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Lot 383
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[Dorr's Rebellion] NH Rep. Edmund Burke Offers "all the assistance in my power" to Thomas Dorr
[Dorr's Rebellion] NH Rep. Edmund Burke Offers "all the assistance in my power" to Thomas Dorr
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Description:

Thomas Dorr
Washington, DC, January 23, 1845
[Dorr's Rebellion] NH Rep. Edmund Burke Offers "all the assistance in my power" to Thomas Dorr
ALS
An autograph letter signed from Congressman Edmund Burke regarding Dorr's Rebellion. 3pp of a bifolium, measuring 7.75" x 10", Washington, D.C., dated January 23, 1845. Signed "Edmund Burke" and addressed to lawyer Philip B. Stiness. Burke writes about the importance of suffrage and the aid he hopes to provide to Thomas Dorr if he can. The letter is accompanied by the original envelope, which has been free-franked by Burke. With flattened folds and paper loss at the spine, affecting very little text. There are multiple ink smudges throughout. Expected wear, toning, and soiling to the envelope. Letter is boldly signed, overall very good.

Reading in part:
"…I am very much obliged for the sentiments you express in your letter for the services I have endeavored to render in the cause of free suffrage and liberty. I felt that I was doing in this cause no more than the duty I owed to freedom and to patriotism. If my services shall be of any benefit to the great cause of Human Rights, I shall be amply repaid for all the toil and publicity I have had to encounter in the struggles and contention growing out of the Rhode Island Memorial. My wife will esteem it a very great compliment, as I certainly shall, if you should come to the conclusion to name your daughter after her. Her Christian name is 'Ann' simply…And I may add that she is a thorough going democrat and Dorrite. She has seen Mr. Dorr. She saw him at Gov. Hubbard's while he was in exile in New Hampshire. Doct. Ferris has [illegible] him. I shall be willing to give him all the assistance in my power. It is possible an appointment may be obtained for him in some of the Departments of the new Administration…But I must here say that I can take no part in the differences among the Democrats of Rhode Island in what to office. And I must say that I hope this will not disgrace this great and holy cause my an ignoble scramble for office…I shall take great pleasure in assisting, But I cannot act as the umpire between the contending factions of the Democrats of your state…I cannot descend from my position as a friend to the principles used the cause of the Democrats of R.I. to become the position of its factions…"

While Rhode Island had been a refuge for free thinkers and religious dissidents since its founding in the seventeenth century, weakness in its political structure became apparent during the Industrial Revolution. Under the state's royal charter, only landowners could vote. Before the Industrial Revolution, when most people were employed as farmers, this was considered democratic. Yet as the Industrial Revolution moved large numbers of workers from the farm to the factory, a permanent landless--and therefore voteless--class developed. By 1829, 60% of the state's free white males were ineligible to vote. By 1841, Rhode Island was experiencing severe disfranchisement because suffrage under the state constitution was limited to male freeholders, creating a state dominated by rural interests.

In 1841, a radicalized reformist group, the Rhode Island Suffrage Association led by Thomas Wilson Dorr, drew up a new state constitution, called the People's Constitution. In October, they held a People's Convention that enfranchised all white males with one year's residence. Voters overwhelmingly supported a referendum on the People's Convention in December. The suffragists then held elections for a new state government, in which Thomas Wilson Dorr was elected governor. They installed a state legislature and hoped that the Freeholders' government would dissolve itself. Instead, it enacted repressive legislation and declared martial law to suppress what it considered an insurrection by the "Dorrites".

President John Tyler was reluctant to get involved, but as a precaution he did reinforce troops at Fort Adams and also held troops in standby in New York. Dorr, acting against the advice of many of his supporters, decided to capture the arms stored at the state arsenal in Providence. On the evening of May 19, 1842, Dorr, along with an armed force of about 230 men and two Revolutionary-era cannon, marched on the arsenal. Dorr's attempts, however, were unsuccessful, and he and his men were forced to flee. The New York Herald humorously reported: "Killed: zero; Wounded: zero; Missing: 481; Scared: 960; Horribly frightened: 789; Fainted on the battleground: 73; Women in hysterics: 22; Temperance pledge broke (before the battle): 330; Governors missing: 1." The failed attempt to take the arsenal quickly became the butt of jokes in conservative Whig circles, but the seriousness of what Dorr tried to do in Providence was not lost. Governor King proclaimed martial law and offered a five thousand dollar reward for Dorr, who fled the state, and the "rebellion" disintegrated.

Dorr lived in exile in New Hampshire and later Massachusetts for nearly a year and a half. During his time in New Hampshire, Dorr lived under the protection of Governor Henry Hubbard. While in exile, a new Rhode Island constitution, ratified in November 1842, opened the franchise to all adult males, even enfranchising African-American men. A hopeful Dorr returned to Providence in October 1843, but he was promptly arrested, convicted of treason, and sentenced to solitary confinement and hard labor for life. However, in the face of public outrage, the General Assembly passed a general amnesty act, and Dorr was released after serving only one year. Dorr's time in prison ruined his already fragile health and he died of complications from severe rheumatism in December 1854.

Edmund Burke (1809-1882) was an American lawyer, newspaper editor and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative to New Hampshire from 1839 to 1845 and was appointment by President James K. Polk to be the U.S. Commissioner of Patents from 1846 to 1850.

We are proud to include items consigned by the Manuscript Society in this auction. These items come from the estate of well-known manuscript dealers Forest G. & Forest H. Sweet and Julia Sweet Newman. Forest G. Sweet was an early leader of the Manuscript Society as well as a rare book scholar. The proceeds from your purchase of these items will benefit the work of the Manuscript Society. You can learn more about them, and become a member of the Manuscript Society, at www.manuscript.org.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.75" x 10"
  • Medium: ALS

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