Item 10a: Letter from John C[aldwell]. Calhoun to Hendrick B[radley]. Wright, 1845 December 28
Item — Box: 11, Folder: 10a
Dates
- Created: 1845 December 28
Creator
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
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Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Condition Note:
Good
Measurements:
9 ⅞ in. x 7 ⅞ in. (closed); 9 ⅞ in. x 15 ¾ in. (open)
Type of Material:
Letter
Description:
This is a letter from John Caldwell Calhoun to Hendrick Bradley Wright on December 28, 1845 in which Calhoun thanked Wright for his compliments on Calhoun being elected to serve in the U.S. Senate. After Calhoun’s first term in the Senate (1832-1843), Calhoun served as Secretary of State under President John Tyler from 1844 to 1845, and in that role he supported the annexation of Texas as a means to extend the Slave Power and helped to settle the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain. The congressional victory being referenced in the letter is in regards to Calhoun’s second elected term to the U.S. Senate (1845-1850) following the resignation of Daniel Elliott Huger. During his second term, Senator Calhoun assisted in passing legislation and provisions in major issues such as the Mexican-American War and Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, and again the Oregon boundary dispute. As both men were heavily involved in politics they both attended the Democratic national convention of 1844 which was held in Baltimore. Taking into consideration their similar democratic beliefs and values, they would have supported one another as this letter suggests. Calhoun was born in 1782 and was an American statesman and political theorist. Calhoun attended Yale College and Litchfield Law School which helped him secure positions in Congress and the White House. The recipient of this letter, H[endrick] B[radley] Wright, was born in Pennsylvania in 1808. Wright would go on to study law and serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Later in his life he voiced his opinion on labor concerns and in 1871 Wright wrote a book on it.
Location:
Washington, D.C.
Transcription:
Washington
28th Dec 1845
My dear sir,
I could not read your friendly & complementary letter of congratulations on my taking my seat again in the Senate, without the emotions, which the kind expressions you have been pleased to use, are calculated to excite, when coming from a friend. Indeed, the interest which seems to be so widely felt on the occasion, indicates a confidence in my integrity & patriotism among my fellow citizens, that has made a deep & solemn impression on my mind. I feel to the full the responsibility under what it places me. I may not be able to meet the expectations of the country, but of one thing my friends may be assured, that no consideration, personal to myself, shall deter me from doing my best. If peace can be honorably preserved, no efforts shall be on my part to preserve it; why not, more shall be wanting to carry the country through the right struggle, which must ensue. I shall know & regard nothing but my best.
With great respects
yours truly
J. C. Calhoun
Hendrick B. Wright
Creator
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu