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6 cents. Humbug glory bank - Public domain book illustration, Library of Congress
Summary
Another mock bank note parodying the "shinplasters" of the 1837 panic. Such small-denomination notes were based on the division of the Spanish dollar, the dominant specie of the time. Hence they were issued in sums of 6 (more accurately 6 1/4), 25, 50, and 75 cents. These fractional notes proliferated during the Panic of 1837 with the emergency suspension of specie (i.e., money in coin) payments by New York banks on May 10 of that year. "Treasury Note" and "Fifty Cents Shin Plaster" (nos. 1837-9 and -11) also use the bank note format to comment on the dismal state of American finances. Unlike these, however, "Humbug Glory Bank" is actually the same size as a real note. The note is payable to "Tumble Bug Benton," Missouri senator and hard-money advocate Thomas Hart Benton, and is signed by "Cunning Reuben [Whitney, anti-Bank adviser to Jackson and Van Buren] Cash'r" and "Honest Amos [Kendall, Postmaster General and influential advisor to Van Buren] Pres't." It shows several coins with the head of Andrew Jackson at left, a jackass with the title "Roman Firmness," a hickory leaf (alluding to Jackson's nickname "Old Hickory"), and a vignette showing Jackson's hat, clay pipe, spectacles, hickory stick, and veto (of the 1832 bill to recharter the Bank of the United States) in a blaze of light. Above is a quote from Jackson's March 1837 farewell address to the American people, "I leave this great people prosperous and happy."
Copyrighted by Anthony Fleetwood, 1837.
Published at 89 Nassau Str. New York.
Signed facetiously: Martin Van Buren Sc.
The print was deposited for copyright on August 21, 1837, by Anthony Fleetwood, and published at the same address (89 Nassau Street) as "Capitol Fashions" (no. 1837-1), also an etching. The Library's impression (the copyright deposit proof) is printed on extremely thin tissue.
Title appears as it is written on the item.
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 1837-10.
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837, seeking to act as the direct representative of the common man. "I have always been afraid of banks."
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."
Glimpses of U.S. political campaigns in magazine covers and satire.
Collection - President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837, seeking to act as the direct representative of the common man.Collection - President Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States (1837-1841)Collection - U.S. Political Campaigns
Glimpses of U.S. political campaigns in magazine covers and satire.
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