Image courtesy of Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research
Center, University of Chicago Library.
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Letter to Editor, 15 April 1844
Source Note
Source Note
JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to the editor of Daily Globe [], [], 15 Apr. 1844. Featured version copied [ca. 15 Apr. 1844]; handwriting of ; signature of JS; three pages; Stephen A. Douglas, Papers, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm). The third page of the bifolium is ruled with twenty-nine lines printed in blue ink and is the only ruled page in the bifolium. inscribed the letter in brown ink; JS signed it in black ink. The document was trifolded twice in letter style.
A docket was written on the verso of the second leaf in unidentified handwriting. It is unknown how this document came into the possession of , although both he and , to whom JS forwarded this copy of the letter, were prominent politicians and undoubtedly had common acquaintances among the editorial staff of the Daily Globe. In 1861 Douglas died. Sometime thereafter his private papers were acquired by the University of Chicago.
Footnotes
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 15 April 1844, JS wrote a letter from , Illinois, to prominent journalist in responding to Blair’s criticism and mockery of JS’s presidential campaign platform in one of the nation’s most influential newspapers. JS had mailed copies of his presidential campaign pamphlet, General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, to the principal newspapers in the on 27 February 1844. The Daily Globe, published in the nation’s capital, was the premier organ of the Democratic Party, and Blair was its longstanding editor. As editor of the paper in the 1830s, Blair had functioned as an unofficial adviser to President Andrew Jackson, and he still wielded significant influence in national politics through his personal connections and his editorship of the Globe.
On 14 March 1844, published an editorial in the Daily Globe titled “A New Advocate for a National Bank,” in which he mocked JS’s pamphlet. His main points of criticism were JS’s calls for a new national bank and for substantial criminal justice reform. The national bank had been a polarizing issue in the 1830s when it was politically opposed by Jackson and championed by the National Republicans who eventually formed the Whig Party. Jackson ultimately vetoed a proposal to renew the bank’s charter. Accordingly, Blair wrote in his editorial that JS “seems to be thoroughly imbued with the whig financial doctrines.” Alluding to JS’s call for criminal justice reform, Blair suggested sarcastically that the sudden release of thousands of incarcerated men and women at the time that the country was establishing a new national bank would inevitably lead to a rise in financial crime. Blair disdainfully quipped that if Whig presidential hopeful were elected that fall, he could make JS the president of the new national bank and that it could be headquartered in .
It is unclear when JS first read ’s editorial, but portions of it were reprinted in newspapers as early as 4 April. In his letter to Blair, JS defended his proposal for criminal justice reform by describing the living conditions of incarcerated men and women. He also criticized the legal system that sentenced them to prison in the first place and argued that American prisons contradicted the principles celebrated in the Declaration of Independence. JS also defended his proposal for a new national bank, emphasizing that it would guard against the alleged corruption that scandalized the Second Bank of the United States. Following a four-verse song parodying the inequality that existed in the , JS made his first public declaration that he believed the country should be governed as a “Theodemocracy,” an idea that he and the had recently discussed.
In drafting a response to ’s editorial, JS may have worked with his scribe , who had helped him compose other publications and letters related to his presidential campaign. If Phelps helped compose the letter, the extent of his role is unknown. The letter was published in the 15 April 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons and in the 17 April issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor. Other newspapers throughout the country reprinted large sections of the letter. JS sent a manuscript copy of the letter to Illinois congressman on 19 April and asked him to solicit the Daily Globe to publish it. The newspaper never published JS’s response to Blair. The version JS sent to Hardin is featured here.
Footnotes
- [1]
- [2]
Smith, Francis Preston Blair, xii–xiii, 45–61; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 341; Sheppard, Partisan Press, 96–99.
Smith, William Ernest. The Francis Preston Blair Family in Politics. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan, 1933.
Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Sheppard, Si. The Partisan Press: A History of Media Bias in the United States. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008.
