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The last card. Tip overthrown - Public domain book illustration

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 l... More

Caricature, An interesting family, public domain cartoon image

A caricature of Martin Van Buren as an opossum. The marsupial, with a smirking Van Buren's head, rises on its hindquarters and displays in its pouch three of its "young." They are administration insiders (left... More

H. Clay, Head and Shoulders Portrait

Another campaign portrait of Whig presidential candidate Henry Clay. In an oval frame, surrounded by an ornate floral wreath, is a bust-length portrait of Clay. Two books and a quill pen are visible over his sh... More

For President: James K. Polk, of Tennessee. For Vice President: George...

A Democratic election ticket for the 1844 presidential campaign, issued sometime between May 29, when Polk received the Democratic nomination, and the November canvass. The ticket names the party's eight electo... More

Political game of brag. Shew of hands

The artist resorts to the familiar metaphor of a card game for the presidential stakes in his rendition of the 1848 contest. The major contenders play a game of "brag" (an early form of poker). Around the tabl... More

The sad parting between two old friends

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, large... More

Columbia and her rejected suitor, Political Cartoon

A fond yet sardonic tribute to the aging Massachusetts statesman Daniel Webster, whose final bid for the Whig presidential nomination was defeated by Winfield Scott in 1852. The artist is wryly critical of the... More

A magnificent offer to a magnificent officer

A cartoon ridiculing Whig nominee Winfield Scott as the pawn of New York antislavery senator William Seward. A member of the "Whig Committee" kneels before Scott and offers him a crown and a bag of money marked... More

Song of the Union by a Pennsylvanian . . .

A sheet music cover for a song by John M. Crosland, dedicated to President Buchanan. The cover is illustrated with an array of emblems, many of them symbolizing threats to the integrity of the Union. A bust of ... More

Abraham Lincoln / Fabronius ; lith. & published by Edw. Mendel.

An early campaign portrait of Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln. The bust portrait is based on Samuel M. Fassett's October 1859 photograph of the Illinois Republican. Below it is a small allegor... More

5 to one ha, Confederate States of America.

Another show of Northern optimism in the early months of the Lincoln administration. Uncle Sam approaches from the left holding a bayonet, causing five Southern soldiers to flee in panic to the right. In their ... More

Why dont you take it?, Confederate States of America.

In February 1861 Washington was alarmed by rumors that secessionists planned to seize the city and make it the capital of the Confederacy. The print may have been produced in that context, or during Lincoln's c... More

Southern "volunteers", Confederate States of America.

The print may have appeared soon after the Confederate Congress passed a national conscription act on April 16, 1862, to strengthen its dwindling army of volunteers. The artist characterizes regular Confederat... More

The meeting of the friends, City Hall Park

New York governor Horatio Seymour's famous "My Friends" speech, delivered from the steps of New York's City Hall during the draft riots, was widely misrepresented in the press. On the basis of reports such as t... More

The pending conflict, Confederate States of America.

A later, altered version of "The Pending Conflict" (no. 1863-10). Albeit more optimistic from the Northern point of view than its earlier couterpart, this version is equally critical of European abetment of t... More

The soldier's song--Unionism vs. Copperheadism

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1864, by Smith & Swinney, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Southern District of Ohio. Title appears as it is wri... More

The true peace commissioners, Confederate States of America.

An angered response to false Confederate peace overtures and to the push for reconciliation with the South advanced by the Peace Democrats in 1864. (See also "The Sportsman Upset by the Recoil of His Own Gun," ... More

The Freedman's Bureau! An agency to keep the Negro in idleness at the ...

One in a series of racist posters attacking Radical Republicans on the issue of black suffrage, issued during the Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1866. (See also "The Constitutional Amendment!," no. 186... More

What I know about raising the devil

Horace Greeley's famous and widely ridiculed 1871 pamphlet "What I Know of Farming" provided the pretext for the title here. With the tail and cloven hoof of a devil Greeley (center) leads a small band of Liber... More

You must make your choice. Birds of a feather flock together Miller's ...

A Republic campaign broadside making Horace Greeley the scapegoat for anti-Southern and ant-Democratic feeling. Greeley is shown together with Southern statesmen John C. Calhoun and former president of the Conf... More

God grant us peace We shall see more Rads "bottled up" in November.

