The Main Question
date: label: Date made
content: 1839
name: label: depicted
content: Van Buren, Martin
label: depicted
content: Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India
label: maker
content: Robinson, Henry R.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This 1839 print is in reference to the Aroostook War (1838-1839) that took place in Northern Maine. Governor of Maine, John Fairfield, declared war on the British colony of New Brunswick in response to what he saw as illegal foresting happening along the Maine border. At this time however, the United States’ Northern border was still ambiguous, so the Canadians did not feel that they were in the wrong. In this print, President Martin Van Buren is mounted on a bull with the face of Governor Fairfield, wielding a sword and a shield bearing the image of a tree. He is facing off against Queen Victoria of England also carrying a sword and riding the back of a large dog with the head of her favored military advisor, the Duke of Wellington. Queen Victoria says to Van Buren, “to threaten a young woman with war about a few sticks of timber. If I have your property make it appear and I will pay the value: do not compel me to quarrel when we ought to be friends.” Both Van Buren and Henry Clay who is holding the bull (Fairfield) back by his tail are reluctant to go to war, but Fairfield is insistent: “Go ahead Matty… Make them retreat or pay for the timber. Maine wants money and must have it.” In the background of the print, men are chopping timber in the center while being approached by troops on both sides. Four units of the Maine militia were dispatched to the border and they were eventually met by British troops and Van Buren did appropriate ten million dollars for use in case Canada did engage, but the conflict never materialized into a full war due to Secretary of State Daniel Webster’s cunning use of maps to reach an agreement. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty, signed in 1842, ended the conflict and solidified the exact location of the border between the United States and Canada.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The lithographer 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: Livestock
label: Subject
content: Diplomacy
label: Subject
content: Pets
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1830-1839
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.60.3367
label: catalog number
content: 60.3367
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 10 in x 16 3/4 in; 25.4 cm x 42.545 cm