Major Joe Bunker's Last Parade or The Fix of the Senator and his 700 Independents.
date: label: Date made
content: 1837
name: label: maker
content: Clay, Edward Williams
label: maker
content: Robinson, Henry R.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This 1837 print is a reference to the “Albany Manifesto” written by New York Senator Nathaniel Tallmadge and printed by the Albany Argus newspaper. Tallmadge, a Democrat, was more conservative than Democratic President Martin Van Buren and his predecessor, Andrew Jackson, and therefore unhappy with the financial decisions made under their administrations. In the Manifesto, Tallmadge enumerated his complaints about the lack of federal deposits and Van Buren and Jackson’s favoring of smaller state banks; seven hundred other Democrats signed in agreement with the letter. In this print, a troop of uniformed militia march down a street between the “New National Bank” and the “Van Buren Hotel.” Van Buren desired to establish an independent treasury, keeping all banking separate from the federal government. This was not a popular idea, especially given his role in the Panic of 1837 and the widespread economic depression it caused. On the right, a group of men stand under a flag reading “The Madisonian” in reference to the newspaper established by Conservative Democrats. They are dismayed by their place in the “minority,” and say that they “might as well go to Texas.” While they were in the minority, Conservative Democrats joined with the Whig party and barred Van Buren from passing his Independent Treasury Bill for three years.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The lithographer of this print is Edward Williams Clay (1799-1857). Clay was a caricaturist, engraver, lithographer, and etcher, as well as a portrait painter. Before his career as an artist, Clay was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar, but quickly left to pursue art in New York City. After losing his eyesight he retired from art and held minor office in Delaware before his death in December of 1857.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The publisher of this print is Henry R. Robinson (1827-1877). Robinson worked in New York, and had a store to sell his prints. In 1842, he was arrested for selling obscene pictures and books leading to the September 28, 1842 court case, People vs H. R. Robinson found in the District Attorney Indictment Papers, Municipal Archives. He was politically affiliated with the anti-Jackson Whig party which was made obvious by the wig silhouette used in 1838 as an advertising logo for his shop.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Communication, newspapers
label: Subject
content: Economy
label: Subject
content: U.S. National Government, legislative branch
label: Subject
content: Political Parties
label: Subject
content: Lighting, outdoor
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1830-1839
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: Subject
content: Architecture, Commercial Buildings
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.60.3378
label: catalog number
content: 60.3378
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 9 1/16 in x 15 3/16 in; 23.01875 cm x 38.608 cm