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Barn-burners in a fix - Political cartoon, public domain image
Summary
A satire on the Barnburners, a radical faction of New York State Democrats, led by John Van Buren, whose commitment to social and monetary reforms was likened to a farmer's burning his barn to rid it of rats. Here the barn is ablaze, trapping several of the movement's leaders on its roof. Benjamin F. Butler, raising his arms, vows, "If I ever get out of this scrape safe it's the last act of Barn burning that I'll be guilty of." New York "Evening Post" editor and radical spokesman William Cullen Bryant despairs, "Woe is me! I can't get off, and if I stay up here it's sure destruction!" An unidentified man says, "Alas! alas! we're caught in a tight fix." At right John Van Buren vainly tries to raise a ladder to the roof, complaining, "I can't get near enough to help them down with the ladder, so old Dad you'd better jump off." His father, Martin Van Buren, appearing here as a fox, leaps from the other end of the roof, saying, "Our sufferings is intolerable! I'll take your advice my son and jump off--So here goes!" On the far right New Hampshire Democrat Franklin Pierce has mired his wagon in a muddy lane. It is loaded with boxes "Free Trade" and "No Internal Improvements," traditional Democratic planks. Pierce calls to Bryant, "there's more truth than poetry in what you say. We never needed your help more, for we are stuck in the mud and want your shoulder to the wheel." Although Weitenkampf tentatively dates the cartoon 1847, the inclusion of Franklin Pierce suggests a later date. The work apparently relates to the regular Democrats' 1852 solicitation of Barnburner support for Pierce, who was their presidential candidate that year.
Pubd. by John Childs, 84 Nassau St. N. York.
Title appears as it is written on the item.
Weitenkampf, p. 89.
Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)
Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1852-36.
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States (1837-1841), after serving as the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, both under President Andrew Jackson. While the country was prosperous when the "Little Magician" was elected, less than three months later the financial panic of 1837 punctured the prosperity. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in a number of senior roles, including eighth Vice President (1833–37) and tenth Secretary of State (1829–31), both under Andrew Jackson. Van Buren's inability as president to deal with the economic chaos of the Panic of 1837 and with the surging Whig Party led to his defeat in the 1840 election. "The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general prosperity."
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