Overview
Letters, speeches, and papers of American lawyer, soldier, and statesman John Anthony Quitman, concerning the movement to annex Cuba and northern Mexico.
Dates
- Creation: 1833-1858
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English and Spanish.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Conditions Governing Use
Images linked to the finding aid describing this collection are intended for public access and educational use. This material is owned and/or held by the Houghton Library, and is provided solely for the purpose of teaching or individual research. Any other use, including commercial reuse, mounting on other systems, or other forms of redistribution requires the permission of the curator.
Extent
1.5 linear feet (2 boxes and 1 oversize volume)Collection is concerned chiefly with the movement in the 1850s among prominent political and military leaders in the South to invade and capture Cuba and northern Mexico in order to extend slave territory. It consists primarily of over 250 letters to Major-General Quitman who was to lead the annexation movement. Most of the letters are dated 1854-1858, some are from 1847 when Quitman was in Mexico City. Also includes 10 letters by Quitman, 2 printed copies of his speeches in Congress, accounts of money raised for the annexation effort, pamphlets, newspapers covering the 1850 trials in New Orleans in which Quitman was indicted for alleged neutrality violations because of his support for the Lopez expeditions to Cuba, and letters to Quitman requesting autographs or speeches.
Biographical / Historical
Quitman (1799-1858), a lawyer, soldier, statesman, and Southern planter, championed states' rights for his adopted state of Mississippi. He was a brigadier general in the Mexican War and appointed governor, then major-general of Mexico City. He served briefly as governor of Mississippi, was involved in the movement to annex Cuba, and spent his last years, 1855-1858, in the U.S. Congress.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by author.
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from and given by Virginia Quitman McNealus,granddaughter of J. A. Quitman; received: 1931-1932.
- Title
- Quitman, John Anthony. John Anthony Quitman papers: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00385
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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