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Collection Reference Number GLC03587.29
From Archive Folder Collection of letters to John Cripps, General Gadsden's Secretary 
Title James Gadsden to John Cripps regarding bargaining for a strip of land
Date 8 August 1857
Author Gadsden, James (1788-1858)  
Recipient Cripps, John S.  
Document Type Correspondence
Content Description Writes to his Secretary as an addendum to yesterday's letter (GLC03587.26) that the entire idea behind bargaining for the strip of land is to "get the right to import free of duty into any of the Ports of the Gulf Cotton, Rice, flour, Corn and lard."
Subjects American Statesmen  Government and Civics  Treaty  Diplomacy  Latin and South America  American West  Mexican War  Military History  Politics  Global History and Civics  Cotton  Commerce  Agriculture and Animal Husbandry  Merchants and Trade  
People Cripps, John S. (fl. 1820-1875)  Gadsden, James (1788-1858)  
Place written Charleston, South Carolina
Theme Government & Politics; The Mexican War
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information Gadsden was a railroad promoter and advocated a Southern rail system, the purpose of which would be to control the trade of the South and the West, thereby freeing those regions from their dependency on the North. To further this end he promoted Southern commercial conventions, and at a convention in 1845 he boldly urged the construction of a railroad to the Pacific. In 1853, when Jefferson Davis was Secretary of War in Pierce's cabinet, Gadsden was appointed minister to Mexico to negotiate for territory along the border. The result was the Gadsden Purchase. He was recalled in 1856 for exceeding his instructions. Cripps was General Gadsden's Secretary and a sawyer by profession.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859