HORACE GREELEY - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 03/16/1868 - HFSID 1799

HORACE GREELEY
Horace Greeley sends an autograph letter about hoping the coming generation does not have to "struggle for Liberty and Equality".
Autograph Letter Signed: "Horace Greeley", 1p, 4½x7. New York, 1868 June 16. To an unnamed "Young Friend". In full: "In the hope that neither you nor your descendants will ever be called to struggle for Liberty and Equality as we of the passing generation have been compelled to do and in the hope that you will live long to enjoy and prize the blessings so dearly won." The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress on June 13, 1866. It was ratified by the required two-thirds of the states on July 9, 1868, 23 days after Greeley wrote this letter. This amendment stated that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were citizens of the U.S. and of the state in which they reside and their rights were not to be abridged by a state. This amendment was especially aimed at the newly freed slaves. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution which abolished slavery, had been ratified on December 6, 1865. Greeley founded the New York "Tribune" in 1841. He had supported abolitionism and the Free Soil movement and was opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. AT THE MAY 1, 1872 Liberal Republican Party Convention held at Industrial Hall, Cincinnati, HORACE GREELEY WAS NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT ON THE SIXTH BALLOT. The Liberal Republicans recognized the equality of all men, demanded amnesty for former Confederates and supported states' rights, reform of the civil service, a modest tariff and maintenance of public credit. Benjamin Gratz Brown was nominated for Vice President. On June 5-6, 1872, the Republicans nominated President Grant for a second term and Henry Wilson for Vice President. AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION held at Ford's Opera House in Baltimore, July 9-10, 1872, GREELEY WAS NOMINATED ON THE FIRST BALLOT, and Brown was nominated for Vice President. ON NOVEMBER 5, 1872, PRESIDENT GRANT WAS REELECTED, WINNING 29 STATES AND 286 ELECTORAL VOTES. The campaign greatly affected the 61-year-old newspaperman's health and on November 29, 1872, just 24 days after the election, Greeley died. The electoral votes had not as yet been cast and the 66 votes from the six states he had carried were divided among four people: Thomas A. Hendricks (42 electoral votes), Benjamin Gratz Brown (18), Charles J. Jenkins (two) and David Davis (one). Three electors from Georgia cast their votes for Greeley anyway but, by House resolution, they were not counted. Uniformly tanned. Stains touch about 14 words including the "a" in Horace. Folds, one runs between the "or" in Horace. Mounting remnants on verso lightly show through to blank left margin.