Andrew Jackson and the Bank War Political Cartoons

"What do you say to the application of my Patent American System?" "Why Gineral, I never know'd You was a Doctor before." "What do you say to the application of my Patent American System?" "D--n that Doctor Jackson. This is the effect of his last prescription." "No more I ain't Major Downing but I've read the American Family Physician and know what kind of a dose to give to clean out a foul stomach!" "Doctor your American System won't do here. Desperate cases require desperate remedies, a few of the leaden pills of Nullification and some blood taken will suffice." "Alas! Alas! No more fees." "I wonder how a few grains of Common Sense washed down with Boston Particular would do?" Deposits "Oh! dear Nick! I am dreadful sick!" Complete Explanation: A satire directed against the United States Bank, showing the impact of Jackson's September 1833 order for the withdrawal of federal funds from the Bank and their distribution among state banks. In a bedchamber the Bank, portrayed as an obese woman, lies in bed vomiting coins "Deposites [sic]" into a basin "Manhattan Bank." Nearby are two other basins (filled) marked "Mechanics Bank" and "Bank of America," and two broken medicine vials labeled "Veto" and "Order for the Removal of the Deposites." Bank president Nicholas Biddle holds her head. Bank: "Oh! dear Nick! I am dreadful sick!" Biddle: "D--n that Doctor Jackson. This is the effect of his last prescription." At left stand Bank supporters Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John Calhoun, as physicians in consultation. Clay: "What do you say to the application of my Patent American System?" Calhoun: "Doctor your American System won't do here. Desperate cases require desperate remedies, a few of the leaden pills of Nullification and some blood taken will suffice." Calhoun's reputation in the North was sorely affected by his leadership role in the southern Nullification effort of 1832. Webster (in the center): "I wonder how a few grains of Common Sense washed down with Boston Particular would do?" On the floor at left sits a man, no doubt a pro-Bank newspaper editor, holding a copy of the "National Gazette," moaning: "Alas! Alas! No more fees." Jackson and Major Jack Downing look in through a window at far left. Downing: "Why Gineral, I never know'd You was a Doctor before." Jackson: "No more I ain't Major Downing but I've read the American Family Physician and know what kind of a dose to give to clean out a foul stomach!" Manhattan Bank Bank of America Mechanics Bank Veto

Well done General, Major Jack Downing, Adams, Clay, well done all Well done General, Major Jack Downing, Adams, Clay, well done all. I dislike dissentions beyond every thing, for it often compels a man to play a double part, were it only for his own safety. Policy, policy is my motto, but intrigues I cannot countenance Now now you nasty varmint, be you imperishable? I swan Gineral that are beats all I reckon, that’s the horrible wiper wot wommits wenemous heads I guess Biddle thou Monster Avaunt! avaount I say! or by the Great Eternal if thou are true…come on. if thou art false, may the venomous monster turn his dire fang upon thee… PENN $35,000,000 Satire on Jackson’s campaign to destroy the 2nd Bank of the United States and its support among state banks. Jackson, Martin van Buren, and the fictional character Jack Downing struggle against a snake with heads representing the state branches of the bank. Jackson (on the left) raises a cane marked “Veto” and says, “Biddle thou Monster Avaunt! avaount I say! or by the Great Eternal if thou are true…come on. if thou art false, may the venomous monster turn his dire fang upon thee…” Van Buren: “Well done General, Major Jack Downing, Adams, Clay, well done all. I dislike dissentions beyond every thing, for it often compels a man to play a double part, were it only for his own safety. Policy, policy is my motto, but intrigues I cannot countenance.” Downing (dropping his axe): “Now now you nasty varmint, be you imperishable? I swan Gineral that are beats all I reckon, that’s the horrible wiper wot wommits wenemous heads I guess…” The largest of the heads is president of the Bank, Nicholas Biddle’s, which wears a top hat labeled “Penn” (i.e. Pennsylvania) and “$35,000,000. This refers to the rechartering of the Bank by the Pennsylvania legislature in defiance of the administration’s efforts to destroy.

