Pamphlet: Conspiracy Disclosed!! Kansas Affairs / SOLD

Description

Pamphlet: Conspiracy Disclosed!! Kansas Affairs

Read! Read!! Read!!! Printed 1856, United States Original mid-19th century political pamphlet, issued in small booklet form, measuring approximately 9” x 6”. The cover title page bears the striking headline: “Conspiracy Disclosed!! Kansas Affairs. Read! Read!! Read!!!” This pamphlet reprints a speech of Congressman John Letcher of Virginia (delivered August 2, 1856, in the U.S. House of Representatives) exposing what he characterized as a conspiracy by “Black Republican” members of Congress and their Northern allies to stir violence in Kansas following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The text accuses abolitionist leaders, including Gerrit Smith, James H. Lane, and Charles H. Nute of Lawrence, of plotting to drive pro-slavery settlers from the territory. It cites resolutions of anti-slavery conventions promising “a hundred thousand dollars a month” to support the cause, and records incidents such as the burning of Franklin, the assault on Colonel Titus’ house near Lecompton, and raids by Free State militias. The work also links the Kansas unrest to the broader 1856 presidential campaign, warning that Republican candidate John C. Frémont and his supporters sought to profit politically from sectional violence. Letcher charges that influential voices like Horace Greeley of the New-York Tribune openly preferred civil war to the preservation of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. These pamphlets were issued as partisan propaganda and circulated widely in the North and South during the 1856 election, intended to sway public opinion and inflame sectional passions.

Today, surviving examples remain scarce, as such ephemeral political tracts were often discarded after use. Condition: Complete as issued, with strong printing and legible text. Light age toning and scattered foxing, small margin wear, and expected handling from circulation. Housed in a modern protective frame. A rare surviving example of a Kansas-Nebraska crisis campaign pamphlet, offering direct insight into the heated political climate of the 1856 election and the escalating conflict that would culminate in the Civil War.

Comes housed in 8 x 14 riker display case with red velvet and descriptive card.

Inventory Number: HIS 278