SPEECH OF THE HON. REVERDY JOHNSON, OF MARYLAND, DELIVERED BEFORE THE POLITICAL FRIENDS OF HON. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, AT A MEETING IN FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, ON THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1860. TO WHICH IS ADDED THE LETTER OF THE HON. REVERDY JOHNSON, TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE DOUGLAS MEETING IN NEW YORK ON THE 22D OF MAY, 1860.
Baltimore: John Murphy, 1860. 16pp, disbound and lightly foxed. Good+.
Johnson, a Maryland pro-slavery Democratic Unionist, carried enormous authority on the divisive issue of slavery in the territories: he had argued the winning side of the Dred Scott Case. Here, supporting the presidential candidacy of Douglas, he explains that Dred Scott did not bar a territorial legislature from prohibiting slavery in its territory. This is one of two printings by Murphy, without the statement of "$10 per 1000" on page 16.
Douglas had insisted that, as leader of the Northern Democrats, he had earned the right to the 1860 nomination by stepping aside in 1856 for the sake of party unity. But Southern fire-eaters bolted the 1860 Charleston Convention, which adjourned to Baltimore to finish up its business. Johnson's speech came after the Charleston disruption but before the Baltimore resumption. A formidable opponent of Yancey and his separatist coalition, Johnson gives an important speech supporting the national Democratic Party, the sole remaining national political institution in 1860, and explaining the Dred Scott decision.
LCP 5340. Not in Cohen. Item #29421
Price: $175.00