Print shows a double campaign placard or sign. The work may be an uncut proof for two placards, produced for both Republican and Democratic camps during the 1868 campaign. It is unclear whether the Grant image ... More

Millard Fillmore, American candidate for president of the United State...

A large woodcut proof for a campaign banner or poster for the Native American party's 1856 presidential candidate. A bust portrait of Millard Fillmore appears in a roundel, flanked by allegorical figures of Jus... More

The Hartford Convention or Leap no leap / Wm. Charles, Sc.

Charles's satire attacks the Hartford Convention, a series of secret meetings of New England Federalists held in December 1814. The artist caricatures radical secessionist leader Timothy Pickering and lampoons... More

I feed you all! - Drawing. Public domain image.

No doubt inspired by the Granger movement, the artist asserts the importance of the farmer in American society. The title is a variation on the movement's motto, "I Pay for All." The Grange was an organization ... More

Grand National Liberal Republican banner for 1872

A facsimile of an ornate cloth banner for Liberal Republican candidates Horace Greeley and Benjamin Gratz Brown. At the top of the banner, which is suspended from a crossbar, is an eagle holding a streamer insc... More

Baltimore bakery. Thomas Ritchie & Co. from Richmond--Bakers and confe...

Influential Richmond publisher Thomas Ritchie is attacked for his support of Lewis Cass's nomination at the Democratic national convention in Baltimore. The convention, held in late May 1848, selected Cass, an ... More

Baltimore bakery. Thomas Ritchie & Co. from Richmond--Bakers and confe...

The Fifteenth amendment - Print, Library of Congress collection

Print shows a parade surrounded by portraits and vignettes of Black life, illustrating rights granted by the 15th amendment. A reduced version of Kelly's large print "The Fifteenth Amendment, Celebrated May 19t... More

Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. No. 37 / G. ...

Print shows a campaign banner for the Republican ticket in the 1864 presidential election. It consists of facing bust portraits of Abraham Lincoln (left) and Andrew Johnson (right). Below each portrait is an id... More

Can you rest one hand on the sacred altar of Liberty, and with the oth...

A strongly pro-Van Buren cartoon, espousing the antislavery platform of the Free Soil party and condemning Whigs and conservative Democrats alike. The artist also reflects the lingering bitterness among many De... More

Symptoms of a locked jaw. Plain sewing done here

The caricature reflects the bitter antagonism between Kentucky senator Henry Clay and President Andrew Jackson, during the protracted battle over the future of the Bank of the United States from 1832 through 18... More

Congressional pugilists - Engraving, Public domain image

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... More

For president, Abram Lincoln. For vice president, Hannibal Hamlin

Print shows a large campaign banner for Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln and running mate Hannibal Hamlin. Lincoln's first name is given here as "Abram." The banner consists of a thirty-three s... More

The nation's choice for the 12th President of the U.S. Genl. Z. Taylor...

A campaign print for Whig presidential nominee Zachary Taylor. A bust-length portrait of the Mexican War hero is set in an oval frame of oak leaves and acorns, surrounded by various martial attributes. Cannon, ... More

Emancipation / Th. Nast ; King & Baird, printers, 607 Sansom Street, P...

Thomas Nast's celebration of the emancipation of Southern slaves with the end of the Civil War. Nast envisions a somewhat optimistic picture of the future of free blacks in the United States. The central scene ... More

Emancipation / Th. Nast ; King & Baird, printers, 607 Sansom Street, P...

National picture. Behold oh! American, your sons the greatest among me...

One of the numerous patriotic apotheosis scenes produced in the months following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. (The Library's impression of "National Picture" was deposited for copyright on July 18, 186... More

United Americans of the state of New York / designed & litho'd. in col...

A large, illustrated membership certificate for the Order of United Americans, a nativist secret society founded in New York City in December 1844. Originally called the American Brotherhood, the organization c... More

[Lincoln & Douglas in a presidential footrace]. No. 1, 1860

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 r... More

The Hercules of the Union, slaying the great dragon of secession

A tribute to commander of Union forces Gen. Winfield Scott, shown as the mythical Hercules slaying the many-headed dragon or hydra, here symbolizing the secession of the Confederate states. At left stands Scott... More

The Chappaqua farmer / Kuriger ; lith by D. Chalmers, Springfield, Mas...

