(CIVIL WAR) SMITH GREEN CLAY Who Caused the War

Sale 2377 - Lot 117

Unsold

Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000

(CIVIL WAR.) SMITH, GREEN CLAY. Who Caused the War? Broadside, 21-1/2 x 17 inches, printed in a variety of fonts; two inch professional paper repair and a larger, 5-1/2 inch tape repair to reverse; large, faint damp-stain, some wrinkling from rolling. New Hampshire, February, 1864

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

An unusual piece, casting blame on Copperheads like Vallandigham of Ohio, Seymour of New York, and ex-President Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire for encouraging Southern extremists. Quoting a fragment from a January 1860 letter sent by Pierce to Jefferson Davis warning of war: "If through the madness of northern abolitionism, that dire calamity must come; the fighting will not be along Mason and Dixon's line merely. It will be within our borders in our own streets. . ." Pierce was never a friend of the anti-slavery cause. The broadside goes on to say that the war is not between abolitionists and pro-slavery men, but rather "a war between loyal men and traitors."