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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.

Clay, Henry (1777-1852) Henry Clay's letter on emancipation.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00267.043 Author/Creator: Clay, Henry (1777-1852) Place Written: Louisville, Kentucky Type: Pamphlet Date: 1821 Pagination: 11 p. ; 22 x 14 cm. Order a Copy

While opposed to slavery, Clay argues that emancipation is a greater evil. His solution combined gradual emancipation with colonization. He says that the "Social, moral and political degradation would be the inevitable lot of the colored races" and points to the severity of Northern penal legislation against Black freedpeople. First edition.

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852

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