An unlikely equestrian campaign portrait of controversial and eccentric editor Horace Greeley. The title of the print refers to Greeley's writings on farming and his own famous farm in Chappaqua, New York. Here... More

The American ram - A drawing of a man in a top hat

On the cover of a patriotic song dedicated to Lincoln's secretary of the navy Gideon Welles Uncle Sam rides a "ram," or ironclad steam vessel, down the Mississippi River. The Library's copy of the music cover w... More

Raising the flag May 1861 / from the original picture by Winner ; engr...

A patriotic print dedicated by the publisher to the "Defenders of the Union." At left, Union troops march toward the U.S. Capitol. An officer on a spirited white horse brings up the rear. In the left middlegrou... More

The resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia, who escaped from ...

A somewhat comic yet sympathetic portrayal of the culminating episode in the flight of slave Henry Brown "who escaped from Richmond Va. in a Box 3 feet long, 2-1/2 ft. deep and 2 ft. wide." In the office of the... More

The resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia, who escaped from ...

A dream caused by the perusal of Mrs. H. Beecher Stowe's popular work ...

An imaginative and biting satire on Harriet Beecher Stowe and her recently published antislavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Printed serially beginning in June 1851, the novel first appeared in book form in 1852... More

The right man for the right place

Another satire complimentary to Fillmore, whose campaign slogan was "the right man in the right place." Fillmore was nominated at the American party's February 22 convention in Philadelphia. Here he is the embo... More

Specie claws. Book illustration from Library of Congress

A melodramatic portrayal of the plight of the tradesman during the Panic of 1837, whose financial distress the artist ascribes to Loco Foco politics and the effects of the Specie Circular, or "Specie Clause." T... More

A scene on the frontiers as practiced by the humane British and their ...

An anonymous copy of a print by William Charles in 1812; cruder but similar in detail. Lanmon cites copies in reverse of the Charles print with the signature "LG," but this copy is neither reversed nor signed.... More

Great speech of Clay -- bran bread is riz!!!

Henry Clay's November 1847 address to a public meeting in Lexington, Kentucky, condemning the Polk administration's prosecution of the Mexican War and opposing the pondered annexation of all of Mexican territor... More

A boxing match, or another bloody nose for John Bull / W. Charles, del...

The artist gloats over naval losses suffered by England early in the War of 1812, in particular the defeat of the warship "Boxer" by the American frigate "Enterprise" in September 1813. King George III stands ... More

The seven stages of the office seeker / Clay, fecit.

A satire on patronage and corruption in New York State politics, based on the medieval theme, perpetuated in American folk art, of the "life and ages of man." Here the seven stages are illustrated as key points... More

The spirit of 61. God, our country and liberty!!

Columbia, armed with a sword and grasping an American flag, advances toward the left. She strikes an aggressive pose and has a stern, almost fierce demeanor. The motto "GOD, OUR COUNTRY AND LIBERTY,!!" appears ... More

The spirit of 61. God, our country and liberty!!

Grand National Democratic banner. Press onward

One of several campaign banners Nathaniel Currier is known to have produced for the Democrats in 1844. It features two laurel-wreathed, oval portraits of Democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates... More

Col. Fremont's last grand exploring expedition in 1856

Fremont and his abolitionist supporters are ridiculed. In particular, the artist condemns the Republican candidate's alliance with New York "Tribune" editor Horace Greeley and Henry Ward Beecher and Beecher's r... More

American citizens! We appeal to you in all calmness. Is it not time to...

An advertisement announcing publication of the "American Citizen," a short-lived nativist newspaper. The broadside is illustrated with an elaborate and venomous anti-Catholic scene. At left a temple of Liberty ... More

Grand national union banner for 1864. Liberty, union and victory

Print shows a campaign banner for 1864 Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln and running mate Andrew Johnson. A drawn curtain reveals bust portraits of the two candidates in roundels framed in oak l... More

The great match at Baltimore, between the "Illinois Bantam" and the "O...

Dissension within the Democratic party in 1860 and Stephen A. Douglas's capture of the party's presidential nomination at the party's May convention are satirized as a cockfight. Douglas stands, the victorious ... More

The great Republican Reform Party, calling on their candidate

Fremont is portrayed as the champion of a motley array of radicals and reformers. As he stands patiently at far right he is "called upon" by (left to right): a temperance advocate, a cigar-smoking, trousered su... More

A view of the obelisk erected under Liberty-tree in Boston on the rejo...

