The Coffin Handbills were a series of pamphlets attacking Andrew Jackson during the 1828 United States presidential election. Jackson was running against incumbent John Quincy Adams. The campaign was very dirty, with multiple attacks on the character and personal history of both candidates. Many of the attacks were false. First handbill Andrew Jackson had a reputation as a national hero, because of his leadership during the Battle of New Orleans that was the final action of the War of 1812. His glory was turned against him when John Binns, editor and publisher of the Democratic Press in Philadelphia, published the first “coffin handbill”. The poster showcased six black coffins at the top of the pamphlet and claimed that Jackson had ordered the execution of six militiamen during the Creek War. Another twelve coffins were displayed further down the page to represent regular soldiers and Indians who were put to death under Jackson’s command. This refers to the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, when Jackson attacked the Red Stick fortification. Roughly 800 of the 1000 Red Stick warriors were killed in the battle. There also was a drawing of Jackson assaulting and stabbing Samuel Jackson “in the streets of Nashville.” Accusations of bigamy A pamphlet published at a later time accused Jackson of committing adultery with his wife. Jackson’s wife Rachel had applied for a divorce from a previous marriage in 1790. According to Jackson, he and his wife married in 1791 and they realized two years later that her divorce was not granted until 1793, meaning that Jackson had been “married” to another man’s wife for a couple of years. In January 1794, Jackson and Rachel were legally married in a ceremony. The accusations greatly angered Jackson, which he responded to by writing to newspaper editors, suggesting how they should counter them. Jackson’s wife Rachel suffered a heart attack and died before Jackson’s inauguration. He blamed his political enemies and tensions for her death. Accusations of cannibalism A "Supplemental account of some of the bloody deeds of General Jackson", attributed to Virginia Congressman John Taliaferro, accused Jackson of "atrocious and unnatural acts"; such acts including slaughtering 1,000 unarmed Native Americans, taking a nap in the midst of their corpses, and eating a dozen of them for breakfast. The author went on to speculate about how Jackson might similarly treat American governors and Congressmen were he elected president. Background Tensions between Jackson