- [3]
- [4]
Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 375–395.
Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
- [5]
- [6]
“The Globe and Joe Smith,” Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 4 Apr. 1844, [2].
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
- [7]
Murphy, Other People’s Money, 80–85.
Murphy, Sharon Ann. Other People’s Money: How Banking Worked in the Early American Republic. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2017.
- [8]
“The Council of Fifty in Nauvoo, Illinois.” For most contemporary Americans, theocracy connoted the tyrannical rule of religious leaders, conjured images of the collusion of Catholicism with European governments, and seemed the antithesis of American democracy and constitutional principles. However, JS and other members of the Council of Fifty believed that theocracy could be fused with the best elements of democracy in a system that JS termed “Theodemocracy.” JS and the Council of Fifty maintained that a system that blended theocracy with democracy would protect the rights of minority groups, allow for dissent and free discussion, involve the input of both Latter-day Saints and others, and increase righteousness in preparation for Jesus Christ’s second coming.
- [9]
See, for example, Historical Introduction to General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, ca. 26 Jan.–7 Feb. 1844; and Historical Introduction to Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 Jan. 1844.
- [10]
- [11]
See, for example, “From the Buffalo Advertiser,” Niles’ National Register (Baltimore), 8 June 1844, 235.
Niles’ National Register. Washington DC, 1837–1839; Baltimore, 1839–1848; Philadelphia, 1848–1849.
- [12]
A Wit’s a feather and a chief’s a rod,
But an honest man’s the noblest work of God.
It is said that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” and when men are called “quadrupeds,” and ridicule occupies the place of reason, and the virtue, dignity, honor, power and majesty of the people seem to be buried in rubbish; covered with dust; mildewed with fog; tainted with treachery; burlesqued by blackguards; or humbled by debauchees; it is high time for humanity to exclaim: How has the gold become dim, and where has the glory departed?
The only suggestion worthy of commendation relative to a National Bank, in ’s remarks, is, that the mother bank should be located at .
This is correct, for as a City, collectively or individually, cannot be reproached with dishonor, crime, corruption, or bribery. Neither has a Swartwout or Price mingled his millions with the majesty of monarchs by walking out of the unwalled and ungated . The blood of Commodores and Congressmen, shed by the heaven daring, hell begotten, earth disgracing practice of duelling, has never stained the virtuous soil, or City of . Nor does a slave raise his rusting fetters and chains, and exclaim, O liberty, where are thy charms? Wisdom, freedom, religion, and virtue, like light, love, water and air, “spread undivided, and operate unspent,” in the beloved ; while the gay world, and great politicians may sing, and even the “great Globe” itself, may chime the melodious sounds:—
1st. Hail, , “free and equal”—
Lo, the Saints, the Mormons, bless ye!
Felt they glory most severely,
When gave them jesse.
2nd. Hail, , “free and equal”—
Negro slaves, like common cattle,
Bought and sold for cash at auction;
Prayers and chains together rattle!
3rd. Hail, , “free and equal”
“Liberty”, (as patriots won it)
Crown’d the “head” of freemen’s money:
Now the Goddess sits upon it!
4th. Hail , “free and equal”
“Gold and Silver” is thy “tender;”
Treasury Notes, (aside from [Nicholas] Biddle,)
Foreign loans, and fallen splendor!
As the “world is governed too much,” and as there is not a nation or dynasty, now occupying the earth, which acknowledges Almighty God as their law giver: and as “crowns won by blood, by blood must be maintained,” I go emphatically, virtuously, and humanely, for a Theo.Democracy, where God and the people hold the power to conduct the affairs of men, in righteousness. And where liberty, free trade, and sailor’s rights, and the protection of life and property, shall be maintained inviolate, for the benefit of All. To exalt mankind is nobly acting the part of a God; to degrade them, is meanly doing the drudgery of the devil. Unitas, libertas, caritas— esto perpetua!