A schematic rendering of the illuminated obelisk erected on Boston Common in celebration of the repeal of the Stamp Act. On each of its four sides is a painted transparency which portrays in allegorical terms o... More

United American. Patriotism, charity, harmony., engraving, Library of ...

An idealized portrayal of a member of the nativist Order of United Americans, a society founded in New York in 1844 as the American Brotherhood. (The organization acquired its present name the following year.) ... More

Major General Zachary Taylor / drawn by S. Wallin, from a late sketch ...

A full-length standing portrait of Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor. Although issued in 1847, this poster-sized woodcut was probably designed with the 1848 U.S. presidential campaign in mind. The Library also ha... More

National Union Republican nomination. For president General U.S. Grant...

A large, color campaign poster for Grant and Colfax. Bust portraits of the two candidates are framed in ovals emblazoned with stars. Flanking them are standing allegorical figures Justice (left), blindfolded a... More

I object! The gentleman from Pennsylvania objects, the gentleman will ...

Another impression filed under: LOT 14099, no. 894. Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

God save American. A grand national ode in honor of the glorious anniv...

A patriotic device adorning the cover of a song arranged and adapted from "God Save the King." The device is based on the official seal of the United States. An eagle with outstretched wings holds arrows and ol... More

Set-to between the champion old tip & the swell Dutcheman of Kinderhoo...

Satire on the presidential campaign of 1836, portraying the contest as a boxing match between Democratic candidate Martin Van Buren and Whig candidate William Henry Harrison. The artist clearly favors Harrison.... More

Going the whole hog - Public domain book illustration

Martin Van Buren's New York political favorites are represented as piglets suckled by a giant sow "The Empire State." The artist's pointed reference is to the exploitation of New York State by the President and... More

Illustrations of the adventures of the renowned Don Quixote & his doug...

A burlesque history of the Jackson administration, with particular reference to his campaign to destroy the Bank of the United States. The narrative, in a series of twelve episodes, is based on Cervantes's "Don... More

Harrison quadrilles. Book illustration from Library of Congress

An illustrated sheet music cover for a set of "popular airs" for the piano, dedicated by the publisher to "Whigs of the United States." A Whig campaign piece, the work eulogizes the supposed humble rusticity of... More

The forty thieves or the common scoundrels of New-York

The title continues: "Breaking up of a Grand Spree in the Tea Room & total abflustification of the common scoundrels." Weitenkampf calls the print a satirical look at members of the New York Common Council "aft... More

Texas coming in. Book illustration from Library of Congress

A pro-Democrat cartoon forecasting the collapse of Whig opposition to the annexation of Texas. James K. Polk, the expansionist candidate, stands at right near a bridge spanning "Salt River." He holds an America... More

Tyrants prostrate liberty triumphant, Political Cartoon

A polemic applauding Democratic support of the Dorrite cause in Rhode Island. (See also "Trouble in the Spartan Ranks," and "The Great Political Car and Last Load of Patriots," nos. 1843-6 and 1845-5). In the ... More

Sold for want of use - Public domain book illustration, Library of Con...

Bucholzer again uses animal characterizations to poke fun at the respective faults of prominent Democrats in the 1844 presidential race. In an interior, Whig nominee Henry Clay conducts a livestock auction, off... More

The whale that swallowed Jonah - Public domain book illustration, Libr...

An election-year cartoon satirizing disharmony within the Whig ranks on the bank issue. The artist suggests a division of opinion between New England's Daniel Webster and presidential nominee Henry Clay on the ... More

"Misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows"

A satire on the unlikely alliance of rival editors Horace Greeley and James Watson Webb in support of Zachary Taylor for the presidency in 1848. Unlike Webb, one of Taylor's earliest and most enthusiastic New Y... More

Rowing him up Salt River - Public domain book illustration, Library of...

The cartoonist is optimistic about the prospects of Whig presidential candidate Zachary Taylor, here shown rowing Democratic oppponent Lewis Cass up the river of political misfortune. Cass, seated in the stern,... More

The flag of our union, a national song

Another copy, slightly different image was deposited for copyright on May 21, 1851 (M1 .A13 W; LC-USZ62-91835). Caption card tracings: Shelf. Copyright by William Hall & Son; lithograph by H. Hoff, N.Y. LOT sub... More

The grand national fight 2 against 1 fought on the 6th of Nov. 1856 fo...

