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Post-1860 Presidential Election Commentary....
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Sold on Dec 12, 2015 for:
$275.00
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Description
Post-1860 Presidential Election Commentary. 4-page letter written on lined bifolium stationery, Pottsville, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1860 (the very day South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union), from S. A. Godfrey to his cousin William. "From the accounts we receive from the South we are led to the conclusion that South Carolina and probably all the cotton states will secede very soon, and possibly some of the border states in case of any attempt to coerce by government powers... If the Southern people are influenced to take this important step in consequence of the election of Lincoln & Hamlin, construing their election to a disposition to trample upon the rights of the South by the Northern states, they are certainly mistaken... It is true there are some fool abolitionists in each of the Northern States and a dissolution of the Union is precisely what they desire for in that event they envision servile insurrections... hence secessionists are doing the very work their real enemies desire to accomplish... There were many considerations apart from the slave question that contributed to and indeed secured the election of Lincoln. In this state (Penna) the Tariff question was what carried the vote... I am satisfied if the Southern people knew the sentiments of the vast majority of the Northern states they would never think of secession... in the future the execution of the fugitive slave laws will be carried out to the letter as provided by the laws of the Nation. This will be done I assure you hereafter, not because a change has taken place in the sentiment of the people on the subject of slavery, or the fear of a dissolution of the Union and its awful consequences, but simply because the public mind has been directed to the injustice done to the South in placing obstacles in the way of their attaining their rights by artful and designing men... Mr. Lincoln's administration of the government will I doubt not be as conservative as that of any of his predecessors... The abolitionists do not at all relish these assurances from Lincoln and feel that they have got more than they bargained for in Lincoln - in fact he is a real Henry Clay in his political views."It seems William was a former Pennsylvania resident who relocated to the South. He had failed to respond to previous letters, but the writer decided to give it one last try. Some discoloration and separation at folds, neatly repaired. The top right corner of the last leaf is missing (and filled in), but this occurred at the time of writing, with no loss to the text. Outstanding content reflecting, perhaps, a rather naive assessment of the crisis.
Auction Info
2015 December 12 Civil War & Militaria Signature Auction - Dallas #6144 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2015
12th
Saturday
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