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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.

Duncan, Stephen (1787-1867) to unknown

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05339.04 Author/Creator: Duncan, Stephen (1787-1867) Place Written: Natchez, Mississippi Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 14 January 1860 Pagination: 4 p. : docket ; 25 x 19.7 cm. Order a Copy

Discusses impending trouble between the North and South. Remarks that "the South presents a more united front" than during any other period. Comments extensively on states' rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. Discusses some politicians' aim to break down the Democratic Party, attesting that such men "have no more sympathy for the negro- & no more hatred for slavery, than I have..." Criticizes Northerners for interfering with the issue of slavery. Notes a decline in the price of sugar and molasses. Requests numerous quantities of champagne.

Stephen Duncan was a landowner, slaveholder, and financier in pre-Civil War America.

Duncan, Stephen, 1787-1867

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