Explosion of the Safety Fund Bubble.
date: label: Date made
content: n.d.
name: label: depicted
content: Van Buren, Martin
label: depicted
content: Jackson, Andrew
label: originated character
content: Smith, Seba
label: maker
content: Bisbee, Ezra
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This print is a commentary on the impact of financial decisions made by the President Andrew Jackson. Jackson greatly distrusted the Second National Bank of the United States, and made decisions limiting its power throughout his presidency. One of these decisions was to redistribute the money from the federal bank to smaller state banks. Martin Van Buren assisted in this by helping pass legislature establishing a regulatory committee to monitor state banks. The Safety Fund Law mandated that all banks pay into a fund to be used in the event of a banking emergency. This was an early form of deposit insurance, but during the Panic of 1837 which was largely caused by the Jackson Administration financial decisions like the 1836 Specie Circular, the “Safety Fund” was quickly exhausted. In this print, Jackson and Van Buren are being tossed under debris and broken columns from this “explosion” of the “Safety Fund.” Other unidentified bodies likely representing supporters and members of the Jackson Administration are also being tossed, along with books, and a few devil-like figures. A crown is depicted as falling from Jackson’s head, employing a common motif of him as a monarch due to his frequent use of the Veto power and his practice of controlled democracy. In the left of the print, Major Jack Downing is fleeing, stating that he is all that is left of the government. Downing is a fictional character created by journalist Seba Smith to represent the common man and Jackson’s commitment to serving them.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The lithographer of this print is Ezra Bisbee (1820-1856). Bisbee was a political cartoonist and print maker based in New York City and Brooklyn as well as on the island of Antigua.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Architecture, Commercial Buildings
label: Subject
content: Economy
label: Subject
content: U.S. National Government, executive branch
label: Subject
content: Glasses
label: Subject
content: State Government
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: depicted
content: Jack Downing
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.60.3420
label: catalog number
content: 60.3420
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 11 in x 15 7/8 in; 27.94 cm x 40.3225 cm