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Slingerland, John I : Speech of Hon. John I. Slingerland, of N. Y. on Internal Improvements, the War, and Land Monopoly; Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, June 22, 1848

Printed by J. and G. S. Gideon, Washington, D.C.

Original publisher's beige paper wrappers. Text printed in black ink. No date, circa 1848. 5 3/4" x 9." Sixteen pages, complete. Pages are clean and intact except for light age toning, small occasional spots of foxing or discoloration, a crease in lower corner near fore-edge on the last leaf, and some chipping and splitting along spine. A Very Good copy. A speech about the Mexican-American War and other contemporary events that was originally delivered before the United States House of Representatives on June 22, 1848 by John I. Slingerland (1804-1861), an American politician, farmer, businessman, and abolitionist. He served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1847-1849. He was a Whig but later joined the Republican Party upon its formation. He gained national attention when he alerted anti-slavery activists about the plight of black slaves aboard the schooner Pearl in what would become known as the Pearl incident and further publicized the event. The Pearl incident happened on April 15, 1848 and is the largest recorded nonviolent escape in U.S. history of enslaved people. In this speech, Slingerland addresses a number of subjects centered upon the three in the title, "internal improvements," the Mexican-American War, and "land monopoly." About the first six pages address the need for improvements along New York's harbors and waterways. Projects on the Hudson River are emphasized and Slingerland uses a variety of monetary figures and statistical numbers to support his argument in favor of said projects and their funding and against President James K. Polk's prosecution of the Mexican-American War. Slingerland criticizes Polk for spending millions of dollars on the war while withholding money to be spent on civil projects. He posits that the money spent on the war could have instead been used to repair and maintain waterways and develop the agricultural industry. Slingerland segues this discussion into an unflinching critique of the Mexican-American War (about Pages 7-10) which he adamantly considered to be unconstitutionally and unnecessarily brought by Polk. He traces the events of the war in a brief and relatively chronological manner beginning from the annexation of Texas and ending with its conclusion and the resulting acquisitions of California and New Mexico. He views many of Polk's actions preceding and during the war to have been done with a duplicitous agenda for conquest. For example, he questions why Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico when Slidell was not the type of diplomat that Mexico had requested and why the U.S. Army was ordered to march into Mexico following the U.S. victories in the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. From about Page 11 to 13, Slingerland voices his support for Zachary Taylor as the Whig presidential candidate in the 1848 election and opposes Democratic presidential candidate Lewis Cass and criticizes his changing political stances on key issues. In the remainder of the pamphlet, Slingerland opposes what he calls the "land monopoly" and the Polk administrations apparent support of it. The central argument he makes on this subject is that land should be in the hands of the many, not the few. He decries that so much land is currently in the hands of relatively few slaveholders and land speculators. He likens the current state of land ownership in the U.S. to British serfdoms where "the soil is almost wholly in possession of the nobility, and the laborers are but serfs, bound down to their allegiance, and compelled to do the bidding of their masters." He instead advocates for the sale of limited parcels of land to the general public, those "who will cultivate and improve it.". Book. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Soft cover

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