Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Letter |
Date |
1844/05/29 |
Catalog Number |
pp 213 |
Description |
Samuel Sample to Colfax May 29, 1844 Concerning a report he wrote, the slave issue and other political matters. Also mentions Colfax's matrimonial plans. Includes Colfax's notation of receipt and answer. |
Title |
Colfax Collection, Letter Samuel Sample to Colfax May 29, 1844 |
Collection |
Colfax Collection |
Credit line |
The History Museum Collection |
People |
Colfax, Schuyler Sample, Samuel C., Hon. Polk, James K. Van Buren, Martin Benton, Thomas Hart Hardin, J.J. |
Search Terms |
Slavery Abolition Marriage Politics Texas annexation Westward Expansion war Colfax, Schuyler Sample, Samuel Polk, James K. Van Buren, Martin Benton, Thomas Hart Hardin, J.J. |
Subjects |
Slavery Abolition Marriage Politics Texas annexation Westward Expansion war |
Transcription |
Page One Top of the page written in pencil Samuel C. Sample Washington 29th May 1844 Dear Schuyler I rec your very obliging letter last night - I do not know what I should do if it were not for you & Mrs. Sample. You keep me informed of the political movements and she of family affairs but she occasionally mingles a little politics with domestic matters - she is getting her dander up a little, especially where anything occurs concerning her better half. She gives me whatever political gossip she hears about me - You said nothing about the report I sent you on the Map[?]. Everlasting - Mrs. S informed me that the abolitionists made it a text book at Mishawaka & used me without gloves. Well be it so - it contains the right constitutional & conservative grounds - Well the locos(1) are poking fun at us by the nomination of Polk(2) of Tennessee. Which we were informed of an hour or two ago by telegraph. This telegram is a tall affair - we knew every thing done at the convention in 15 minutes after it transpired - We have yet received no communication of the nom- Page Two ination of the V.P. but are momentarily expecting it - Poor Van(3) had to go by the board - From 151 votes to a withdrawal is too bad - Well "how are the mighty fallen" but he is an older & a better man than Polk and a stronger man to boot - we can flag Polk the easier of the two. The Texas issue [annexation] will now be fairly presented to the people and we say unto them - choose Ye - We shall now have a fair trial of strength whether free trade or protection shall prevail - We shall now know whether the people of this country prefer the slave policy of the South to that conservative policy which throws the shield of protection over the free white mans labor - We shall now whether those liberal & just Whig principles which are destined to place the country in a prosperous condition are to prevail on that negative policy which has nothing in view or store for us but which allowing every interest to take care of itself - but shall now determine for all time to come I hope whether the powers of the constitution conferred on Congress can be exercised for the general welfare or whether this Union has been formed for a few slave holders. I regret that I am so much hurried as I would like to write you a more deliber- Page Three rate letter but I must cut you short. I have now lying before me a dozen to answer & must buckle to it as I cannot write much at nights now & have but little daylight to where as most of my leisure then is devoted to planning[?] as Smith & myself have all our state to attend to. By this bye young man I have had a hint that you have a notion of committing matrimony and away from home too. Is it true as are you slandered - tell me the truth 'out[about?] - Poor Hardin(4) - his speech on VanBuren is just so much lead shot into the wrong stump - I have submitted for 100 copies of the Bentons(5) speech on the treaty - I will send you one it is said to be very able. This is the kind of doctrine now & coming as it does from old Bullion(5) must have some effect. Yours truly S.C. Sample Page Four Copy on the back of Page Three Written in ink on the right side margin vertically Hon Samuel C. Sample M.C. Washington City May 29, 1944 Recd June 7 Ans'd June 10 |
Lexicon category |
8: Communication Artifact |
Lexicon sub-category |
Documentary Artifact |
Citations |
1. The Locofocos (also Loco Focos or Locos) were a faction of the Democratic Party in American politics from 1835 until the mid-1840s. 2. Polk, James Knox (November 2, 1795 - June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835-1839) and the ninth governor of Tennessee (1839-1841). A protégé of Andrew Jackson, he was a member of the Democratic Party and an advocate of Jacksonian democracy. Polk is chiefly known for extending the territory of the United States through the Mexican-American War; during his presidency, the United States expanded significantly with the annexation of the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory, and the Mexican Cession following American victory in the Mexican-American War. 3. Referring to Martin Van Buren. Until circumstances raised Polk's ambitions, he was a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for Vice President in 1844. Martin Van Buren, who had been expected to win the Democratic nomination for President, and Henry Clay, who was to be the Whig nominee, tried to take the expansionist issue out of the campaign by declaring themselves opposed to the annexation of Texas. Polk, however, publicly asserted that Texas should be "re-annexed" and all of Oregon "re-occupied." The aged Jackson, correctly sensing that the people favored expansion, urged the choice of a candidate committed to the Nation's "Manifest Destiny." This view prevailed at the Democratic Convention, where Polk was nominated on the ninth ballot. "Who is James K. Polk?" Whigs jeered. Democrats replied that Polk was the candidate who stood for expansion. He linked the Texas issue, popular in the South, with the Oregon question, attractive to the North. Polk also favored acquiring California. 4. Speech of Representative J.J. Hardin, of Illinois, reviewing the public life & political principles of Mr. Martin Van Buren : delivered in the House of Representatives, March 21, 1844. 5. Referring to Thomas Hart Benton (March 14, 1782 - April 10, 1858), nicknamed "Old Bullion", was a United States Senator from Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he was an architect and champion of westward expansion by the United States, a cause that became known as Manifest Destiny. Benton served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve five terms. |
Year Range from |
1844 |