Sly like a fox! "I feel quite at home on this dung heap." "He looks like a "Lion!" How dignified! What "correct“ steps! in such "good time!" Can any thing equal him! The "greatest" and "best" Ass we ever knew!“ "Yankee doodle doodle doo!" "Sing away Major Downing. This is a capital Experiment by the Eternal!" Sly like a fox! Complete Explanation: A satire attacking Andrew Jackson's plan to distribute treasury funds, formerly kept in the Bank of the United States, among "branch banks" in various states. The artist also alleges Vice-President Van Buren's manipulation of administration fiscal policy. Jackson appears as a jack-ass "dancing among the Chickens" (the branch banks) to the alarm of the hen "U.S.Bank." Martin Van Buren, as a fox, and Jack Downing, as a cock, look on. On the left sit five chained dogs, representing the "Albany Argus, Journal of Commerce," and other newspapers sympathetic to Jackson's program. In the left foreground a sow with the head of Jackson advisor Francis Preston Blair lies on a copy of his newspaper, the "Globe." Jack Downing: "Yankee doodle doodle doo!" Jackson: "Sing away Major Downing. This is a capital Experiment by the Eternal!" Dogs: "He looks like a "Lion!" How dignified! What "correct" Steps! in such "good time!" Can any thing equal him! The "greatest" and "best" Ass we ever knew!" Blair: "I feel quite at home on this dung heap." Van Buren: ""Sly" is the word!" "I feel quite at home on this dung heap."

It is time for me to resign the presidency Major Jack Downing, I must act with energy and decision…You see the downfall of the party engine and corrupt monopoly. …in the affairs of William Shakespeare says…my dear Clay, look out for yourself. No more fees to be obtained here! I move we adjourn! It is time for me to resign the presidency Help me up, Webster! Or I shall lose my stakes! Nicholas Biddle portrayed as the Devil (he says “It is time for me to resign the presidency”), along with several speculators, congressmen (Clay is on the floor asking for the help of Webster who was the lawyer who represented the bank in court in Jackson’s lawsuit against the bank), and hirelings, flee as the bank collapses while Jackson’s supporters (drawn as a fictional character created by the newspaper, Jack Downing) cheer. National Gazette Kentucky Albany Gazette Evening Star Columbian Sentinel Courier & Enquirer $52,000 Journal of Commerce United States Gazette National Intelligence $10,000

Public confidence in Public funds The fountain from which my current springs or else fries up to be discarded thence Pennsylvania Virginia New York Georgia Thus vaulting ambition doth o’er leap itself and falls on t’other side. Aye, Aye, Major Downing they thought they'd give us a dose of Congress Water, but they find what we're "Bent on" and we've given 'em a hard Poke into the bargain! " . . . Gineral, this is a real shiver de freeze! You've sent Clay to "pot" eny how "nullified Calhoun," made "Webster" a "shuttle cock and busted Biddle's Bank biler! Public confidence in Public funds Foundation for a National Bank The game is up! National Gazette Deposites $20,000,000 Deposites $6,000,000 United we stand, divided I fall. A satire on the failure of the combined efforts of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, and Nicholas Biddle to thwart Andrew Jackson's treasury policy. In 1833 Jackson ordered that federal deposits be removed from the Bank of the United States, a controversial action that utlimately led to the Bank's destruction. To the right, beneath columns marked "Pensylvania," "Virginia," "New York," and "Georgia," sits Andrew Jackson smoking a clay pipe and conversing with Jack Downing. Behind him are strong boxes of "Deposites" the topmost of which is marked "Foundation for a National Bank." Leaning on them is the figure of Liberty with a staff, liberty cap and flag reading "Public confidence in Public funds." At her feet is an eagle with shield, arrows and lightning bolts. Downing: " . . . Gineral, this is a real shiver de freeze! You've sent Clay to "pot" eny how "nullified Calhoun," made "Webster" a "shuttle cock and busted Biddle's Bank biler!" Jackson: "Aye, Aye, Major Downing they thought they'd give us a dose of Congress Water, but they find what we're "Bent on" and we've given 'em a hard Poke into the bargain!" He refers to support for his program spearheaded in Congress by Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. On the left a marble-based water fountain explodes, hurling aside (clockwise from upper left) Nicholas Biddle, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John Calhoun. Biddle: "The fountain from the which my current springs or else dries up to be discarded thence,--" Webster: "Thus vaulting ambition doth o'er leap itself and falls on t'other side." Clay: "Sic transit gloria mundi. "Le jeu est fait, The game is up." Calhoun (losing his cockaded hat and bayonet): "United "we" stand, divided I fall. Fonte nulla fides." Also thrown from the fountain are a "National Gazette," "Ginger bread," a bottle of "Boston Pop," and a plank "American System." ":Explosion. . ." is one of the few satires favorable to Jackson on the Bank issue. It is very similar in terms of composition and draughtsmanship to another pro-Jackson satire "The Downfall of Mother Bank" (no. 1833-9), and could easily be by the same artist. Both are signed with the commonly-used pseudonym "Zek Downing." "Explosion" was recorded as deposited for copyright on February 1, 1834. Deposites