February 25, 1803

Thatcher, Samuel, 1776-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Knox

Glad to hear from Knox that he agreed with Thatcher that separating Maine from Massachusetts would be "destructive of its interests & respectability." Discusses the likely passage of a bill in Congress to establish a lighthouse on an island in the Penobscot Bay. Asks Knox if he will obtain some necessary paperwork to certify Congress's jurisdiction over the island.

GLC02437.07789

January 19, 1854

Chase, Salmon P. (Salmon Portland), 1808-1873

Pamphlet

Title: Appeal of the Independent Democrats in Congress, to the people of the United States. Shall slavery be permitted in Nebraska?

Printed by Tower's Printers. Uncut. Issued by Congressmen Chase, Charles Sumner, Joshua R. Giddings, Edward Wade, Gerrit Smith, and Alexander De Witt. "Whatever apologies may be offered for the toleration of slavery in the States, none can be urged for its extension into the Territories where it does not exist, and where that extension involves the repeal of ancient law, and the violation of solemn compact." Frail, with folded, torn edges.

GLC05116.03

February 15, 1854

Fenton, Reuben Eaton, 1819-1885

Pamphlet

Title: Speech of Hon. R. E. Fenton of New York on Democratic tests, and the Nebraska Bill.

Printed at the Congressional Globe Office. Disbound. Representative Fenton states, "...the bill under consideration, although negative in its character, is affirmative in its character for the spread of slavery. A principle, sir, I cannot sustain, nor will, I believe, the people of this country sustain it."

GLC05116.04

6 April 1854

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Pamphlet

Title: No slavery in Nebraska: no slavery in the nation: slavery an outlaw. Speech of Gerrit Smith, on the Nebraska Bill.

Representative Smith states, "I am opposed to the bill for organizing the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, which has come to us from the Senate, because, in the first place, it insults colored men, and the Maker of all men, by limiting suffrage to white men... in the second place, it limits suffrage to persons, who have acquired citizenship... in the third place, because, it is so drawn, as to convey the deceptive idea... that the bill recognizes the doctrine of non-intervention."

GLC05116.06

18 May 1854

Peckham, Rufus W., 1838-1909

Pamphlet

Title: Speech of Mr. Peckham, of New York, on the Kansas and Nebraska question.

Printed by John T. and Lem. Towers. Representative Peckham states, "... after thoroughly examining this bill, its history and progress, and the legislation pertaining to it, I cannot give it my support, believing that it contains none of the principles, nor will its passage produce any of the results, under which it is sought to be imposed upon the public."

GLC05116.07

circa 1854

Gillette, Francis, 1807-1879

Pamphlet

Title: Speech of Mr. Gillette

Location inferred from content. A note on last page indicates this document was created after 24 May 1854. In response to the question, "Are you willing that the black man shall participate, equally with the white man, in all the social and political benefits of this country," Gillette replies, "I certainly am willing, yea, desirous, that all men, irrespective of color, stature, height, circumference, or any other of the accidents of being, should have the same rights and the enjoyment of the same privileges, to work out the great problem of their existence, and to 'participate equally'... "

GLC05116.08

12 March 1856

Collamer, Jacob, 1791-1865

Pamphlet

Title: Kansas affairs in the Senate. Minority report of the Senate committee on territories. Made March 12, 1856, by Judge Collamer, of Vermont.

Published by Buell & Blanchard. Collamer explores the issue of Kansas: "A Territory of our Government is now convulsed with violence and discord, and the whole family of our nation is in a state of excitement and anxiety. The national executive power is put in motion, the army in requisition, and Congress is invoked for interference. In this case, as in all others of difficulty, it becomes necessary to inquire what is the true cause of existing trouble, in order to apply effectual cure."

GLC05116.10

3 April 1856- 4 April 1856

Collamer, Jacob, 1791-1865

Pamphlet

Title: Speech of Hon. Jacob Collamer of Vermont, on affairs in Kansas. Delivered in the Senate of the United States, April 3 and 4, 1856.

Printed at the Congressional Globe Office. Regarding Kansas, Senator Collamer states, "...I am not prepared at this moment to go at length into my reasons for believing as I do, that the best, the shortest, and the most quiet way is to admit that people with their constitution, and end the trouble." In extremely frail condition, fragmented, and disbound.

GLC05116.11

9 April 1856

Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872

Pamphlet

Title: Speech of Hon. William H. Seward for the immediate admission of Kansas into the Union; delivered in the Senate of the United States, April 9, 1856.

