The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk
If you believe you should have access to this document, click here to Login.
| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02974 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to the 1870s |
| Title | Thurlow Weed to John Sherman regarding the economy and the failure of Congress to improve the country's financial situation |
| Date | 29 July 1876 |
| Author | Weed, Thurlow (1797-1882) |
| Document Type | Correspondence; Business and financial document |
| Content Description | Writes, "In view of universal business paralisis [sic] and consequent universal distress, has not the Government stood still long enough? [...] Congress promised to pay the public Creditor in Gold or Silver Coin. Who has the rights under the Constitution to impair that contract? What excuse can Congress offer for refusing to coin silver into dollars? Is this question satisfactorily answered by saying that we have unexpectedly developed too much silver. Will our friends by refusing to return to the silver and gold policy from its origin to 1874 leave our adversaries to wield this weapon against us." Contains note on verso, written in graphite at a later date, "Return Queery [sic]. Was Mr. Weed a crazy silverite?", and initialed, "HJ" or "HI." |
| Subjects | Economics Finance Government and Civics Congress US Constitution Coins and Currency Politics American Statesmen |
| People | Sherman, John (1823-1900) Weed, Thurlow (1797-1882) |
| Place written | New York, New York |
| Theme | Banking & Economics; Government & Politics |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945 |
| Additional Information | Thurlow Weed was a politician and newspaper editor from New York who was involved in the Whig political machine. John Sherman (1823-1900), brother of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, was a Congressman and Senator from Ohio and served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) and as Secretary of the Treasury under President William McKinley (1897-1898). When this letter was written, in 1876, Sherman was Senator of Ohio and chairman of the Committee on Finance. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |