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A Peep into the Antifederal Club, 1793.
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Satire of an Anti-Federalist Club reflecting the Federalists characterizations of the clubs as atheistic, secret societies with a debased membership that promoted revolutionary action and mob rule. Thomas Jefferson, a founder and leader of the Democratic-Republicans, stands on the table as he orates to club members including: a Citizen Genet, a supporter of Edmond Genet, the minister of the French Republic who promoted the principles of the French Revolution for America; naval hero and New York radical Commodore Livingston; Philadelphia astronomer David Rittenhouse peering through his telescope at a satire of the "Creed of the Democratic Party;" the devil; an obese drunkard damning the Federal Government; New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, and an African American referred to by another member as "Citizen Mungo."

Credit: The Granger Collection, New York.

This contemporary satire of an Anti-Federalist Club reflects the Federalists" belief that their political opponents were members of atheistic secret societies that promoted revolution and mob rule. The cartoon depicts Thomas Jefferson, a founder and leader of the Democratic-Republicans, standing on a table as he rallies the devil, an obese drunkard damning the Federal Government, an African American named "Citizen Mungo," New York anti-Federalists Governor DeWitt Clinton and Commodore Livingston, French minister Edmond Genet, and Philadelphian David Rittenhouse peering through his telescope at a satire of the "Creed of the Democratic Party."

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