo never mind the Ship," "Keep a sharp look out for a majority and the treasury," and "Ay, Ay that's what we are after."|The print was probably produced in New York. Weitenkampf erroneously dates it 1798.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Munsing, no. 14.|Murrell, p. 47.|Weitenkampf, p. 12. |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 1790-1.

This site presents papers of members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, and key federal law cases. Learn about the Revolution and the creation of the U.S. by investigating the papers of our earliest lawmakers -- Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and others. See Calhoun's speech against the Compromise of 1850 and Webster's notes for his speech in favor of it, General MacArthur's Old Soldiers Never Die address to Congress (April 1951), and more.

A crude portrayal of a fight on the floor of Congress between Vermont Representative Matthew Lyon and Roger Griswold of Connecticut. The row was originally prompted by an insulting reference to Lyon on Griswold's part. The interior of Congress Hall is shown, with the Speaker Jonathan Dayton and Clerk Jonathan W. Condy (both seated), Chaplain Ashbel Green (in profile on the left), and several others looking on, as Griswold, armed with a cane, kicks Lyon, who grasps the former's arm and raises a pair of fireplace tongs to strike him. Below are the verses: "He in a trice struck Lyon thrice / Upon his head, enrag'd sir, / Who seiz'd the tongs to ease his wrongs, / And Griswold thus engag'd, sir."|The Library has three states of the print. Dayton, Condy, and Green are identified by keyed references in the (plate) margins of the second and third states. In all three "Congress Hall, in Philada. Feb.15.1798" is inscribed in the lower right corner. In the second and third this is followed by "S.E.Cor.6th & Chesnut St." In the third only, the number 17 appears in the upper right. Weitenkampf lists four states, some of which (including two of the Library's impressions) appear to be later restrikes. The call numbers are: PC/US - 1798.A000, no. 1 (A size) (first state); PC/US - 1798.A000, no. 2 (A size) (second state); PC/US - 1798.A000, no. 3 (A size) (third state).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Fowble, no. 329.|Murrell, p. 43, 45.|Weitenkampf, p. 12.|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 1798-1.|Exhibited in: Creating the United States, Library of Congress, 2008.

A rare anti-North satire, probably dealing with either the Crittenden Compromise or the Douglas Compromise. Proposed in December 1860 in the form of several constitutional amendments, the former called for restoration of the Missouri Compromise line and prohibition of slavery north of it. Stephen Douglas's compromise, an alternative proposed immediately thereafter, offered two similar amendments but also advocated settlement of the slavery issue by popular sovereignty. "Congressional Surgery" reflects the viewpoint of the lower South, which rejected both compromises. "Doctor North" (Pennsylvania congressman Thaddeus Stevens) sits with hands folded in a chair at left, a young black crouching beside him. On the doctor's desk rests a wooden leg labeled "Constitutional Amendment." The Doctor says, "Help you! Of Course! We will first, with your assistance, take you off your legs, & then fix you up nicely on these Constitutional Amendments." His patient "South," a tall bearded man with his left arm in a sling, replies, "Can't see it." Behind the desk are several crutches and bookshelves holding a bottle of "Black Draught" and a skull.|Signed: A. Del.|Title appears as t 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 1860-44.

Highlights from the past and present of Connecticut, from the rich online collections of the Library of Congress.

A sheet music cover for a postwar song lamenting the fall of the Confederacy. A ragged Confederate flag stands draped over an abandoned cannon, which sits in a landscape overgrown with grass and weeds. Almost hidden in the grass is the stock of a rifle.|Entered . . . 1866 by A. E. Blackmar . . . Louisiana.|Lith. Feusier, Hoyle & Co. No. 9, Commercial Place. N.O.|New Orleans. Published by A.E. Blackmar. 167 Canal St.|The Library also has a redrawn version, identical except that the lithographer's imprint is missing.|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 1866-2.

Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine the controversies inherent in conservation programs.

A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring the United States Constitution. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine the forces that shaped the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

This lesson focuses on the drafting of the United States Constitution during the Federal Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. Students will analyze an unidentified historical document and draw conclusions about what this document was for, who created it, and why. After the document is identified as George Washington’s annotated copy of the Committee of Style’s draft constitution, students will compare its text to that of an earlier draft by the Committee of Detail to understand the evolution of the final document.

Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine Thomas Jefferson's original Rough draught of the Declaration of Independence, compare its text to that of the final document adopted by Congress.

