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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.

Campbell, Robert C., fl. 1861 to James Beale

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05127.01 Author/Creator: Campbell, Robert C., fl. 1861 Place Written: Austin, Texas Type: Autograph letter signed Date: February 1, 1861 Pagination: 1 p. : Height: 24.8 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

Campbell, representing Galveston, Texas at the state Secession Convention, transmits several ordinances (not included) regarding Texas' secession to Beale (possibly Campbell's cousin). Declares "The Union is defunct -- dead, never to be revived. No concessions now would occasion its reconstruction. The South can not be conquered ... The cost has been counted and we are ready to pay it ... Had simple equality been conceded, the South would have submitted to every other wrong."

Beale, James, fl. 1861
Campbell, Robert C., fl. 1861

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