“Don’t sign that declaration, gentlemen! You’ll hurt business!”
Subject(s): Adams, John, 1735-1826, Big business, Declaration of Independence, Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790, Hancock, John, 1737-1793, Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826, Livingston, Robert R., 1746-1813, Sherman, Roger, 1721-1793, Signing ceremonies, Thomson, Charles, 1729-1824
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A sketch after Trumbull’s painting “The Declaration of Independence” shows John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Thomson, standing around a table where John Hancock is sitting, as a businessman labeled “Spirit of 1908” rushes in from the left. Caption: Where would we be now if modern counsel had prevailed in ’76?
Comments and Context
The objections of “big business” and “robber barons” to most proposed reforms and gradual cleansing of the American business economy was long-standing. It was predictable, almost continuous from every perspective of argumentation — literally reactionary.
Yet the context of this cartoon by S.D. Ehrhart likely was not the economy in general, or the prerogatives of major entrepreneurs in general, but the response to the Wall Street Panic of the previous October. Few corporate titans blamed their own activities or back-room chicanery. It was easy to advocate for the status quo — “standing pat” as to policies — and blame the Panic on the number of Muckrakers’ exposures, the wave of new laws and regulations, and the “agitation” generated by the incessant criticisms of President Roosevelt.
Ehrhart faithfully replicated John Trumbull’s famous painting, the only major changes being the expressions on the faces of the Signers distracted by the entrance of the desperate businessman as they deliberated.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1908-03-04
Creator(s)
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
“Don’t sign that declaration, gentlemen! You’ll hurt business!”. [March 4, 1908]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o286057. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937. “Don’t sign that declaration, gentlemen! You’ll hurt business!”. [4 Mar. 1908]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o286057.
APA:
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937., [1908, March 4]. “Don’t sign that declaration, gentlemen! You’ll hurt business!”.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o286057.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
