05033ckd a22006857a 4500 15594696 20250607030407.9 cr|||||||||||| kj|||| 940524s1839 nyunnn| |||||u||||kneng 15594696 7 cbc orignew u ncip 20 y-printpho LCAP batch update 2025-06-01-04:00: LCAPM-861 2008661337 (DLC)app1994000072/PP LC-USZ62-84451 DLC (b&w film copy neg.) LC-USZC4-6092 DLC (color film copy transparency) DLC gihc DLC PC/US - 1839.R661, no. 70 The main question [graphic]. N.Y. : Pub. by H.R. Robinson, 1839. 1 print : lithograph with watercolor on wove paper ; 26.9 x 42.7 cm. (image) still image sti rdacontent unmediated n rdamedia Digital image computer c rdamedia sheet nb rdacarrier Digital image online resource cr rdacarrier Entd . . . 1839 by H.R. Robinson. Probably drawn by H.D. (Henry Dacre?). Pub. by H.R. Robinson 52 Cortlandt St. N.Y. Title appears as it is written on the item. Weitenkampf, p. 58. Satire on the escalation of tensions during the Maine-New Brunswick border conflict in February and March 1839. The dispute involved the claim to valuable, timber-rich territory in the Aroostook region. The area was occupied in 1838 by timber interests from Maine and Massachusetts. Canadian troops were summoned to eject them, and the state militia was called out in their defense. Maine governor John Fairfield pressed for federal military action against the Canadians. The artist here ridicules the bellicose elements on both sides. Van Buren sits astride an ox with Fairfield's head, wielding a sword and a shield emblazoned with a cabbage. The ox confronts a dog with the head of the Duke of Wellington, ridden by England's Queen Victoria, also armed with sword and shield. In the background British and American troops face each other across an open plain, while men fell timber in between. Victoria: "O fie Brother Jonathan, to threaten a young woman with a war about a few sticks of timber. If I have your property make it appear & I will pay for the value: do not compel me to quarrel when we ought to be friends." Wellington: "My Royal Mistress let us give them a touch of Waterloo, by so doing we can turn out the Whig Ministers." Van Buren: "I must make a flourish to please my Loco Foco friends, but in truth I don't relish committing myself in favor of war;--They may think I am not exactly the man to carry it on & call for Clay the never failing pacificator; but I must make a flourish." Fairfield: "Go ahead Matty I want to be elected Governer again. Make them retreat, or pay for the timber. Maine wants money & must have it." The ox's tail is pulled by Virginia Congressman Henry A. Wise. He argues, "Come Matty be Wise, don't be so very warlike, it won't do to fight about the timber, let them pay the value to brother Jonathan & he will be satisfied." Marked stylistic similarities between "The Main Question" and two other 1839 prints by HD, "The Cut Direct" and "The Meeting at Saratoga" (nos. 1839-3 and -4), strongly suggest common authorship. No known restrictions on publication. 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 1839-5. Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901. Fairfield, John, 1797-1847. Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862. Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852. Wise, Henry A. (Henry Alexander), 1806-1876. Militias 1830-1840. lctgm Canada Foreign relations United States. United States Foreign relations Canada. Great Britain 1830-1840. Maine 1830-1840. Massachusetts 1830-1840. Lithographs 1830-1840. gmgpc Political cartoons 1830-1840. gmgpc Dacre, Henry, approximately 1820- Robinson, Henry R., -1850. American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress) (DLC) 2005680400 Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print digital file from b&w film copy neg. cph 3b31020 p http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b31020 digital file from color film copy transparency cph 3g06092 p http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g06092 pp/pcus pp/app pp/minload pp/diof c-P&P PC/US - 1839.R661, no. 70 (B size) ppsd obj.