This Is the House That Jack Built
date: label: Date made
content: 1840
name: label: depicted
content: Van Buren, Martin
label: depicted
content: Jackson, Andrew
label: depicted
content: Harrison, William Henry
label: depicted
content: Kendall, Amos
label: depicted
content: Clay, Henry
label: depicted
content: Webster, Daniel
label: depicted
content: Benton, Thomas Hart
label: depicted
content: Calhoun, John Caldwell
label: depicted
content: Blair, Francis Preston
label: depicted
content: Woodbury, Levi
label: maker
content: Childs, John
label: artist
content: Clay, Edward Williams
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This 1840 print is a parody of the popular English nursery rhyme and illustrated children’s book, “The House that Jack Built.” Each scene features caricatures of Andrew Jackson and other Jacksonian personalities alongside a verse from the song. While this print was created four years after Jackson left office, his influence was strongly felt throughout Martin Van Buren’s presidency. Van Buren’s four years as president are often viewed as an extension of Jackson’s, so “the house that Jack built” is still operating even though Jackson himself is no longer in it. Eluding to Jackson no longer being in the house but still having influence, is the opening scene. At the top of the print, Andrew Jackson and Amos Kendall sit smoking pipes and creating a “Sub Treasury” out of the smoke. The “Sub Treasury” was Jackson’s solution to where public money should go following the end of the Second National Bank, but it was never seen as a valid solution especially by the Whigs. Martin Van Buren picked up the fight for a “Sub Treasury,” and worked on establishing an independent treasury system.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The next scenes show boxes of public money, representing the “Malt” in the nursery rhyme, and Secretary of the Treasury, Levi Woodbury as the “Rat” that ate the malt. Woodbury was a key player in ending the Second National Bank, and he was opposed by Daniel Webster, a Whig, who helped found it. In this image, Webster is portrayed as the “cat that caught the rat,” referring to his passionate speeches against Woodbury and the decision to revoke the charter for the Second National Bank. While Webster was firmly against revoking the charter and saw it as unconstitutional, he was challenged by Missouri Senator and Jackson’s ally, Thomas Hart Benton. Benton is portrayed as “the dog that worried the cat,” because like Webster, he was known for impassioned speeches. While Benton may have intimidated Webster, Henry Clay, shown in the next scene as the “cow whit [sic] the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat,” was not intimidated by either Benton or Webster. He was very outspoken about the Second National Bank, and as a founder of it, did not want to see it ruined by Jackson. While of an opposing party, Clay found an ally in John C. Calhoun, depicted here as the “maiden all forlorn.”
label: Description (Brief)
content: Both Clay and Calhoun feuded with Jackson, and they worked together on the 1832 nullification crisis to collect tariffs or taxes from South Carolina. This is illustrated by the bucket at Calhoun’s feet reading “nullification.” While Calhoun started as Jackson’s Vice President, political differences led to Martin Van Buren being the Vice President for Jackson’s second term. Despite that, Van Buren, shown as “the man all tattered and torn,” worked with Calhoun, who supported his quest for an Independent Treasury system and opposed William Henry Harrison, Van Buren’s Whig opponent in the Election of 1840. In this image, their cooperation is symbolized by the marriage of the “maiden” and the “man all tattered and torn” by publisher, Francis P. Blair depicted as the “priest all shaven and shorn.” Blair was the editor of the pro-Jackson newspaper, “The Globe,” and was key in promoting Democratic ideas and candidates to the voting public. The final scene of the print is of William Henry Harrison, depicted as “the cock of the walk that crowed in the morn.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Furnishings
label: Subject
content: Economy
label: Subject
content: U.S. National Government, judiciary
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1840-1849
label: Subject
content: Political Parties
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Pets
label: Subject
content: Marriage
label: Subject
content: Birds
label: Subject
content: Costume
label: Subject
content: U.S. National Government, executive branch
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.60.3357
label: catalog number
content: 60.3357
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 20 in x 13 3/8 in; 50.8 cm x 33.9725 cm