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.

Townsend, E. D. (Edward Davis), 1817-1893 [General order no. 16 to abolish the system of peonage in the Territory of New Mexico]

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08668 Author/Creator: Townsend, E. D. (Edward Davis), 1817-1893 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Document Date: 12 March 1867 Pagination: 2 p. ; 18.5 x 12.6 cm. Order a Copy

Transmits the act of Congress abolishing peonage in New Mexico "and other parts of the United States." States "that the holding of any person to service or labor under the system known as peonage is hereby declared to be unlawful, and the same is hereby abolished and forever prohibited in the Territory of New Mexico, or in any other Territory or State of the United States..." Issued by Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General, by order of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.

Townsend, E. D. (Edward Davis), 1817-1893
Stanton, Edwin M. (Edwin McMasters), 1814-1869

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources