Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -

Sale 2697 - Lot 342

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(RECONSTRUCTION.) Wiley P. Harris. An ex-Confederate lawyer complains about "Negro government" in the midst of the Vicksburg Riots. Autograph Letter Signed to A.D. Banks. One page, 9¾ x 7¾ inches, on Harris & George letterhead; mailing folds, 3 small ink blots, minimal wear. Jackson, MS, 26 December 1874
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The author Wiley Pope Harris (1818-1891) had served in both the antebellum United States Congress and the Confederate Congress. Here he complains to a legal client who was apparently in the north: "Can't you take occasion to stick a few ideas into the so-called statesmen at Washington. Tell them to back out of a bad scrape. Negro government cannot be republican because it must be irresponsible government, which is a contradiction in terms. You know that irresponsibility complete and total flows directly in Negro government from the representative principle in the government. We can't have a responsible government here because it is a representative Negro government. Irresponsible government can only be kept up by military force. It will run down in spite of everything, and under the most conservative spirit of forbearance in the people."

We can't say we follow Harris's legal reasoning here, but he was right about the military force. When he wrote this letter, white supremacist terrorists had killed dozens in recent months and took control of the Vicksburg courthouse. Five days before this letter, President Grant issued an order to stop the fighting and dispatched federal troops to the city. Marauding gangs of Red Shirts nonetheless re-established a white supremacist government in Mississippi over the following year.

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