Printed at the Congressional Globe Office. Signed by J. I. Werner on cover. Seward states, "I will grant, for the sake of the argument, that with Federal battalions you can carry slavery into Kansas, and maintain it there. Are you quite confident that this republican form of government can then be upheld and preserved? You will then yourselves have introduced the Trojan horse. No republican government ever has endured, with standing armies maintained in its bosom to enforce submission to its laws... In extending slavery into Kansas, therefore, by arms, you will subvert the liberties of…

GLC05116.12

19 May 1856

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Pamphlet

Title: Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts. In the Senate of the United States, May 19, 1856.

Sumner's speech was delivered in Washington, D.C. and published by the New York Tribune in New York City. Last page advertises and lists prices for different issues of the Tribune. Sumner declares, "...I fearlessly assert that the wrongs of much abused Sicily, thus memorable in history, were small by the side of the wrongs of Kansas, where the very shrines of popular institutions more sacred than heathen altar, have been desecrated; where the ballot-box, more precious than any work, has been plundered." Opposes what he calls the forcible introduction of slavery in Kansas, and its…

GLC05116.13

19 May 1856

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Pamphlet

Title: The Crime Against Kansas. Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts. In the Senate of the United States, May 19, 1856.

Sumner's speech was delivered in Washington, D.C. and published by the New York Tribune in New York City. Contains the stamp of T. B. Pugh, bookseller, on the upper left corner of front cover. Contains water stains.

GLC05116.14

21 June 1856

Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885

Pamphlet

Title: The "Laws" of Kansas. Speech of the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana.

Colfax, a United States Representative from Indiana, writes "The only relief possible, if Kansas is not promptly admitted as a State, which I hope may be effected, is in a change of the Administration and of the party that so recklessly misrules the land; and that will furnish an effectual relief." Speech delivered in Washington, D.C. in the House of Representatives. Location of printing is unknown.

GLC05116.15

1 July 1856

Howard, William Alanson, 1813-1880

Pamphlet

Title: Subduing freedom in Kansas. Report of the Congressional Committee, presented in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, July 1, 1856.

Presented in the House of Representatives, published in New York by the Tribune Office. Howard and Sherman report the committee's findings on Kansas's struggle for admission to the Union: "It cannot be doubted that if its condition as a free Territory had been left undisturbed by Congress, its settlement would have been rapid, peaceful and prosperous. Its climate, soil, and its easy access to the older settlements would have made it the favored course for the tide of emigration constantly flowing to the West, and, by this time, it would have been admitted into the Union as a Free State,…

GLC05116.16

6 August 1856

Sage, Russell, 1816-1906

Pamphlet

Title: Speech of Hon. Russell Sage, of New-York, on the profession and acts of the President of the United States; the repeal of the Missouri Compromise...

(title continues)... the outrages in Kansas; and the sectional influence and aggressions of the slave power. Delivered in the House of Representatives; published by Weed, Parsons & Co. in Albany, New York. Representative Sage quotes Henry Clay: " '...I never could vote for it myself; and I repeat, that I never can and never will vote, and no earthly power ever will make me vote, to spread slavery over territory where it does not exist.' With this declaration of Mr. Clay I take my stand." Proposes the admission of Kansas into the Union as a free state. Eighteen pages of text followed…

GLC05116.18

8 March 1858

Bocock, Thomas S., 1815-1891

Pamphlet

Title: The Kansas question. Speech of Hon. Thomas Bocock, of Virginia, in the House of Representatives, March 8, 1858.

Printed at the Congressional Globe Office. Bocock, a U.S. Representative from Virginia, declares: "I do not know what will be the effect of a refusal to admit Kansas under the Lecompton constitution. I am not authorized to speak the views of Virginia... But I will say this... that, although hand join in hand to prevent, the destiny of Virginia, for once and for all, for now and forever, is indissolubly united with that of her sister States of the South."

GLC05116.20

1854

Douglas, Stephen Arnold, 1813-1861

Pamphlet

Title: The Nebraska question comprising speeches in the United States Senate by Mr. Douglas, Mr. Chase, Mr. Smith, Mr. Everett, Mr. Wade, Mr. Badger, Mr. Seward, and Mr. Sumner...

(title continues)... together with the history of the Missouri Compromise Daniel Webster's memorial in regard to it-- History of the annexation of Texas-- the organization of Oregon Territory-- and the Compromise of 1850. Published by Justus S. Redfield. Consists of speeches related to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the debate preceding it, and the sectional crisis. Opens with a discussion of the Missouri Compromise followed by Daniel Webster's comments on the Compromise. On the extension of slavery into new territories, Webster writes "If the progress of this great evil is ever to be arrested…

GLC05116.01

1854

Douglas, Stephen Arnold, 1813-1861

Pamphlet

Title: The Nebraska question comprising speeches in the United States Senate by Mr. Douglas, Mr. Chase, Mr. Smith, Mr. Everett, Mr. Wade, Mr. Badger, Mr. Seward, and Mr. Sumner...

