http://hdl.handle.net/2374.OX/19792 2013-06-19T20:04:13Z http://hdl.handle.net/2374.OX/62436 Letter to editor of the Quincy Patriot Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848 In 1837, Adams began to send reports on Congressional affairs to a local newspaper, the Quincy Patriot. In this letter dated September 21, 1838, he refers to a duel in which a pro-slavery Kentucky member of Congress, William Graves, killed a Maine Representative, Jonathan Cilley. After the incident took place, Adams persuaded Congress to pass a law outlawing dueling in the District of Columbia. The letter also discusses petitions made concerning the right to petition and its suppression through the "gag rule," abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia and the slave trade in the U.S., Adams' opposition to the admission of Texas, a condemnation of the "fraudulent" Treaty of New Echota which removed the Cherokee Indians. Original letter has liquid stains on each page. 2009-02-16T15:48:17Z http://hdl.handle.net/2374.OX/62435 The first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet Ritchie, Alexander Hay, 1822-1895 Steel engraving by A. H. Ritchie after the painting by Francis B. Carpenter. Fully titled "The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet. From the original picture painted at the White House in 1864." Large "premium engraving from 'The Independent.'" The image depicts Lincoln and his cabinet at his first reading of the proclamation, ending slavery in states still in rebellion. From left to right the men are indentified (per the caption): Edwin M. Stanton, Salmon P. Chase, President Lincoln, Gideon Welles, Caleb B. Smith, William H. Seward, Montgomery Blair and Edward Bates. A Confederate printer issued a virtual copy of this substituting Jefferson Davis and his cabinet, entitling it Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet. Framed in gold and black; outer dimensions 89.3 x 113.5 cm. 2009-02-16T15:48:07Z http://hdl.handle.net/2374.OX/62434 Letter to Uriah Tracy Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848 In 1804, Federalist Senator Timothy Pickering (1745-1829) called for a constitutional amendment apportioning each state's representation in the House of Representatives solely on the basis of the number of freemen. Such an amendment would have overturned the Three-Fifths Compromise and greatly reduced the number of slave state representatives. While Federalists, during the first years of the nineteenth century, attacked the three-fifths clause as a source of Republican power, they hesitated to directly challenge the institution of slavery itself. Their descendants, however, would assume a leading role in the antislavery campaign. Nevertheless, it is striking that as early as 1804, Adams was already thinking in terms of a "Slaveholding power." In a letter written from Quincy, Massachusetts, dated July 17, 1804, Adams writes about the possibility of an amendment against slavery, the fact that the House of Representatives represents freemen, and discusses the New York elections. 2009-02-16T15:47:59Z http://hdl.handle.net/2374.OX/62433 Letter to John F. Mercer Washington, George, 1732-1799 Letter to John F. Mercer, dated September 9, 1786. Written at a time when he owned some 277 slaves, Washington expresses his hopes for the gradual abolition of slavery. In the letter, Washington writes that "it is among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by the Legislature by which slavery in this Country may be abolished by slow, sure & imperceptible degrees." Washington did not want to accept slaves as payment for Mercer's debt. This letter not only reveals Washington's principles and distaste for slavery, but also an outlook shared by many of the founders, including many from the upper South. Many of the new nation's leaders desperately wanted to find gradualistic solutions to America's deepest-rooted problem. In his will, Washington provided for the emancipation of his slaves following his wife's death. 2009-02-16T15:47:50Z