Few issues exposed the differences between the Democrats and the National Republicans more clearly than the battle over the national bank. This political cartoon depicts President Andrew Jackson, holding a cane marked “Veto,” with his ally Vice President Martin Van Buren and a character named Major Jack Downing. The three attempt to slay “the many headed monster.” The American humorist Seba Smith created the fictional Downing to represent a provincial Maine “down-easterner” who used a very broad dialect. He was presented as a close chum of Andrew Jackson to satirize the goings-on in Washington. The hydra features the faces of Nicholas Biddle, the president of the Bank of the United States, and other men who represent the banks of the various states. Biddle wears a hat that says “Penn” and “$35,000,000,” which refers to the state of Pennsylvania’s effort to recharter the BUS in defiance of Jackson’s efforts to destroy it.

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