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.

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874 Speech of Gerrit Smith (to his neighbors) in Peterboro, N.Y., June 22d 1872.

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04717.71 Author/Creator: Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874 Place Written: Peterboro, New York Type: Printed document Date: 22 June 1872 Pagination: 3 p. : Height: 31 cm, Width: 21.6 cm Order a Copy

Smith writes "The Democratic Party is my dread. The Republican Party is my hope... I need not say that it is not the original Democratic Party- the party of my childhood and youth... But this modern Democratic party- this degenerate Democratic party- is very unlike the original Democratic party." Defends President Ulysses S. Grant against criticism. Mentions United States Senator Charles Sumner's speech against Grant, accusing Grant of insulting Frederick Douglass. In closing asks, "Is there a black man either at the North or at the South, who is inclined to vote the Democratic ticket? He had better die than do it."

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources