by Artist (363)
A General Blow Up -- Dead Asses Kicking a Live Lion
From Harper's Weekly, May 16, 1874, p. 416-71874
19th century
Thomas Nast
Landau, Germany 1840–1902 Landau, Germany
Classification:
Print
Medium/Technique:
Wood engraving
Credit Line:
Gift of Judith and Norman Zlotsky
Accession Number:
2006.1.81
Not on display - Available to view by appointment
Commentary
In Thomas Nast’s double-page cartoon, President Grant, depicted as a lion, calmly smokes his signature cigar, having cast the bomb of his veto against the Inflation Act passed by Congress, symbolized by the Capital dome and the fence bearing the ancient Roman fasces (a cylindrical bundle of rods bound together with a bronze axe by a leather ribbon) that symbolized power and authority. The vanquished Finance (“Fine-Ass”) Committee and other soft-money supporters, including Thomas W. Ferry and Benjamin Butler, lie at Grant’s feet. The President is backed by a column with excerpts from both the Republican and Democratic platforms favoring a return to specie payment. Although Grant’s actions helped calm the Panic, a worldwide depression ensued (the “Long Depression”), lasting overall about 13 years, but only 6 years in the U. S. Nast and Harper’s Weekly editor George William Curtis continued to favor a return to the gold standard as did many Republicans, although both parties were divided on the issue. [Text prepared for exhibition - Money Matters (2016)]
Additional Images
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Cropped
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Good as Gold: Nineteenth-Century Financial Controversies , 1/13/2009 - 3/15/2009
- The Noise of Democracy: Thomas Nast and the Elections of 1872 & 1876 Art Museum, University of Saint Joseph , 9/21/2012 - 12/9/2012
