1835/04/24

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph Conn Guild

"It is true in politics as in morals, that those who are not for us are against ... I have long believed, that it was only by preserving the identity of the Republican party, as embodied and chracterised by the principles of Mr. Jefferson that the original rights of the States, and the people, could be maintained as contemplated by the constitution."

GLC07986

1788/01/31

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: To: Oliver Fiske

Supporting ratification of the Constitution: "any further opposition to it at present would be productive of much greater evils." (written as a young law student)

GLC07974

1803/11/12

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Autograph letter signed

Title: To: Aaron Burr

Submitting 12th Amendment to Aaron Burr. Signed in third person with Burr's docketing.

GLC07977

1787/10/04

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Autograph letter signed

Title: Ratification of the Constitution

Ratification of the Constitution:" Opposition no doubt will be made to it in this stage ... even if well founded, [it] will in my opinion be improper."

GLC07979

1828/05/15

Houston, Sam, 1793-1863

Letter signed

Title: To: John Campbell

Endorsing Jackson and attacking John Q. Adams, who " would rejoice at the establishment of a throne on the ruins of our sacred constitution."

GLC07982

1842/09/01

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Autograph document signed

Title: Last Will and Testament

Last Will and Testament. Jackson leaves a presentation sword to his son to use " In support of our glorious union and the constitutional rights of our beloved country" and various other swords to family members. With Secretarial copy of a subsequent Will dated 1843/06/07. Written from his mansion at Hermitage. Written at a Hermitage near Nashville, Tennessee.

GLC07987

Blois, A.J.E.R. de, fl. 1789

Header Record

Title: [Three documents related to a French Primer on American Democracy][Decimilized .01-.03]

French primer on American Democracy by member of Society of the Cincinnati, including discussion of U.S. and State Constitutions. Includes ALS (04/14/1808) addressed to Monsieur Le Prefet [in French], and an MDS (07/15/1825) detailing de Blois's military and civil service [4 p.].

GLC07688

October 9, 1793

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Letter signed

Title: to Joshua Clayton

Marked "Circular" and possibly sent to each state. Encloses papers (not present) containing the speech of the late governor, John Hancock, and the proceedings of the legislature of Massachusetts. Resumes Hancock's argument against the Supreme Court's authority over the states. Seeks the views of the other states hoping that they will agree with the commonwealth of Massachusetts on the matter. Invites Clayton to raise the issue in his own legislature.

GLC00575

December 26, 1866

Buchanan, James, 1791-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James W. Wall

In the letter, James Buchanan is attacking Radical Republicans, whom he sees as self-destructive. Also discusses strengthening the Democrats in New Jersey, and Johnson's failed veto on the Civil Rights Act.

GLC00576

14 June 1936

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945

Typed document signed

Title: [Press release of an address by President Franklin Roosevelt at the dedication of a monument honoring George Rogers Clark]

Headed by a request by Presidential Assistant Secretary Stephen Early that the press release be held as confidential until 10:30 of that day, with Early's printed signature. The President states that Clark began his expedition with a religious service, and that freedom of worship is a foundation of the Constitution: "today religion is still free within our borders: it must ever remain so." Ecology is a goal of his administration: "we have wounded nature and nature has taken offense." Concludes: "may the Americans who, a century and a half from now, celebrate at this spot the three hundredth…

GLC00625

July 14, 1786

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Elbridge Gerry

Comments on an impending lawsuit. Discusses Virginia Governor Patrick Henry's recent request to Congress for assistance against the Indians and the problems it poses for the federal government : "as the ultimate decision of Congress upon the propositions presented to them in a report...hath been contrary to the sense of the State and may perhaps be the subject of investigation as to its propriety upon the principles of the federal compact." Describes the present states of the government as deranged. Also discusses the accusation that he might have a personal interest in the lands and how he…

GLC00529.01

February 21, 1842

Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to A. C. Paige

Discusses slavery and the Union in relationship to politics. States, in part: "Whilst we cling to the Union we must yield to our sister states all that was intended to be secured to them by the Constitution." Also discusses publication of the letter. Marked "Private."

GLC00529.04

December 20, 1864

Vallandigham, Clement L., 1820-1871

Book signed

Title: Speeches, arguments, addresses and letters of Clement L. Vallandigham

First edition published by J. Walter & Company. Presentation copy inscribed by Vallandigham on a yellow free (nearly) endpaper to his friend, the actor Edward Forrest, in Dayton, Ohio on 12 January 1866. With photograph as frontis. Vallandigham of Dayton, Ohio, was elected to Congress in 1858 as a Democrat; most of his speeches come from the Civil War era, in which he strongly supported states' rights, including the right to regulate slavery although he was personally opposed to it, and criticized Lincoln's execution of the war. Also accompanied by a carte de visite each of…

GLC00476.01

22 August 1794

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Autograph document

Title: The Commissary of Foreign Affairs to the Minister Planipotentiary of the United States of America

Transcribed letter, with response, declining government-subsidized housing as it contradicts the Constitution. Philibert Buchot was Commissary of Foreign Affairs for the French Republic in 1794. Monroe was Minister to France from 1794-1796. Serves as supplementary material to GLC00496.065.02.

