General Jackson Slaying the Bank Monster, 1836

Teach the techniques sheet first, then let students apply it to the 1836 and 1869 prints. Ask them to point to the detail behind each answer.

Read an 1836 print of Jackson fighting a bank snake with many heads and judge its point of view. The directions on the page read: Study this simplified redraw of an 1836 print and read the background. Then answer the questions on page 2. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade Sources, Data and Research Skills, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

The techniques sheet names six: symbolism, caricature, labeling, analogy, exaggeration and irony. Students match each to an example such as a turtle standing for the 1807 embargo.

It shows Jackson with a cane marked VETO fighting the Second Bank as a snake with many heads, with Nicholas Biddle as the largest. Students explain the symbols and how a Bank supporter might have drawn the scene.

That year suffragists split into two groups over the Fifteenth Amendment, and Wyoming Territory let women vote. The print mocked women voters at that moment.