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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.

Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 to James Cook Conklin

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06089 Author/Creator: Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 Place Written: Lowell, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1 September 1863 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; Height: 20.6 cm, Width: 25.2 cm Order a Copy

In a working draft of a telegram, General Butler responds to an invitation to a convention of Union supporters in Springfield, Illinois from Conkling, a judge active in state politics. Discussing the Civil War, states "Compromises are impossible save between equals in rights-- Reorganization or reconstruction is alone useful where vicious parts are to be left out. Amnesties are for individuals not for organized communities ... " Marked as a telegram. Contains a handwritten note in faded red ink on the first page labeling the document as copied. This telegram cites Conkling's name as "Conklin."

Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893
Conkling, James Cook, 1816-1889

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