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FIGHT BETWEEN THE KENTUCKY COON & THE TENESSEE ALLIGATOR.
   
Complete Explanation:
A woodland fantasy satirizing the prominent figures of the 1844 election campaign. The artist again favors Whig candidate Henry Clay, the "Kentucky Coon," who is shown overwhelming Democrat James K. Polk, the "Tennesse Alligator," in a wrestling contest. Clay exults, "It is no use to try to poke this nondescript "animal" (i.e., Polk) against the Peoples Coon." (Oddly, the head on the alligator here bears little resemblance to the dark horse candidate.)

About the forest lurk several other animals with the heads of Democrat and Whig notables. On the right stands John C. Calhoun, as a camel, and Andrew Jackson, as a giraffe. Calhoun carries on his back a cornucopia filled with turnips and declares, "We bring peace and plenty!"

Jackson: "Altho I am one of those exalted characters who can "overlook" almost everything, yet I cannot overlook this disaster to our cause!"

Several rats scurry past the two Democrats, one of them being Martin Van Buren, who says "I'm off for Lindenwald, basely deserted by my friends." Lindenwald was the name of Van Buren's estate, whence he retired after losing the Democratic nomination to Polk.

To the left incumbent John Tyler, as a rattlesnake, coils around a tree. Tyler, who acceded to the presidency on William Henry Harrison's death, was considered a traitor to the Whig cause. On the ground nearby is a bear, Daniel Webster, who says (referring to Polk), "I'll put my foot on him when you are done, and that will sink him out of sight."

Running ahead of Webster is hard-money advocate Thomas Hart Benton, as a boar with a sack of "Mint Drops" on his back. He exclaims, "That Coon does not, evidently belong to our family, but he is a ROARER!"

Perched on a branch above is an American eagle with his wings outspread, a common patriotic emblem.


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