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A. Pierse wrote from Washington, D.C. to Eli Thayer in Worcester, Massachusetts. Pierse was born in North Carolina and lived most of his life in the South but had been living in Minnesota Territory for the past seven years. He told Thayer that he planned to move to Kansas in the spring of 1857. Pierse offered Thayer his opinion on what free state supporters should do in Kansas Territory. He informed Thayer that, although he had "Southern opinions on the subject of slavery" and believed the federal government had no right to prohibit slavery in the territories, he was "without prejudice for or against either side" in the debate over slavery in Kansas Territory. Pierse suggested that the best course for free staters to take would be to accept the Dred Scott decision, actively participate in the political process in Kansas Territory, and work for the admission of Kansas as a state with or without slavery. Once Kansas was admitted, he contended, free state supporters would be on firmer legal ground to advocate for the prohibition of slavery, since it was generally accepted that "the people have the power to prohibit slavery in their state." He concluded by stating that once Kansas was a state, free staters could make the case that property would be worth 3 or 4 times more if slavery was prohibited in the state.
Creator: Pierse, A.
Date: March 31, 1857
Item Number: 3576
Call Number: Eli Thayer Coll. #519 Box 1 Folder 1
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 3576
Collections - Manuscript - Thayer, Eli
Community Life - Community services - Economic development
Date - 1854-1860 - 1857
Government and Politics - Federal Government - Congress
Government and Politics - Federal Government - Courts - United States Supreme Court
Government and Politics - Reform and Protest - Antislavery
Government and Politics - Territorial Government - Constitution Making
Government and Politics - Territorial Government - Political parties - Free State
Home and Family - Daily life - Settlement
Military - Wars - Bleeding Kansas
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - African Americans - Discrimination
People - African Americans - Slavery
People - Notable People - Scott, Dred
People - Notable People - Thayer, Eli, 1819-1899
Places - Other States - District of Columbia -- Washington
Places - Other States - Massachusetts
Places - Other States - Minnesota
Thematic Time Period - Bleeding Kansas, 1854 - 1861
Thematic Time Period - Immigration and Settlement, 1854 - 1890
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/3576