Independence declared 1776. The Union must be preserved /...

A memorial to the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution, with distinctly pro-Democratic overtones. Below the title "Independence Declared" are bust portraits of the first eight Presidents, with Jackson and Van Buren joining hands. Beneath them is a scroll with Andrew Jackson's famous toast, "The Union Must be Preserved." Below stands George Washington, in uniform and holding a scroll inscribed "We declare ourselves free and independent." He faces thirteen soldiers, representing the original American colonies, who are flanked by an American flag and the "National Flag of 1776" showing a pine tree on a white field. In the background rages the Battle of Bunker Hill with Boston visible on the left. The whole scene is flanked by two columns, representing "New-England arising out of Old England." The columns are surmounted by statues of Liberty (left) and Hope (right). On their bases are portraits of American Revolutionary War general Joseph Warren (left) and the Marquis de Lafayette (right). The work resembles in some respects a Van Buren campaign portrait issued in Boston the following year by Thayer, Moore's successor (no. 1840-33).