(title continues)... together with the history of the Missouri Compromise Daniel Webster's memorial in regard to it-- History of the annexation of Texas-- the organization of Oregon Territory-- and the Compromise of 1850. Published by Justus S. Redfield. Consists of speeches related to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the debate preceding it, and the sectional crisis. Opens with a discussion of the Missouri Compromise followed by Daniel Webster's comments on the Compromise. On the extension of slavery into new territories, Webster writes "If the progress of this great evil is ever to be arrested…

GLC05116.02

1856

Fisher, Sidney George, 1809-1871

Pamphlet

Title: Kanzas and the Constitution.

Printed by Damrell & Moore. Written by "Cecil," a pseudonym of Sidney G. Fisher. First published in the Philadelphia North American 31 July 1856, and copied into the Boston Daily Advertiser 18 August 1856.

GLC05116.17

1856

Greeley & McElrath, 1841-1866

Pamphlet

Title: The border ruffian code in Kansas.

Published by the Tribune Office in New York City. Includes an examination of the "The character of the Code of pretended Laws enacted by the bogus Territorial Legislature of Kansas- a Legislature notoriously forced upon the people of that territory, at the hands of invading ruffians from Missouri, using the persuasive arguments of the Bowie-Knife and Revolver..." Includes a presentation of the Presidential platforms of 1856 and the acceptance speeches of John C. Frémont, James Buchanan, and Millard Fillmore for their respective nominations. Final page displays a map of the United States…

GLC05116.19

February 15, 1821

Robbins, Josiah, 1766-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Aaron Hobart

Informs Hobart that he received his letter and the certificate, and that he followed through with his directions, which related to port collections. Also discusses an appointment for the post office. Notes that he perceives that Hobart (as a member of Congress) has not progressed much with the "Missouri Business," referring to the Missouri Compromise. States his own opinion on the matter: Missouri "had not ought to be admitted unless that article in he[r] Constitution which I think repugnant to the Constitution of the U States, should be expunged." The "article" Robbins mentioned was…

GLC06313.04.112

February 17, 1850

Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James William Paige

Reports to his brother-in-law that William Meredith, Secretary of the Treasury, wrote to the Committee of Commerce in the House of Representatives regarding the subject of coinage. Reports that he will take the issue to Senate the following day. States that the admission of California to the Union as a free state in the Compromise of 1850 will not "break up, break down, or overset the Union" though the Union "may be tipped ... as a cart is liable to tip up when a heavy weight is put in to the hind end." Humorously ends by saying "You may go, on buying & selling, & getting gain."

GLC01946.43

February 6, 1857

Grimes, James W., 1816-1872

Pamphlet

Title: Joint resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Iowa, in relation to slavery and the admission of Kansas into the Union.

House of Representatives mis. doc. no. 38 (34th Congress, 3rd session). Grimes, Governor of Iowa, approved these resolutions in January 1857. Reprinted by Congress in February. Iowa states its opposition to "the further extension of slavery within the jurisdiction or by the sanction of the general government." Supports the admission of Kansas into the Union as a free state.

GLC08452.07

1850

Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852

Pamphlet

Title: Speech of the Hon. Daniel Webster, in the Senate of the United States, on the subject of slavery.

Accompanied GLC00267.376. Pages 13-32. Removed from previous binding. Discusses slavery in relation to states' entry into the Union.

GLC00267.376.01

February 3, 1820

Printed document

Title: "In Senate Of The United States…The bill from the House of Representatives , entitled 'An act for the admission of the state of Maine into the Union..."

"In Senate Of The United States…The bill from the House of Representatives , entitled 'An act for the admission of the state of Maine into the Union,' …being under consideration, …Mr. Thomas proposed to amend the said amendments, by adding… : …in all that tract of country ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, excepting only such part thereof as is included in the limits of the state contemplated by this act, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…Provided, always, That any…

GLC09376

1877

Newspaper clipping

Title: [The Rights of Lousiana]

Article discusses the admission of Lousiana as a state and how at that time they held enslaved people and the government promised to protect the property (enslaved people) of her people, yet they violated that right when Missouri was admitted. The article discusses whether they have the right to seceed.

GLC02691.12.01