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Blair, F. P., Jr : Speech of Hon. F. P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, at the Cooper Institute, New York City, Wednesday, January 25, 1860

Buell & Blanchard, Washington, D.C., 1858

Original publisher's pamphlet printed in black ink on beige paper. No binding. Pages are loose. 5 1/2" x 8 1/4." Fourteen pages, complete. Pages are very clean and intact except for offsetting on front, light age toning throughout, and small occasional spots of foxing or discoloration. A Very Good copy. Also published in the New York Herald on January 26, 1860. Francis, Jr. makes a stirring speech that calls for the abolition of slavery. He references revolutions in Europe that have overthrown autocratic governments, the abolition of slavery in countries such as Ireland and England, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), John C. Calhoun, James Buchanan, Benito Juarez, and Brigham Young. Francis, Jr. pointedly states his view of there are only two classes in the South, those for and against the Union. He states that slavery is considered piracy under the Constitution and that the Confederate ideology is a direct attack upon the Constitution and runs contrary to the political ideals of the Founding Fathers. He further envisions a Republican president who will protect both non-slaveholders and slaveholders and phase out the institution of slavery. One of Francis, Jr.'s central arguments in favor of abolition is that slavery creates general economic ruin and economic hardships for white laborers. As an example, he cites the bankruptcy of British economy in the West Indies and Britain's subsequent abolition of the slave trade in that region. He also envisions and describes an idyllic Virginia and other Southern states without slavery. Ultimately, Francis, Jr. depicts the Southern Democrats as an oppressive force that will fracture the Union and the Republican Party as the only means to protect the Union. Francis Preston Blair, Jr. (1821-1875) was an American politician and military officer. He served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 1871-1873 and as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from 1857-1859, in 1860, and from 1861-1864. During the Civil War, he served as a Major General for the Union Army. His father, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), was a noted lawyer, journalist, editor, and political advisor who reached across party lines and helped co-found the Republican Party in 1856 and advised President Andrew Jackson and President Abraham Lincoln. Both Francis, Sr. and Francis, Jr. began their political careers as Democrats but later joined the Free Soil Party and then the Republican Party despite being slaveholders. They were ardent supporters of Lincoln and abolition but rejoined the Democratic Party in opposition to Republican policies of the Reconstruction era.. Book. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: No Binding

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