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Communicating in Code. Pamphlet, "The State o

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:33.00 USD Estimated At:65.00 - 85.00 USD
Communicating in Code. Pamphlet,  The State o
Communicating in Code. Pamphlet, "The State of the Union - Speech of Benjamin Wood, of New York, in the House of Representatives, May 16, 1862," Washington, 53/4 x 83/4, 14 pp. Delivered in the aftermath of the bloody battle of Shiloh, Rep. Wood was owner and editor of the New York Daily News. With brother Fernando, they were leaders in the pro-Southern Copperhead movement in the North. Through their control of the Daily News, they allowed it to be used as a medium for Confederate agents and spies who communicated with each other in code via the paper's personal columns! The paper supported, and even instigated, the Draft Riots of 1863. "...I felt that the hour of defeat was not a fit one in which to strive to awaken the great soul of the North to thoughts of peace...These apostles of abolitionism...are building its sepulchre with the bones of their slaughtered countrymen...." A genuinely fiery speech, urging that the "negro question" be put aside, and peace be offered the South. Lower right tip of cover lacking, else fine.