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Auktionsarchiv: Los-Nr. 232

FILLMORE, MILLARD, President. Autograph letter signed in full to Senator Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, Buffalo, N.Y., 14 April 1865. 5 pages, 4to, first two leaves partly separated along central fold.

Auction 09.06.1992
09.06.1992
Schätzpreis
3.000 $ - 5.000 $
Zuschlagspreis:
55.000 $
Auktionsarchiv: Los-Nr. 232

FILLMORE, MILLARD, President. Autograph letter signed in full to Senator Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, Buffalo, N.Y., 14 April 1865. 5 pages, 4to, first two leaves partly separated along central fold.

Auction 09.06.1992
09.06.1992
Schätzpreis
3.000 $ - 5.000 $
Zuschlagspreis:
55.000 $
Beschreibung:

FILLMORE, MILLARD, President. Autograph letter signed in full to Senator Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, Buffalo, N.Y., 14 April 1865. 5 pages, 4to, first two leaves partly separated along central fold. A FORMER PRESIDENT'S CANDID VIEW OF EMANCIPATION AND THE FUTURE OF RACE RELATIONS; WRITTEN THE DAY OF LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION. An unusually long and candid letter, very likely one of the most important Fillmore letters ever offered at auction, written by the former President on the day of Lincoln's assassination, a scant five days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Senator Reverdy Johnson had spoken in the Senate in favor of the 13th amendment, "abolishing and prohibiting slavery throughout the Union ...advocating immediate and universal emancipation by a Constitutional provision..." Fillmore asserts that "...I have always regarded slavery as a blot upon our national escutcheon, and in our social organization a great political evil, alike injurious to the white and black races.... Whether we look at this war as caused by the unconstitutional and unjustified attacks upon the institution of slavery by the abolitionists of the North, or by the equally unjustified and criminally armed rebellion of the South...it must, I think, be conceded that slavery is the cause of the war; and the probability now is that it will be abolished by a Constitutional amendment forced upon a majority of the slave states by the overwhelming power of the free states.... "...There still remains the great question, what is to be done with the 4,000,000 of ignorant, helpless blacks?... Some of the states already exclude them...by legal enactments, and in one by a Constitutional provision; and even the Governor of Massachusetts would not consent that they should be sent to his state....And will not this state of things, sooner or later, result in a war of races....[and] in the expulsion or extermination of the African race....When I recollect the frightful riots which recently disgraced New York [the anti-draft riots of July 1863]...I can not help feeling an apprehension that we are laying the foundation for a war of races on this continent that no friend of the black or white race can contemplate without dread.... In my last annual message to Congress, I had prepared some remarks on the subject of slavery, but after the message was in type, I yielded to the better judgement of my cabinet, who thought their publication might be injurious to our party...and I struck them out, but preserved the slip [proof?] and have since had a few copies printed in confidence and I take the liberty of enclosing one to you...." It was during Fillmore's Presidency that the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted and the Compromise of 1850 adopted, in the hope of averting conflicts over the issue of slavery. Fillmore came under attack for his support of the measure. When news of Lincoln's assassination reached Buffalo, an enraged mob attacked and vandalized Fillmore's home.

Auktionsarchiv: Los-Nr. 232
Auktion:
Datum:
09.06.1992
Auktionshaus:
Christie's
New York, Park Avenue
Beschreibung:

FILLMORE, MILLARD, President. Autograph letter signed in full to Senator Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, Buffalo, N.Y., 14 April 1865. 5 pages, 4to, first two leaves partly separated along central fold. A FORMER PRESIDENT'S CANDID VIEW OF EMANCIPATION AND THE FUTURE OF RACE RELATIONS; WRITTEN THE DAY OF LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION. An unusually long and candid letter, very likely one of the most important Fillmore letters ever offered at auction, written by the former President on the day of Lincoln's assassination, a scant five days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Senator Reverdy Johnson had spoken in the Senate in favor of the 13th amendment, "abolishing and prohibiting slavery throughout the Union ...advocating immediate and universal emancipation by a Constitutional provision..." Fillmore asserts that "...I have always regarded slavery as a blot upon our national escutcheon, and in our social organization a great political evil, alike injurious to the white and black races.... Whether we look at this war as caused by the unconstitutional and unjustified attacks upon the institution of slavery by the abolitionists of the North, or by the equally unjustified and criminally armed rebellion of the South...it must, I think, be conceded that slavery is the cause of the war; and the probability now is that it will be abolished by a Constitutional amendment forced upon a majority of the slave states by the overwhelming power of the free states.... "...There still remains the great question, what is to be done with the 4,000,000 of ignorant, helpless blacks?... Some of the states already exclude them...by legal enactments, and in one by a Constitutional provision; and even the Governor of Massachusetts would not consent that they should be sent to his state....And will not this state of things, sooner or later, result in a war of races....[and] in the expulsion or extermination of the African race....When I recollect the frightful riots which recently disgraced New York [the anti-draft riots of July 1863]...I can not help feeling an apprehension that we are laying the foundation for a war of races on this continent that no friend of the black or white race can contemplate without dread.... In my last annual message to Congress, I had prepared some remarks on the subject of slavery, but after the message was in type, I yielded to the better judgement of my cabinet, who thought their publication might be injurious to our party...and I struck them out, but preserved the slip [proof?] and have since had a few copies printed in confidence and I take the liberty of enclosing one to you...." It was during Fillmore's Presidency that the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted and the Compromise of 1850 adopted, in the hope of averting conflicts over the issue of slavery. Fillmore came under attack for his support of the measure. When news of Lincoln's assassination reached Buffalo, an enraged mob attacked and vandalized Fillmore's home.

Auktionsarchiv: Los-Nr. 232
Auktion:
Datum:
09.06.1992
Auktionshaus:
Christie's
New York, Park Avenue
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