192

Millard Fillmore

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 3,500.00 USD
Millard Fillmore

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Auction Date:2017 Aug 09 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS, one page, 5 x 8, March 28, 1857. Letter to Hamilton Fish. In full: “Perceiving that the Senate ordered some extra copies of the Opinions of the Supreme Court in the case of Dred Scott to be printed & being desirous of reading the whole, may I ask the favor of a copy if you have one to spare.” Reverse of blank second integral page is docketed in an unknown hand on the reverse, and affixed to an identical size sheet. In fine condition.

After living with his master in states and territories where slavery was illegal, Dred Scott returned to Missouri and sued for the freedom of himself and his family, claiming that their residence in free states made them free people. The Supreme Court decision, delivered by Chief Justice Roger Taney, was issued on March 6, 1857, and declared that slaves were not citizens and therefore could not bring suit in Federal courts. In addition, the Court declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. While personally opposed to slavery, Fillmore had previously opposed abolitionist demands to exclude it from the territory gained in the Mexican War, supporting the Compromise of 1850. A handsome letter regarding one of the most important and controversial legal decisions in US history, which became one of several precipitates for the ultimate breakdown in American politics, the southern secession, and the Civil War.