Author: SUMNER, Charles
Title: Autograph Letter Signed (Als)
Description: [Washington, DC], 24 March 1856. Letter. A two-page AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED on both sides of a 5" x 8" sheet of paper to the Secretary of War (Jefferson Davis) addressed as "Senate Chamber" to "Sir." In full: "Some days ago I addressed to the Department of War papers in the case of a [?] Thomas Fallen; but have not yet received any answer to the application for his discharge. Allow me to call your attention to the case once more, & to ask information as to the result. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Charles Sumner." Below this Sumner has added "The Secretary of War. Creases from folding. Very Good Senator Charles Sumner, perhaps the most influential man in public life after Lincoln at the end of the Civil War, was a notable advocate for emancipation of the slaves and later for civil rights. He was the originator of the idea of constitutional emancipation which came about finally with the Thirteenth Amendment. He was severely beaten on the floor of the United States Senate by Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina in retribution for Sumner's attack on Brooks's uncle, South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act in his "Crime against Kansas" [May 19 and 20, 1856] speech. The beating nearly killed Sumner, and it took him several years to recover. The beating also contributed significantly to the country's polarization over the issue of slavery and has been considered symbolic of the "breakdown of reasoned discourse" and the use of violence that eventually led to the Civil War.

Keywords: Signed, American Politics, Autograph Letter, Charles Sumner, Civil War, Slavery, Americana Autographs Americana Signed Slavery


See more books from our catalog: Signed