One of a number of highly racist posters issued as part of a smear campaign against Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee John White Geary by supporters of Democratic candidate Hiester Clymer. (See also nos. 1866-6, 1866-7, and 1866-8.) Indicative of Clymer's white-supremacy platform, the posters attack postwar Republican efforts to pass a constitutional amendment enfranchising blacks. In "The Constitutional Amendment" a group of black men are shown crowding ahead of two white veterans and other whites toward a door marked "Polls." One veterans complains, "Surely, we did not fight for this." Another remarks, "I thought we fought for the Union." A straggly bearded man encourages the blacks, "Come on, my brave boys, you saved the Nation." The black response is, "Dat's so Brudder Yank, and you need our votes now. De poor White Trash must stand back." At right two more white men complain, "Negroes rule us now," and "We have no chance here." On the left is a column of text: "Geary Is for Negro Suffrage. Stevens [Pennsylvania representative Thaddeus Stevens] Advocates it. Forney [Pennsylvania senator John W. Forney] Howls for it, McClure [Alexander K. McClure, Pennsylvania Republican chairman] Speaks for it. Cameron [Pennsylvania Republican boss Simon Cameron] Wants it. The League Sustains it. They are rich, and want to make The Negro the Equal of the Poor White Man, and then rule them both." At right are the names of candidates for Congress that supported black voting rights. Below is the commentary: "The Radical Platform--ˆ_ăˆ_Óegro Suffrage the only Issue!' Every man who votes for Geary or for a Radical Candidate for Congress, votes as surely for Negro Suffrage and Negro Equality, as if they were printed on his ballot."|Block signed: Reynolds 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 1866-5.

Poster showing a forester holding a pike, and a small night scene of men building a log bridge. Title from item.

A cartoon on the defeat of Whig Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election, ascribing his loss of the state of New York to his cousin Cassius M. Clay's campaign tour on his behalf. Oddly, though given prominence in the title, Cassius M. Clay does not appear in the picture itself. As Clay and his running mate Theodore Frelinghuysen--each having raccoon bodies--cross a bridge, it collapses in pieces, spilling Clay and his entourage of raccoons and starving dogs into the river. Clay grasps Frelinghuysen's tail and says, "Hold on Vice Frelinghuysen I have not only lost my election, I fear my principles are leaking out and will be exposed to the gaze of the Common people." From his open abdomen fall pistols, playing cards, and dice, evidence of his penchant for dueling and gambling. Freylinghusen responds: "Oh! Great Henry this is the effect of keeping bad Company. I think YOU are about the right material for a Vice President. I advise you to study Divinity it is your only hope left." (Frelinghuysen was a prominent churchman.) Assorted exclamations come from the hapless animals, one of whom cries, "help me Casius or I sink." On the section of the bridge at right several roosters holding brooms (symbolizing reform) jeer at the two candidates, the largest one saying, "Humbug has had its days." Below the roosters, in the distance, a crowd dances around a flagpole with a banner inscribed "Oregon" and "Texas." Further on, a fortress with a flag "Our Thunder" fires one of its guns. Standing on the left side of the bridge are two Pennsylvanians. One says, "Did you hear the news from New York-York York all honest & true" and the other, "Oh! give us Polk & Dallas how happy we will be . . . ." In the water below, a boat marked "Make way for Gov. Shunk" rows by with three men aboard. One man in the boat, possibly newly elected Democratic governor of Pennsylvania Francis R. Shunk, observes of Clay, "that large Coon has very black Legs I reckon." "Blackleg" was common slang for scoundrel. |Entered . . . 1845 by Wm. Dohnert . . . E. District of Penn.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|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 1845-1.

Masako Suzuki helps a customer with thread at the counter in cooperative store. Title transcribed from Ansel Adams' caption on verso of print. Original neg. no.: LC-A35-6-M-40. Gift; Ansel Adams; 1965-1968. Forms part of: Manzanar War Relocation Center photographs.

Poster showing several dishes made with corn, including yeast bread, corn-meal fish balls, and homemade hulled corn or lye hominy; text lists numerous corn dishes, and offers free recipes on request. Text continues: Corn meal - Hominy grits - Samp. The nation's most abundant cereal[...]Eat some corn to-day[...]for breakfast, luncheon, dinner[...]Try a wheatless meal to-morrow. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. No. c8-3810.

Poster showing a woman serving muffins, pancakes, and grits, with cannisters on the table labeled corn meal, grits, and hominy. United States Food Administration.