The familiar metaphor of the presidential contest as a boxing match is invoked once again. (For an earlier example see "Set to Between the Champion Old Tip and the Swell Dutchman of Kinderhook," no. 1836-12.) T... More

Congressional surgery. Legislative quackery, Political Cartoon

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 rest... More

The undecided political prize fight, Political Cartoon

A pro-Breckinridge satire on the 1860 presidential contest. Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln (right) and Democrat Stephen A. Douglas (left) appear as boxers squaring off in a ring before a small crowd of on... More

Strayed, Confederate States of America., Confederate States of America

An exultant view of the rout, by Union forces commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Lyon, of troops under Gen. Sterling Price and Claiborne F. Jackson at Boonville, Missouri, in June 1861. Jackson, the secessionist gove... More

The Palmetto State song - Lithograph, public domain, Library of Congre...

An illustrated cover for sheet music celebrating the South Carolina state convention on December 20, 1860, where an ordinance of secession was passed unanimously, thereby severing the state's ties with the Unio... More

The house that Jeff built - Public domain drawing

An extended and bitter indictment of Jefferson Davis and the Southern slave system. The work consists of a series of twelve vignettes with accompanying verse, following the scheme of the nursery rhyme "The Hous... More

Jeff's double quick. The last words of the Confederacy: "Jeff's war ho...

Another comic version of Confederate President Jefferson Davis's ignominious capture by Union troops in May 1865. (See also "The Chas-ed "Old Lady" of the C.S.A.," no. 1865-11.) Here Davis, clad as a woman and... More

Erie or the greased pole. A new and amusing game

A comic boar game based on the Erie Railroad wars. Owner of the railroad James Fisk has slipped to the ground after trying unsuccessfully to scale the greased pole. Coins and a bill marked "Erie" fall from his... More

H.R. Robinson, 52 Courtland St. Caricatures & prints

A tradecard or printed signboard for caricature publisher Henry R. Robinson. The image of an eighteenth-century wig is surely a pun on Robinson's Whig political alignment. The print must have been produced betw... More

Martin Van Buren / Thayer, successor to Moore, Boston.

One of the few campaign prints issued in support of Democratic incumbent Martin Van Buren's 1840 presidential bid. Designed to appeal to the workingman, the print invokes the recent history of Democratic suppor... More

The Ostend doctrine. Practical Democrats carrying out the principle

The Ostend Manifesto, advocated by American minister to England James Buchanan, minister to Spain Pierre Soule, and John Y. Mason, minister to France, urged the purchase or (if necessary) seizure of Cuba from S... More

"The irrespressible conflict" Or the Republican barge in danger

The cartoon reflects the considerable bitterness among New York Republicans at the party's surprising failure to nominate New York senator William H. Seward for president at its May 1860 national convention. Th... More

The mower / designed and lith. by D.C. Fabronius.

Print shows a curiously pastoral scene that actually carries a strongly anti-Copperhead message. The artist contrasts the blessings of Northern free labor with the inhumanity of the Southern plantation system. ... More

The Smelling Committee / Cameron., Political Cartoon

The failed impeachment proceedings initiated by the Radical Republicans against President Andrew Johnson in 1868 are likened to a dead horse: exuding a great stench with no hope for revival. Several figures inv... More

God grant us peace We shall see more Rads "bottled up" in November.

The Hartford Convention or Leap no leap / Wm. Charles, Sc.

For president John Bell. For vice president Edward Everett

Print shows a large campaign banner for Constitutional Union party presidential candidate John Bell and running mate Edward Everett. The banner consists of a printed, thirty-three star American flag pattern wit... More

Con-g-ss embark'd on board the ship Constitution of America bound to C...

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... More

The old bull dog on the right track

An election year cartoon measuring Democratic candidate McClellan's military failures against the recent successes of his successor, Ulysses S. Grant. At right Grant, portrayed as a bulldog wearing a collar lab... More

Triumph of liberty. Dedicated to its defenders in America / drawn by J...

Print shows an allegory of liberty flourishing and monarchy and tyranny in decline. In a wooded grove Minerva, with a shield bearing the arms of the United States and a flag emblazoned with stars, pours libatio... More

The presidential sweepstakes of 1844. Preparing to start

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... More

"The impending crisis"--Or caught in the act

The print's title derives from the name of Hinton Rowan Helper's 1857 pamphlet "The Impending Crisis," an influential document in antislavery literature. Here the crisis is that of New York senator William H. S... More

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