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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.

Smith, Gerrit (1797-1874) No slavery in Nebraska: no slavery in the nation: slavery an outlaw. Speech of Gerrit Smith, on the Nebraska Bill.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05116.06 Author/Creator: Smith, Gerrit (1797-1874) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Pamphlet Date: 6 April 1854 Pagination: 1 v. : 24 p. ; 22.1 x 13.6 cm. Order a Copy

Representative Smith states, "I am opposed to the bill for organizing the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, which has come to us from the Senate, because, in the first place, it insults colored men, and the Maker of all men, by limiting suffrage to white men... in the second place, it limits suffrage to persons, who have acquired citizenship... in the third place, because, it is so drawn, as to convey the deceptive idea... that the bill recognizes the doctrine of non-intervention."

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

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