Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 70,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World to soldiers’ letters from World War II and Vietnam. Explore primary sources, visit exhibitions in person or online, or bring your class on a field trip.

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Showing results 51 - 75

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1856

Greeley & McElrath (1841-1866)

Pamphlet

Title: The border ruffian code in Kansas.

Published by the Tribune Office in New York City. Includes an examination of the "The character of the Code of pretended Laws enacted by the bogus Territorial Legislature of Kansas- a Legislature notoriously forced upon the people of that territory, at the hands of invading ruffians from Missouri, using the persuasive arguments of the Bowie-Knife and Revolver..." Includes a presentation of the Presidential platforms of 1856 and the acceptance speeches of John C. Fremont, James Buchanan, and Millard Fillmore for their respective nominations.

GLC05116.19

1856

Unknown

Object

Title: [Campaign ribbon on silk: "Old buck is coming"]

Faded pink silk ribbon with black ink images and text. Begins with an image of a buck (male dear), and the statement "Old Buck is Coming," referring to 1856 presidential candidate James Buchanan. Below the buck, the ribbon depicts blacks with knapsacks and a bear, apparently fleeing westward, with the exclamation "Fremont! Free Niggers! Off for the Rocky Mountains" (Buchanan's opponent, Senator John C. Fremont, argued that the government should prevent the spread of slavery into the new western territories).

GLC05877

23 August 1856

Welles, Gideon (1802-1878)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Francis Preston Blair

Praises a letter Blair wrote, published in a newspaper (possibly the New York Evening Post). Has confidence that "we shall succeed in electing Fremont," referring to John C. Fremont's candidacy in the 1856 Presidential election. Compares the popular element of the 1856 election to that of 1828, "which brought in the glorious old hero we all loved so well" (Andrew Jackson).

GLC02184

17 October 1856

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Campbell

Writes to U.S. Postmaster General Campbell regarding his decision to delay the appointment of a postmaster for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for political reasons. Date "17" was overwritten on "16." Docketed as 16th. Written as a candidate in the 1856 presidential election from his estate, Wheatland, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

GLC00655.10

25 October 1856

Miller, Daniel L. (fl. 1856)

Broadside

Title: ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD. Let every Voter Examine and Judge for Himself!

Election broadside focusing on the extension of slavery. Compares the Presidential platforms of James Buchanan/John C. Breckinridge and John C. Fremont/William L. Dayton.

GLC06275

28 June 1856

Welles, Gideon (1802-1878)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Discusses the prospects of the newly formed republican party in the election of 1856. Comments that some would like to see William Freame Johnston on the ticket but Welles hopes Johnston will withdraw. Also discusses the prospects of Millard Filmore, the Whigs, James Buchanan, and the Know Nothing Party, and comments on their various supporters. William Freame Johnston was nominated by the North American Party to run for vice president with John C. Fremont on the Republican ticket but withdrew.

GLC08161

1857

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Pamphlet

Title: [Message of the President of the United States regarding Kansas]

President Buchanan submits a report of Lewis Cass, Secretary of State, with other correspondence and documents related to the Kansas Territory. Contains correspondence of Robert John Walker, Governor of Kansas Territory, among others. 35th Congress, 1st session, Senate. Ex. Doc. No. 8. Concludes with Cass's reply to Walker's resignation.

GLC00267.167

March 1857

Freeman, Watson (fl. 1850-1857)

Manuscript letter

Title: to James Buchanan

Copy of Watson's letter to Buchanan asking to be reappointed as U.S. Marshal. References his service as marshal for the last four years. Describes the case of fugitive slave Anthony Burns. "...the people of Boston, who witnessed the battering down the door of the Court House, & the murder of one of my deputies, standing by my side, by a mob of two thousand abolitionists in their attempt to rescue from my custody the Slave Burns." States he did not leave his post for eight days and that he has received anonymous death threats.

GLC09028.04

16 March 1857

Smith, W.T. (fl. 1857)

Manuscript letter

Title: to James Buchanan

Smith writes to President Buchanan as a friend of Charles F. Suttle (owner of fugitive slave Anthony Burns), to support U.S. Marshal Watson Freeman and District Attorney for Massachusetts Benjamin F. Hallett for reappointment. States that Suttle desires an interview with the president. Marked as a copy.

GLC09028.06

1857/07/03

Connecticut electors

Letter signed

Title: To: James Buchanan [Copy]

Copy of New Haven Memorial sent to Buchanan by electors of Connecticut regarding their grievances with the Lecompton Constitution, popular sovereignty and slavery in Kansas. Includes the signatures of 43 electors. "...the people shall make their own laws & elect their own rulers...the President of the United States is employing...an army one purpose of which is to force the people of Kansas to obey laws not their own nor of the United States..."

GLC07992.01

1857/07/03 ca.

Unknown

Autograph letter

Title: To: [unknown] [Rough draft]

Rough draft of letter regarding the grievances of Connecticut electors with the Lecompton Constitution, popular sovereignty and slavery in Kansas, and the electors criticism of Pres. Buchanan. "After what was called the "abolition of the Missouri Compromise" in 185[ ] a struggle began between the supporters of slavery and the determined advocates of freedom for the possession of the territory of Kansas by population & settlement."

GLC07992.02

1857/08 ca.

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Pamphlet

Title: The New Haven: Memorial to the President & his response

"New Haven" pamplet entitled-- "Memorial to the President, protesting against the use of the United-States army to enforce the bogus laws of Kansas; The Answer of President Buchanan; and The Reply of the Memorialists." Regarding the grievances of Connecticut electors with the Lecompton Constitution, popular sovereignty and slavery in Kansas, and the electors criticism of Pres. Buchanan. Buchanan's defense and justifications for his actions, then the New Haven delegation's reply.

