America’s First Undeclared War & Hard Times - Civil War Tokens

von Nothaus Liberty Dollars

An 1837 Song for Hard Times Token Collectors

[during this period Pennsylvania was the manufacturing region of the country...CV]

Tune - "Royal Charlie."

Hard times! - Hard times! - is now the cry,
The country's in confusion;

The Banks have stopped! - and still they try
To mystify delusion;

They give US trash,
And keep the cash
To send across the waters,

To pay for things
They bought from Kings,
To gull our sons and daughters! -
{Chorus}
Then to the Polls! - ye noble souls! -
The Banks may cry for quarters!
But hear their doom - THEY SHALL RESUME,
Or forfeit all their charters!

Shall Corporations rule the soil,
That Washington defended?

Must honest people sweat and toil,
And see their rights "suspended?"

Must we be slaves,
To pamper knaves
Shall Bankers be our masters?

Must all our pay,
From day to day,
Be nothing but shin-plasters?

Then to the Polls! - ye noble souls! -
The Banks may cry for quarters!
But hear their doom - THEY SHALL RESUME,
Or forfeit all their charters!

Brave Jackson strove to keep us free,
He Lov'd his country dearly,

His "sound metallic currency"
Was not a "promise" merely:

If "Little Van's"
An honest man,
He'll imitate the Hero,

And send the whigs,
To dance their jigs,
At least - as low as Zero!

Then to the Polls! - ye noble souls! -
The Banks may cry for quarters!
But hear their doom - THEY SHALL RESUME,
Or forfeit all their charters!

As Congress is about to meet,
Upon a great occasion,

May no unholy scheme defeat
The common expectation: -

If Martin will
Be honest still,
The scenes which now are tragic, -

Must disappear
Before a year,
For honesty is "magic!!" -

Then to the Polls! - ye noble souls! -
The Banks may cry for quarters!
But hear their doom - THEY SHALL RESUME,
Or forfeit all their charters!

The "Empire State" may play her pranks,
And e'en the "Old Dominion,"

May white wash all her broken Banks
Regardless of opinion:

The Keystone State
Won't hesitate,
Tho' ills fall thick upon her,

To still maintain,
Without a stain,
Her high and "sacred honor."

Then to the Polls! - ye noble souls! -
The Banks may cry for quarters!
But hear their doom - THEY SHALL RESUME,
Or forfeit all their charters!

We duly understand our rights,
The rights of Law, and Nature: -

We'll vote no more for paper kites,
To fill our Legislature: -

For just Reform
We'll brave the storm,
Bold as Columbia's Seamen,

We'll do or die -
For Liberty, -
And prove that we are Freemen!!

Then to the Polls! - ye noble souls! -
The Banks may cry for quarters!
But hear their doom - THEY SHALL RESUME,
Or forfeit all their charters!

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