Significant manuscript DS, one page, 8 x 12.5, 1869. Order form document for the "Speech of the Honorable C. Sumner of Mass., subject Constitutional Amendment Delivered in the United States Senate, February 5th, 1869, to be printed," signed below by 22 members of the 40th United States Congress, all adding the number of copies desired. Signers are: Charles Sumner, Jacob M. Howard, Alexander McDonald, Adonijah Welch, Thomas W. Osborn, Benjamin F. Butler, William Pitt Kellogg, Frederick A. Sawyer, Oliver P. Morton, John M. Thayer, William M. Stewart, Joseph C. Abbott, Willard Warner, George E. Spencer, Benjamin F. Rice, Henry B. Anthony, George H. Williams, Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Alexander G. Cattell, Edwin D. Morgan, Zachariah Chandler, and Charles D. Drake. In very good condition, with scattered soiling and some small tears and losses to the edges.
On February 5th, Sumner delivered a speech to the Senate on the 'powers of Congress to prohibit inequality, caste and oligarchy of the skin.' On February 26th, Congress approved an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's 'race, color, or previous condition of servitude,' and submitted it to the state legislatures for ratification. The amendment was later ratified on February 3, 1870, becoming the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
(inquire for price)
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
