ANS signed “Fred'k Douglass,” one page, 5 x 3, September 16, 1874. Historic handwritten note by Frederick Douglass, in full: "The Constitution written by John Brown at my house, is not for sale." In fine condition, with a few small stains.
In May 1858, John Brown gathered a group of like-minded activists in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, for a 'Constitutional Convention,' where he introduced a provisional constitution that he had written while a guest at the home of Frederick Douglass in February 1858. Brown wanted to establish an independent republic within the United States, waging war to liberate the South from slavery. He planned to create the state in the Appalachian Mountains, to be populated by escaped slaves and others devoted to the cause of freedom.
This provisional constitution was introduced in Brown's trial by his lawyer, Samuel Chilton, to suggest that his actions at Harpers Ferry were not treasonous, but rather evidence of insanity. Chilton called the constitution 'ridiculous nonsense—a wild, chimerical production' that 'could only be produced by men of unsound minds.'
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