GEARY AND KANSAS. GOVERNOR GEARY'S ADMINISTRATION OF KANSAS. WITH A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE TERRITORY. UNTIL JUNE 1857

Gihon, John H.

Verlag: J. H. C. Whiting, Philadelphia, 1857

[2],348pp. Original embossed blue publisher's cloth, blind stamped with central medallion and framing, expertly rebacked with original gilt backstrip laid down. Corners neatly mended. Text tanned, scattered foxing; heavier foxing on endpapers. Front endpapers chipped in outer edge (strengthened with Japanese tissue). Presentation and ownership inscriptions in pencil on front paste-down and front free endpaper (see below). Good overall. A significant association copy of this book examining the tenure of John Geary as the territorial Governor of "Bloody Kansas," given as a gift two months following the conclusion of the Civil War from one early civil rights leader mentoring another. The present volume was part of early civil rights leader John Wesley Cromwell's personal library and bears a penciled gift inscription from African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Minister and early civil rights activist, Jeremiah R.V. Thomas: "J. Wesley Cromwell, Presented by Rev. J. R. V. Thomas Portsmouth Va, June 8, 1865." Just two months prior, Cromwell left Pennsylvania where he had completed his education and returned to Portsmouth, Virginia where he had been previously enslaved, to start a private school. Reverend Thomas must have recognized a budding civil rights activist in the then 19-year-old Cromwell and offered this book just two months following the conclusion of the Civil War likely as an object lesson in the political cost of slavery. John Geary was appointed by President Franklin Pierce as the Governor of Kansas Territory during the violent "Bleeding Kansas" period of civil unrest over the slavery question. This series of violent conflicts between the pro-slavery faction and Free-State/ Abolitionist factions was a foreshadowing of the violence that took place over the question of slavery during the Civil War. The present book was written by John H. Gihon, who was Geary's secretary during his time as governor, and provides a brief history of the territory followed by a description of Geary's administration and the events that occurred during that time. Interspersed throughout the narrative are government documents relating to Kansas Territory that serve to illustrate relevant political points. Gihon's account was published in Philadelphia by J.H.C. Whiting, printed by Thomas Sinex, and stereotyped by Mears and Dusenbery. Geary's term of service lasted only eight months, and during that time he disbanded and reformed the state militia and used federal troops to quell the violence. These tactics did not endear him either to the Pro-Slavery or the Free-State and Abolitionist factions. Not too long after taking office, Geary began to fear for his safety when Gihon was attacked by a mob of pro-slavery bushwhackers. Geary was removed from office in March 1857 by President James Buchanan but did leave the territory slightly more peaceful than when he had started his tenure. John Wesley Cromwell (1846-1927) was born into slavery in 1846, and used that experience to propel himself forward into a remarkable variety of influential public positions. He taught at several important African-American schools, became clerk of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1867 and 1868; practiced as a lawyer and judge; was founding editor and later owner of THE PEOPLE'S ADVOCATE and was among the first wave of civil rights leaders. He was one of the founders of the Bethel Literary and Historical Society, an important African-American intellectual hub, and became its fourth president in 1883. The Reverend Jeremiah R. V. Thomas, was an AME minister admitted to the church as early as 1855, and who by 1864 was a church elder. In August, 1865, Reverend Thomas attended the Convention of the Colored People of Virginia as part of the Portsmouth delegation to discuss "Liberty, and Equality Before the Law", and more specifically, how to gain enfranchisement for the African-American community following the Civil War. Thomas, besides being a delegate from Portsmouth, was a. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers WRCAM57891

Bibliografische Details

Titel: GEARY AND KANSAS. GOVERNOR GEARY'S ...
Verlag: J. H. C. Whiting, Philadelphia
Erscheinungsdatum: 1857