Detail from the cartoon, "The New Era or the Effects of a Standing Army." Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,
LC-USZ62-91424.
Bloodhounds are minor but memorable characters in this 1840 lithograph vilifying the Van Buren administration for its efforts to reform the militia system by instituting a system of military reserves. Soldiers carry off a civilian at bayonet point, warning him that his days of constitutional rights are over. In the background bloodhounds receive instruction from a drill sergeant, recalling recent events in Florida.
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