April 8th Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Photography
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/8/2021
Nathaniel P. Banks signed this manuscript letter to a friend in 1841 to say that "I was glad to get your letter assuring me, that you were still in the land of the living."
Manuscript letter signed "Nanth. P Banks". 2 page, 5x8 paper, 1 sheet folded,. Sowell , October 22, 1841. Addressed to Abraham Lansing, Esq. In reference to an invitation to speak at a political event in part : “The citizens of Cambridge will be welcome to any services that I may be able to render this in the present important crisis in either word or deed I shall therefore be with you your Wednesday evening unless I hear from your committee again yours was respectively. Nathan P Banks
Nathaniel Banks was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union general during the Civil War. A millworker by background, Banks was prominent in local debating societies, and his oratorical skills were noted by the Democratic Party. However, his abolitionist views fitted him better for the nascent Republican Party, through which he became Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and Governor of Massachusetts in the 1850s. Always a political chameleon (for which he was criticized by contemporaries), Banks was the first professional politician (with no outside business or other interests) to serve as Massachusetts Governor. At the outbreak of the Civil War, President Lincoln appointed Banks as one of the first 'political' major generals, over the heads of West Point regulars, who initially resented him, but came to acknowledge his influence on the administration of the war. Banks was also instrumental in early reconstruction efforts in Louisiana, intended by Lincoln as a model for later such activities. After the war, Banks returned to the Massachusetts political scene, serving in Congress, where he supported Manifest Destiny, influenced the Alaska Purchase legislation, and supported women's suffrage. In his later years he adopted more liberal progressive causes and served as a United States marshal for Massachusetts before suffering a decline in his mental faculties.
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