With the highest sentiments of regard, for all men, I am an advocate of unadulterated freedom,
Joseph Smith
, Ill, April 15. 1844. [p. [3]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [23]
See Pope, Essay on Man, epistle 4, ll. 247–248.
Pope, Alexander. The Major Works. Edited by Pat Rogers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
- [24]
See Matthew 12:34.
- [25]
See Lamentations 4:1; and 1 Samuel 4:21–22.
- [26]
In his 14 March 1844 editorial, Blair had mockingly suggested that the central branch of the new national bank could be in Nauvoo. (“A New Advocate for a National Bank,” Daily Globe [Washington DC], 14 Mar. 1844, 251.)
- [27]
Samuel Swartwout was a Democratic politician who was accused of embezzling more than one million dollars while serving as the collector of the Port of New York between 1829 and 1838. (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 334; Report of the Committee of Investigation, 25th Cong., 3rd Sess., cause 2, p. 41.)
Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Report of the Committee of Investigation, Chosen by Ballot by the House of Representatives January 17 and 19, 1839, on the Subject of the Defalcations of Samuel Swartwout and Others, and the Correctness of the Returns of Collectors and Receivers of the Public Money; Also, the Report of the Minority of the Committee. H.R. Report no. 313, 25th Cong., 3rd Sess. (1839). [Washington DC]: Thomas Allen, 1839.
- [28]
William M. Price was a federal attorney in New York and coconspirator of Samuel Swartwout who fled to Europe in 1838 after embezzling $72,000. (Robinson, Price Current, [1838].)
Robinson, Henry R. Price Current. Lithograph. New York: By the author, 1838. Copy at American Cartoon Print Filing Series, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington DC. Digital image available at https://www.loc.gov/item/2008661332/.
- [29]
Violence, including dueling, was common among elite men in the government and military during the nineteenth century. For instance, Stephen Decatur died in a famous 1820 duel with naval commodore James Barron. Congressmen frequently dueled with one another, and some of these confrontations resulted in death. Between 1830 and 1860, there were more than seventy incidents of violence between members of the United States Congress. (Mackenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, 320–328, 443; Freeman, Field of Blood, 4–5.)
Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell. Life of Stephen Decatur, a Commodore in the Navy of the United States. The Library of American Biography, Series 2, vol. 11. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846.
Freeman, Joanne B. The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2018.
- [30]
See Pope, Essay on Man, epistle 1, line 274.
Pope, Alexander. The Major Works. Edited by Pat Rogers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
- [31]
To give a person “jesse” meant “to beat him, or to scold him violently.” (Thornton, American Glossary, 1:493–494.)
Thornton, Richard H. An American Glossary: Being an Attempt to Illustrate Certain Americanisms upon Historical Principles. Vol. 1. London: Francis, 1912.
- [32]
Biddle, the final president of the Second Bank of the United States, was a central figure in the “Bank War” that polarized American politicians in the 1830s. (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 374–395.)
Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
- [33]
“The World Is Governed Too Much” was the motto of the Daily Globe (and previously the Washington Globe and the Globe) that Blair printed below the masthead of most issues. (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 494.)
Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
- [34]
See Life and Death of King Richard III, 43.
The Life and Death of King Richard III. A Tragedy; Restored and Rearranged from the Text of Shakspeare: As Performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. London: R. and M. Stodart, 1821.
- [35]
For his presidential campaign, JS had adopted the slogan “Jeffersonianism, Jeffersonian Democracy, free trade and Sailors rights, protection of person & property.” “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights” was a patriotic rallying cry for Americans during the War of 1812 but had since evolved into a generic and malleable phrase denoting personal liberty. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 Apr. 1844, underlining in original; see also Gilje, Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights, chaps. 16–17, 23.)
Gilje, Paul A. Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights in the War of 1812. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
- [36]
This sentence is Latin for “Unity, generosity, charity—may it be forever.”
Signature of JS.