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 English: The Language of Money

 


 “Chorus of Hungry Democrats”
  Cartoonist:  Perhaps A. B. Frost
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   August 28, 1880, p. 557

Click to see a large version of this cartoon...

Click to see a large version of this cartoon

Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
While pro-Republican press left the character of Democratic presidential nominee Winfield Hancock unsullied, they vilified his vice-presidential running-mate, William English, in caricature and print. He was placed on the Democratic ticket in large part because it was assumed that he would use his substantial wealth, accumulated as an Indianapolis banker, to fund much of the campaign. The quote from the Buffalo Express, however, reports to the contrary that English was being miserly with his money. Cartoonist A. B. Frost uses that information as the basis for this cartoon. A gang of unscrupulous and pugnacious political thugs, representing Northern and Southern Democrats, shake-down English, who reaches into his pocket for spare change. Sitting atop his own dilapidated barrel of money is the retired (note slippers) Samuel Tilden, former Democratic presidential nominee, who was accused of using his own considerable wealth and that of his corporate sponsors in an attempt to buy the election of 1876.
 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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