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Scene in Uncle Sam's Senate. 17th April 1850 – Vintage Print

Scene in Uncle Sam's Senate. 17th April 1850, 1850 — antique lithograph
Scene in Uncle Sam's Senate. 17th April 1850, 1850. Antique lithograph from the Historic Print Archive collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Step back in time with Scene in Uncle Sam's Senate. 17th April 1850, an antique lithograph rich in period detail. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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Scene in Uncle Sam's Senate. 17th April 1850

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Edward Williams Clay's lithograph shows a brawl on the floor of the Senate, with a crowd of legislators shoving, grabbing and striking one another. The Compromise of 1850 was being debated in Congress that spring, and the fight over Henry Clay's package of measures on slavery and the territories had grown bitter, which the print exaggerates into open violence. Clay, who had been ill, was pushed forward as the great peacemaker, and his caricature is joined by Benton, Foote, Butler and others. Viewers in 1850 would have recognized the figures easily and read the picture as a comment on the deadlock in the chamber.

Created / published1850
Medium1 print : lithograph on wove paper ; 28.6 x 44.2 cm. (image)
GenreLithographs 1850.Political cartoons 1850.
NotesSigned with initials: E.W.C. (Edward Williams Clay). Title appears as it is written on the item. Davison, no. 202. Weitenkampf, p. 102. 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 1850-11.
SubjectsBenton, Thomas Hart,--1782-1858. Butler, A. P. (Andrew Pickens),--1796-1857. Clay, Henry,--1777-1852. Dickinson, Daniel S. (Daniel Stevens),--1800-1866. Fillmore, Millard,--1800-1874. Foote, Henry S. (Henry Stuart),--1804-1880. Mangum, Willie Person,--1792-1861. Webster, Daniel,--1782-1852. United States.--Congress.--House--1850. United States.--Congress.--Senate--1850. Fighting--1850. Slavery--1850.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 965 px · prints to 5 × 3 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-110460

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