The Modern Gilpins. Loves Labor Lost.
date: label: Date made
content: 1848
name: label: depicted
content: Van Buren, Martin
label: depicted
content: Van Buren, John
label: depicted
content: Cass, Lewis
label: depicted
content: Benton, Thomas Hart
label: depicted
content: Woodbury, Levi
label: maker
content: Baillie, James S.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This print refers to the election of 1848, and depicts the split of the Democratic Party between the radical Barnburner faction and the conservative Hunker faction. In this print, a sow bearing Michigan Senator Lewis Cass, Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, and former Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury, is running down “Salt River Lane.” Salt River was a well-known metaphor for political defeat and ruin, and its use in this print symbolizes what will happen to the three men if they fail to adopt the party’s new stance on slavery. The sow and her riders are leaving the “Headquarters of Northern Democracy,” two tents over which flies a banner reading “Wilmot Proviso.” The Wilmot Proviso stated that Congress had the moral duty to ban slavery, an idea that divided the Democrats. This is represented by Cass who holds a sword reading annexation, stating, “we are fulfilling our manifest destiny.” Manifest Destiny was the popular idea that expansion into new territory was just and inevitable, and supporters of the notion also wanted slavery to be allowed in the new lands. That was in direct conflict with the Wilmot Proviso. Attempting to stop these men from going against the new party ideals is John Van Buren, who is behind the sow, pulling her tail to stop her from heading further down “Salt River Lane.” Former President Martin Van Buren is depicted sitting in the mud at the bottom right of the print, saying, “had I served my country with half as much zeal with which I served my illustrious predecessor, I should not thus have slumped in this mud.” Van Buren and the Northern Democrats were committed to the ideas set forth by the Wilmot Proviso, and by the men fleeing the headquarters they are therefore leaving the ideology of the party.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The lithographer of the print is James S. Baillie. He was active in New York from 1838 to 1855, and known for his hand coloring as well as lithography. Baillie worked as a colorist for Courier and Ives, but is well known for his own work, including many prints depicting the Election of 1848.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Mexican War
label: Subject
content: Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
label: Subject
content: Political Parties
label: Subject
content: Livestock
label: Subject
content: Diplomacy
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Peters Political Prints
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3381
label: catalog number
content: 60.3381
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 11 1/8 in x 15 1/4 in; 28.2575 cm x 38.735 cm