Description:

Hamlin Hannibal



Lincoln VP H. Hamlin Re: Restoring American Shipping to Its Pre-War Position in International Trade

HANNIBAL HAMLIN, Autograph Letter Signed, to Daniel W. Lord, October 5, 1865, Boston, Massachusetts. 1 p., 7.875" x 9.875" Expected folds; repaired tear on center fold.

 

Excerpt

“The Secretary of the Treasury has requested me to give him my views relative to the decrease of American tonnage and the expediency of legislative action in the matter, and desires to know the views also of Ship builders & owners of vessels. It seems to me important that some plan should be devised whereby American tonnage, which has suffered so severely during the last four years, should regain its position on the seas. Ship builders should be encouraged in their work of adding to the tonnage of the United States. Your long experience in ship building, has no doubt made you familiar with the subject and I should be glad to have your views in writing at an early day, furnishing any facts and information upon the question referred to, which you may see fit to suggest.”

 

Historical Background

President Andrew Johnson appointed his predecessor as vice president, Hannibal Hamlin, as Collector of the Port of Boston in August 1865, and Hamlin began work on September 1. Ironically, the Massachusetts delegation had recommended Daniel W. Lord for collector and Hamlin for the position of naval officer in Boston.

 

In this letter, Hamlin seeks the opinions of Maine and Boston shipbuilder and shipowner Daniel W. Lord regarding how best to restore American commercial ships to their antebellum position in international trade. Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch had requested Hamlin’s opinion, and Hamlin turned to Lord for additional suggestions. Like Hamlin, McCulloch had been born in Maine. He was the son of one of the largest shipbuilders in New England and thus had family knowledge of New England shipping interests. McCulloch was likely seeking recommendations to be incorporated into his first annual report as Secretary of the Treasury, which he submitted to Congress on December 5, 1865.

 

Over the next year, Hamlin became increasingly dissatisfied with President Johnson’s Reconstruction policies. On August 28, 1866, he sent a letter of resignation to President Johnson. In it he complained that an effort was being made to organize a party “consisting almost exclusively of those who actively engaged in the late rebellion and their allies who sought by other means to cripple and embarrass the government.” In contrast, Hamlin ha supported the Union Republican Party, “without the aid of which our government would have been destroyed and the rebellion a success.” He concluded, “With such a party as has been inaugurated, and for such purposes, I have no sympathy, nor can I acquiesce in its measures by my silence.”

 

Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891) was born in Maine and managed his father’s farm before becoming a newspaper editor. He was admitted to the bar in 1833, and began a practice. Elected as a Democrat to the Maine House of Representatives in 1835, he served from 1836 to 1841. He represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1847 and in the U.S. Senate from 1848 to 1861 and again from 1869 to 1881. An opponent of slavery, Hamlin opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and left the Democratic Party for the newly formed Republican Party. In 1860, he was the Republican nominee for Vice President on a ticket with Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln. Elected as the first Republican Vice President, Hamlin held that office from 1861 to 1865. Replaced by Andrew Johnson as Vice Presidential nominee in 1864, Hamlin served as Collector of the Port of Boston for a time before resigning in disagreement with Johnson over Reconstruction policies. In addition to serving in the U.S. Senate after the Civil War, Hamlin also served as Minister to Spain from 1881 to 1882.

 

Daniel W. Lord (1800-1880) was born in Maine and followed his father and grandfather in the maritime business, which he entered in 1819 “in partnership with older men engaged in the West Indies trade.” In 1824, he married Lydia Abbot, and he won election to the state legislature in 1826, where he served for several years. He was later a member of the Governor’s Council. As his shipping interests developed, he shifted his activities to Boston. He built many vessels and purchased full or partial ownership in many more. Among the ships of which he was the principal owner were Hamlin and Lincoln.

 

 


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