[Reconstruction]. [Democratic Party]

Declaration of Principles Adopted by the Democracy of the United States Represented in National Convention at St. Louis, June 28, 1876 [caption title]

[St. Louis: 1876]. 4pp., on a single folded sheet. Minor toning, a few shallow edge chips. Very good. Item #5893

A rare statement by the embattled Democratic Party reaffirming its commitment to "Republican Self-Government" and the Constitution in the run-up to the controversial Election of 1876, but ultimately a document which contradicts its own ideals. After having opposed the Reconstruction Constitution Amendments, Democrats "hereby reaffirm our faith in the permanence of the Federal Union, our devotion to the Constitution of the United States with its amendments universally accepted as a final settlement of the controversies that engendered civil war." The Party acknowledges "the equality of all citizens before just laws of their own enactment" and recognizes the need for "the total separation of Church and State," among may other ideals. Each separate section begins with the words, "Reform is necessary." But this rare Declaration has harsh words for Congressional Reconstruction, calling it "a corrupt Centralism" inflicted upon the states by "the rapacity of carpet bag tyrannies" which have "honeycombed the offices of the Federal Government itself with incapacity, waste and fraud." Moreover, Republican rule has permitted "Mongolian" immigration and "exposed our brethern [sic] of the Pacific coast to the incursions of a race not sprung from the same great parent stock...." So, a mixed message of patriotism and political harangue not unlike modern discourse. OCLC records just two copies, at Yale and the Huntington.

Price: $850.00