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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.

Weed, Thurlow (1797-1882) to John Sherman

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02974 Author/Creator: Weed, Thurlow (1797-1882) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Letter signed Date: 29 July 1876 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 20.4 x 25.4 cm. Order a Copy

Writes, "In view of universal business paralisis [sic] and consequent universal distress, has not the Government stood still long enough? [...] Congress promised to pay the public Creditor in Gold or Silver Coin. Who has the rights under the Constitution to impair that contract? What excuse can Congress offer for refusing to coin silver into dollars? Is this question satisfactorily answered by saying that we have unexpectedly developed too much silver. Will our friends by refusing to return to the silver and gold policy from its origin to 1874 leave our adversaries to wield this weapon against us." Contains note on verso, written in graphite at a later date, "Return Queery [sic]. Was Mr. Weed a crazy silverite?", and initialed, "HJ" or "HI."

Thurlow Weed was a politician and newspaper editor from New York who was involved in the Whig political machine. John Sherman (1823-1900), brother of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, was a Congressman and Senator from Ohio and served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) and as Secretary of the Treasury under President William McKinley (1897-1898). When this letter was written, in 1876, Sherman was Senator of Ohio and chairman of the Committee on Finance.

Sherman, John, 1823-1900
Weed, Thurlow, 1797-1882

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