Letter of Hon. Jeff Davis on the slavery question to M. D. Haynes

2-page letter from Jefferson Davis to M. D. Haynes, Esq., published in the August 8th, 1849 supplement to the Weekly "Mississippian", address given as "Brierfield", the Davis plantation near Vicksburg, in Warren Co., Mississippi. Davis mentions "anti-slavery agitation" and how "the rights of the Southern States are threatened." How "abolitionism is no longer confined to a few fanatics but is the heart of a great political organization..." Mentions the abolitionists' opposition to "Clayton's bill" providing the rights of slaveholders to migrate with their slaves to New Mexico and California. Mentions Calhoun's "Southern Address" and the "Wilmot Proviso". Throughout, he emphasizes the constitutionality of slavery, stating: "We rely on the Bible as authority for the establishment of slavery among men, and on the Constitution for its recognition throughout the United States."

Folder: MS1