Gadsden, James (1788-1858) to John Cripps
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03587.29 Author/Creator: Gadsden, James (1788-1858) Place Written: Charleston, South Carolina Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 8 August 1857 Pagination: 2 p. : address ; 21.5 x 13.7 cm. Order a Copy
Writes to his Secretary as an addendum to yesterday's letter (GLC03587.26) that the entire idea behind bargaining for the strip of land is to "get the right to import free of duty into any of the Ports of the Gulf Cotton, Rice, flour, Corn and lard."
Gadsden was a railroad promoter and advocated a Southern rail system, the purpose of which would be to control the trade of the South and the West, thereby freeing those regions from their dependency on the North. To further this end he promoted Southern commercial conventions, and at a convention in 1845 he boldly urged the construction of a railroad to the Pacific. In 1853, when Jefferson Davis was Secretary of War in Pierce's cabinet, Gadsden was appointed minister to Mexico to negotiate for territory along the border. The result was the Gadsden Purchase. He was recalled in 1856 for exceeding his instructions. Cripps was General Gadsden's Secretary and a sawyer by profession.
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