Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Morrill, Justin Smith, 1810-1898 to John Sherman

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02762 Author/Creator: Morrill, Justin Smith, 1810-1898 Place Written: Strafford, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1 April 1861 Pagination: 1 p. : docket Height: 24.7 cm, Width: 19.4 cm Order a Copy

Morrill, a United States Representative from Vermont, discusses Sherman's election to the Senate. States "I regret you have left the House when I think you might have rendered more important services to your country than you will find opportunity to do in the Senate. You could without doubt…have been Speaker…at a crisis that will figure in our history. Then you are greatly needed on economical questions with our party-- many of whom have no just idea of the responsibility of the Republican Party or a Republican Representative…Our Tariff Bill is unfortunate in being launched at this time as it will be made the scape-goat of all difficulties. In fact the Southern Confederacy would have made a lower tariff had we left the old law in force and precisely the same troubles would have been presented." (The Morrill Tariff had been passed in February of 1861. Strongly protectionist, it had been vehemently opposed by southerners prior to secession.) Morrill served as Representative 1855-1866, and Senator 1867-1898. Sherman, brother of General William T. Sherman, served as a United States Representative from Ohio 1855-1860, and Senator 1861-1876 and 1881-1898.

Morrill, Justin Smith, 1810-1898
Sherman, John, 1823-1900

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources