Exceedingly rare unsigned handwritten manuscript, three lightly-lined pages, 7.5 x 12.5, a corrected draft of pages 11-13 of Cause of War Between the States in Davis’s Short History of the Confederate States. Concerning the causes of the war between the States, Davis contends that the institution of African slavery was not the main cause, but rather incidental. “Ignorance and credulity have enabled unscrupulous partisans so to mislead public opinion both at home and abroad as to create the belief that the institution of ‘African slavery’ was the cause instead of being an incident in the group of causes which led to war.” The misrepresentation, contends Davis, is that “the North is presented as having fought for the emancipation of African slaves, and the South for the defence of the institution of African servitude as it existed in the Southern States.” He argues at length that the South was opposed to the increase of slaves by means of importation: “[H]er whole history from colonial times when Southern colonies opposed the ‘slave trade’ in which old England and New England was engaged, refutes the base and baseless reflection. The constitution of the Confederate States, gave no years of grace to the slave trade, but forbade it immediately, from any foreign country other than the slave holding states or territories of the United States, and gave to Congress the power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from the last named states or territories.” Davis then explores the point regarding the extension of slavery which “is based on the assertion of the equal right of all citizens in and to the territory belonging to the United States. The equality it was contended carried with it the right of each citizen migrating to a Territory to take with him any kind of property lawfully held in the State from which he had migrated. This was a claim reasonably deducted from the fact that the territory belonged to the States in common and the denial of it was resisted because it implied inequality, and was an offensive discrimination. There could have been little if any pecuniary inducement to take slaves into the North West territory. Persons migrating from the Southern States would probably desire to take with them domestics…but the same climactic causes which had led to the transfer of slaves from the No. East to the South would have prevented the permanent establishment of the institution of slavery in the States which might arise out of the N. Western Teritories…The transfer from a Southern State to a N. Western Territory would certainly not increase the number and dispersion could only tend to comfort and harmony…If the object was…to confine the institution until by its density slaves should become unprofitable, that is until their labor should no longer enable the master adequately to provide for them…want should compel emancipation.” Davis concludes rather unconvincingly that the “humane man, looking at all the progressive stages of suffering and consequent crime, to which this program inevitably would tend might ask is this the feast which philanthropy has spread for us.” In very good condition, with mild overall toning, small pinholes to top left corners, light folds and creases, and a few words light but legible. Davis had long entertained a plan of having a competent student of American history write a short history of the United States. Friends had urged him to undertake the task himself but he had been too preoccupied with the writing of The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. His meeting in 1888 with James Redpath, the abolitionist and managing editor of the North American Review, and their deepening friendship finally persuaded Davis to commence work on The Short History of the Confederate States. He completed it shortly before his death in 1889. LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA. Oversized.
We use cookies on this site to improve your experience. By using this site, you accept our use of cookies. To learn more, please see our Privacy Policy.
