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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.

Churchill, Byron, 1846-? to: Drazilla Churchill.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03859.11 Author/Creator: Churchill, Byron, 1846-? Place Written: Grand Junction, Tennesee Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 24 November 1862 Pagination: 4 p. : Order a Copy

Churchill complains of the sheer number of African Americans in the South, and shows reservations about allowing them to become free: "[I]f the nigers are free…then you will see how them Black Devils will flock for the north and I am sure we don't want them round us in the north….I believe the Union would be far better off if they would kill off every niger there is in the south."

Churchill, Byron, 1846-1933

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