"Black Republicanism versus Democracy," Race, Popular Sovereignty, and the Democratic Defense of Slavery in Kansas, 1856

Democratic National Committee

Pamphlet

Democratic National Committee campaign pamphlet issued in New York in 1856, defining the presidential contest through a racialized opposition between “Black Republicanism” and Democratic claims to law, order, majority rule, and popular sovereignty. Published during the first presidential election contested by the Republican Party, it presents the Kansas conflict as a choice between lawful territorial government and antislavery usurpation. The pamphlet turns Bleeding Kansas into campaign argument, accusing Republicans of prolonging disorder while defending the Democratic Senate bill for Kansas.

"The Issue Fairly Presented: Black Republicanism Versus Democracy: Law, Order, and the Will of the Majority of the Whole People, Against Usurpation, Anarchy, Revolution, and the Voice of a Meager Minority of the People of Kansas." Pamphlet of 32 pages, sewn as issued, measuring 7 x 4½ inches, New York, 1856. The title page opposes “Black Republicanism” to “democracy” and identifies the work as published by order of the Democratic National Committee. The opening address claims to correct “the wild excitement” surrounding Kansas, while a bold heading declares, “The Black Republican leaders do not desire peace in Kansas, prior to the presidential campaign!” The text states, “We shall not undertake to determine why the God of nature made the African inferior to the white man,” placing racism at the center of its political argument. It also accuses Republican senators of rejecting peace, quotes William H. Seward on the end of compromise, and portrays John P. Hale as willing to let “Kansas and liberty” bleed until after the election.

The pamphlet followed the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, which repealed the Missouri Compromise restriction and submitted slavery in the territories to popular sovereignty. It treats the federally recognized Kansas government as lawful and the Topeka free state movement as revolutionary, reversing antislavery accounts of fraudulent elections and proslavery violence. Its language shows the Democratic Party presenting resistance to slavery’s expansion as sectional agitation and minority rule. Heavy toning and extensive water staining throughout; sewing intact but weak, with all text legible. Overall in good condition. A direct record of the Democratic National Committee’s use of race and majority rule to defend its Kansas policy in 1856.

Item #23670

Price: $315.00