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Lot Number: 227
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“An account of some of the Bloody Deeds of GENERAL JACKSON.” Broadside

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1828 Presidential Election Political Campaign, Letterpress Broadside with Multiple Woodcuts titled, “An account of some of the Bloody Deeds of GENERAL JACKSON.” measuring 20.5” wide x 26.25” tall, Fine or better.

Authentic Large Broadside, measuring 26.25” tall x 20.5” wide (61.8 x 47.2 cm), with Four Woodcut Vignettes including a “Coffin”. Extensive bold black typeset text is displayed on laid period paper, all being within heavy “Mourning” style borders with original deckled outer edges. Powerful in its appearance, having a small 3” x 5” bottom right corner chip is lacking, affecting some text, trivial pinholes at folds, a couple small marginal edge voids and overall vividly attractive, as shown.

This is a rare formate Anti-Jackson Political Broadside (maker unknown). One of several polemics, being a speech or piece of writing, expressing a strongly critical attack on - or a controversial opinion - about someone, created during this period of heated politics in America. This extensively critical 1828 Presidential Election Campaign Broadside was issued during the election that pitted Andrew Jackson against John Quincy Adams, known as one of the nastiest, most vituperative and hostile, political races in American history.

1. The first woodcut vignette references the execution of militia men during the Creek War, depicting six blindfolded men kneeling before a firing squad and a row of open coffins while a sword-wielding officer commands them to fire and placed beside the heading: "A brief Account of the Execution of the Six Militia Men."

2. The second vignette depicts a single man just before his execution, below a quote "O God! My poor mother" along with a caricature of Jackson standing behind the riflemen directing them to "Blow ten balls through the d____d rascal."

3. The third vignette, depicts the duel between Jackson and Charles Dickinson, with Andrew Jackson crying, "I'll have your heart's blood" as he shoots an unarmed man with a pistol.

4. The fourth vignette depicts a large black simple coffin, with the header “The Case of Neil Cameron.”

Individual “Coffin” Broadsides varied in their details, but most featured the trappings of death announcements, including woodcut coffins and mourning borders. In addition to descriptions of the executed Tennessee militiamen, this example includes a caricature of Jackson “caning” another man, an account portraying the Battle of Horseshoe Bend as a massacre of an Indian village, and a letter describing a brawl between Jackson and others in Nashville. A similar example of this rare Broadside is located in the collection of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (61.8 x 47.2 cm) which is the only other example we have located of this highly illustrated Broadside, the very first of this design we have offered. This historic political presidential campaign piece has significant eye-appeal and would be exemplary to view once professionally matted and framed for display.
The 1828 Presidential Election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson:

This second contest between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson was one of the nastiest, most vituperative political races in American history. Confronted with the popularity of the Hero of New Orleans, Adams’s supporters attempted to tarnish Jackson’s military reputation by turning it against him. They criticized the general’s declaration of martial law in New Orleans in 1814-15 and focused attention on another wartime incident concerning the court-martial of six Tennessee militiamen in Mobile for mutiny in December 1814. Jackson had upheld their death sentence from New Orleans, hoping this severe example would prevent mass desertions and preserve the security of the region. The executions were carried out on February 21, 1815.

The six dead men were eulogized in 1828 in a series of so-called coffin broadsides from pro-Adams publishers who accused Jackson of being a murderer. These episodes and others from the First Seminole War and Jackson’s civilian life were used to paint the Hero of New Orleans as a tyrannical “Military Chieftain” who could not be trusted with the power of the presidency.

The 1828 election fundamentally hinged on the personalities and pasts of both candidates, rather than their political philosophies. In the end, Jackson’s huge popularity in the South and West could not be denied, and he won the election in a landslide, carrying all but a handful of New England states. His jubilant supporters decorated their homes and places of business with souvenir objects-some manufactured in England-commemorating Jackson as “the People’s President.”
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Lot Number: 227
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Estimate Range: $3,000 - $4,000
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