GLC07992.04

1857/08/15

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Letter signed

Title: Reply to: Connecticut electors [New Haven delegation]

President James Buchanan's response to the New Haven Memorial--grievances of Connecticut electors with the LeCompton Constitution, popular sovereignty and slavery in Kansas, and the electors criticism of him. "These are heavy charges, proceeding from gentlemen of your high character...if [unfounded] they will rebound with withering condemnation upon their authors."

GLC07992.03

1858

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Pamphlet

Title: Message of the President of the United States, communicating a constitution for Kansas as a State, and presenting his views in relation to the affairs of that Territory.

United States 35th Congress, 1st session, Executive Document no. 21, Senate. Second half of pamphlet includes a proposed constitution for the state of Kansas. Article VII, on slavery, states "The right of property is before and higher than any constitutional sanction, and the right of the owner of a slave to such slave and its increase is the same, and as inviolable as the right of the owner of any property whatever."

GLC00267.168

1858

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton (1812-1883)

Pamphlet

Title: [House report no. 377 regarding the Lecompton Constitution, and the admission of Kansas into the Union]

35th Congress, 1st session. Opens with a report of Representative Stephens, from the Select Committee. Also includes a message from President James Buchanan, and other documents related to the admission of Kansas to the Union under the Lecompton Constitution. Cover is missing. Stephens went on to serve as vice president of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

GLC00267.172

20 January 1858

Pierce, Franklin (1804-1869)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George M. Dallas

Buchana's Presidency and politics: " Does it not sound oddly enough to hear ... Douglas ... Question whether he is indeed in or out of the Democratic party? These early open divisions certainly do not argur well."

GLC07990

23 January 1858

Johnson, Andrew (1808-1875)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to D. J. Patterson

Discusses appointments and mentions helping a mutual friend, John H. Craff and that the appointment of a "John Hural (?) a route agent on the Va [and] E Tenn Rail Road amounts to nothing..." Writes that he is "inclined to think though [James Buchanan] has much more strength through the country than he has in Congress..." and that Buchanan "needs will and decision of character while he seems to have a good deal of it in conversation! but he is timed and hesitating in practice..." Assesses Stephen Douglas's future within the Democratic party.

GLC00324

17 March 1858

Moore, John (1826-1907)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Kelly

Describes considerable suffering and deprivations experienced while preparing for armed conflict with the Mormons. Mentions discontent among the "ambitious young men in the army" because of a rumor that President James Buchanan made overtures to Brigham Young that will result in a peaceful settlement.

GLC04194.07

27 March 1858

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James William Denver

Writing as President of the United States, Buchanan congratulates Denver, Governor of the Kansas Territory, on his excellent standing with the Territory's citizens. States that the issue of admitting Kansas to the Union will be addressed the following week by the Senate and House of Representatives.

GLC04695

6 April 1858

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Document

Title: A Proclamation...concerning the Utah War and its necessity.

Printed declaration by President Buchanan proclaiming that a state of rebellion exists in the Territory of Utah, and offering a pardon to all citizens who submit to the authority of the United States government. The present proclamation mentions Mormon resistance as well as part of Buchanan's plan for peace.

GLC05708

May 1858

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Pamphlet

Title: Message of the President of the United States, communicating in compliance with a resolution of the Senate, papers in regard to the seizure of the American barque Panchita on the coast of Africa.

35th Congress, 1st session, Senate Executive Document 61. The Panchita was an American slave ship seized by British vessels off the coast of Africa. Although the British admitted seizure violated U.S.-British accords, they argued it was in good faith.

GLC00267.040

May 1858

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Pamphlet

Title: Message of the President of the United States, communicating, in answer to a resolution of the Senate, information concerning the recent search or seizure of American vessels by foreign armed cruisers in the Gulf of Mexico.

35th Congress, 1st session, Senate Executive Document 59. Describes ships stopped in the Gulf of Mexico by British vessels searching for boats engaged in the slave trade. Includes narratives and American reactions, including a response of Secretary of State Lewis Cass.

GLC00267.041

03 May 1858

Buchanan, James (1791-1868)

Document signed

Title: Pardon of George Kirk, Edward Burr, & George Carroll, convicted of defrauding the revenue.

Convicted of defrauding the revenue; each sentenced to pay a $400 fine and court costs and to be confined until paid. All pardoned due to their inability to pay fine. Signed by James Buchanan. Countersigned by Lewis Cass. Accompanied by a paper seal.

GLC00043.19

11 June 1858

Moore, John (1826-1907)

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Kelly

Reports that nothing has been heard from the commissioners sent out by President James Buchanan to negotiate with Brigham Young, so he cannot tell her if Young has accepted the pardon offer. Moore hopes Young will fight. He expresses disdain for Young and thinks that any in the East who have sympathy for the Mormon cause are misguided.

GLC04194.09

19 June 1858

Unknown

Pamphlet

Title: Treaty Between the United States and the Siseeton and Wahpaton Bands of the Dakota or Sioux Tribe of Indians

Concerns the cession of Sioux land, their removal, and the remuneration they will receive. Authorized by President James Buchanan. Treaty arranged by Charles E. Mix, Commissioner on the part of the United States, and the Siseeton and Wahpaton leaders on 19 June 1858 (and ratified on 21 March 1859).

GLC08055.46

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