Item No. 5006466

An original pre-Civil War political tract issued during one of the most consequential election years in American history. Printed in 1860, this pamphlet contains Jefferson Davis’s lengthy reply to Senator Stephen A. Douglas’s Senate speech of May 16-17, 1860, delivered amid the escalating national debate over slavery, states’ rights, and the future of the Union. Davis forcefully defended Southern constitutional positions while criticizing Douglas’s doctrine of popular sovereignty.

Published as a campaign and political reference document, pamphlets such as this were widely distributed to shape public opinion during the presidential election of 1860, yet comparatively few survive today in collectible condition. Unlike later Confederate imprints, this piece captures Jefferson Davis while he was still serving as a United States senator from Mississippi, only months before becoming President of the Confederate States of America.

This example survives as a folded but uncut printer’s sheet. Printed on both sides of a single large sheet (approx. 19” x 24”) and folded into the intended 16-page format, it was never trimmed or bound into the finished pamphlet. As a result, the leaves remain joined at their edges, preserving the original printer’s imposition exactly as it left the press. It is nicely wrapped in parchment paper, but easily removable (was not removed for photography).