GLC00496.065.02

19 October 1861

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Notice of suspension of habeas corpus in Boston to Justin Dimick].

Scott quotes an Abraham Lincoln document suspending the writ of habeas corpus, countersigned by William H. Seward. Scott empowers Brevet Colonel Dimick to do the same in Boston. Also signed by Assistant Adjutant General E.D. Townsend.

GLC00638

May 27, 1820

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Letter signed

Title: to James Madison

The letter is concerning sending Journals of Constitutional Convention. Written at the Department of State.

GLC00639.03

October 27, 1851

Tyler, John, 1790-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Tyler

John Tyler writes to his son, Robert Tyler. He discusses the defeat of Judge Campbell, who had been rejected because he was a Roman Catholic: "to make a man's religious opinions the test for office is to break down the fairest and most beautiful pillar of the Constitution." He believes the Presidential election remains an open contest, and that his support of the tariff of 1842 would be a suitable point on which Robert Tyler might speak. He believes that Millard Fillmore is likely to obtain the Whig nomination. John Tyler was President of the United States from 1841 to 1845.

GLC00639.24

May 6, 1824

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John McLean

Secretary of State Adams writes to McLean, Commissioner of the General Land Office, about the government responsibility for internal improvements. In response to McLean's request, he encloses a copy of an 1807 resolution he put before the senate on the topic (written on p. 3 in a secretarial hand) and indicates it can be "found in the Octavo Edition of the Journals of the Senate recently published Vol. 4, p. 155." Describes it as "the first Resolution ever offered in Congress, contemplating a general system of internal improvement." Discusses the congressional vote on it and the…

GLC01727

7 March 1829

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Document signed

Title: [Appointment of John McLean as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court]

Countersigned by James Hamilton as acting Secretary of State. Autograph note signed by Charles H. W. Wharton on verso certifies that McLean has sworn to support the Constitution of the United States. Docketed on verso by Wharton. Writing is faded on document. Paper seal on left side.

GLC01734

May 24, 1821

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Autograph letter

Title: to Mathew Carey

Adams complains that American government mixes too many legislative powers with the executive. Also discusses Europe's quest for Democracy "without Sufficient knowledge of the system of Organization necessary to form it and preserve it." The original signature was clipped and has been replaced.

GLC01726

28 September 1787

Warren, Mercy Otis, 1728-1814

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Catharine Macaulay

Written by Warren three days after the publication of the Constitution. She writes "[a]lmost every one whom I have yet seen reads with attention, holds the page with solemnity, & silently wraps up his opinion within his own breast...." (Not dated 1784.) She mentions mixed reactions to signing of the Constitution.

GLC01800.03

December 6, 1850

Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: The Case of General Gratiot

Summarizes all the details of the case of the War of 1812 hero, General Charles Gratiot, from Gratiot's 1838 dismissal order through various appeals during the John Tyler administration. This brief was possibly prepared by a clerk for Fillmore's review and opinion. On page 25, Fillmore gives his conclusion on the case and writes about the presidential power of the right of removal vested by the constitution. He states, "It may have been good or bad, right or wrong, but the act itself was constitutional and perfect, and nothing can restore him [Charles Gratiot] but the appointing power,…

GLC01807

1850

Broadside

Title: Read and ponder the Fugitive Slave Law!

A large anti-Whig broadside, attacking Samuel A. Elliott of Boston, and re-printing the Fugitive Slave law. Emphasis added with capital letters in some sections. Declares that the law is against the Constitution, habeas corpus and Christianity. States that the law, "...tramples on the Constitution, by its denial of the sacred rights of Trial by Jury, Habeas Corpus, and Appeal..." Appeals to the public, "Freemen of Massachusetts, Remember, that Samuel A. Elliott of Boston, voted for this law, that Millard Fillmore, our Whig President approved it..." Contains three columns, a large banner…

GLC01862

December 10, 1832

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Broadside

Title: Proclamation by Andrew Jackson, President of the United States.

Proclamation attacks the South Carolina Convention that passed the nullification ordinance. Denounces nullification as treason and rebellion, and warns the people of South Carolina to obey the laws. Jackson declares that "the power to annul a law of the United States, assume [sic] by one State, INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE EXISTENCE OF THE UNION ... INCONSISTENT WITH EVERY PRINCIPLE ON WHICH IT WAS FOUNDED AND DESTRUCTIVE ... " Warns that South Carolina cannot stand alone and that seceding from the Union would be a detriment to the state.

GLC01863

January 15, 1811

Smith, Robert, 1757-1842

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Secretary of State Smith sends a cover letter with a copy of a proposed constitutional amendment (not included) banning persons holding foreign titles from public office to the New Hampshire legislature. The amendment did not pass.

GLC01623