Partly-printed war-dated DS as president, one page, 16.75 x 12.5, November 1, 1862. Lincoln appoints Charles Eldridge of New York to the position of “Consul of the United States of America at Maracaibo…And I do hereby pray and request the Government of Venezuela, Its Governors and Officers to permit the said Charles Eldridge fully and peaceably to enjoy and exercise the said office without giving or suffering to be given unto him any molestation or trouble.” Signed in full at the conclusion by Lincoln, and countersigned by Secretary of State William Seward. Double matted and framed with a portrait of Lincoln, and a portrait of Lincoln and his family, to an overall size of 35.75 x 24. In very good condition, with central horizontal and vertical fold, scattered toning and light foxing, and four small blocks of toning near each corners from old mounting remnants on reverse. The white wafer seal is slightly worn but cimpletely intact.
Lincoln’s appointment may have involved more than just standard political policy. The president was an advocate of colonization efforts to either return freed slaves to their native country or place them in a new land. He addressed colonization in his annual messages to Congress in 1861, advocating ‘steps be taken for colonizing both classes...at some place, or places, in a climate congenial to them. It might be well to consider, too,—whether the free colored people already in the United States could not, so far as individuals may desire, be included in such colonization.’ In 1862, he reiterated to Congress, ‘I cannot make it better known than it already is, that I strongly favor colonization.’ Seward was also a proponent, and saw the Caribbean basin as the ideal place to colonize emancipated slaves. Congress set aside $600,000 for this during the Civil War, with the nation examining spots in Mexico, British Honduras, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica—not always with the permission of the national governments. It is possible that Eldridge’s duty—whether written or unwritten—was to explore Venezuela as one such locale. Ultimately, these colonization efforts failed, with a projected African-American colony on the Isthmus of Panama failing to take shape and another one in Haiti turning into a debacle as starvation and smallpox wiped out the relocated inhabitants. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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