Manuscripts
Pre-1860 correspondence pertains to Lincoln's work in the Illinois state legislature, Whig Party politics, presidential elections, national politics in the 1850s, Lincoln's law practice, the Republican Party, Stephen A. Douglas and the 1858 Illinois race for U.S. Senate, and Lincoln's 1860 presidential campaign and election.
Items relating to the Civil War concern troops and troop movements, the mustering of companies and regiments, military commissions, the situation in border states and in Missouri, instructions and orders to generals, military intelligence, pardons and discharges for soldiers, and passes. Two of Lincoln's letters to generals—to Nathaniel Banks, 1863 March 29, and to David Hunter, 1863 April 1—discuss the importance of recruiting Black soldiers. Also present is a condolence letter written by Lincoln to the parents of a soldier killed in battle, see letter to Ephraim D. and Phoebe Ellsworth, 1861 May 25.
Other letters and documents from Lincoln's presidency pertain to appointments, import duties and taxes, recommendations of and requests for work for individuals, politics and elections in various states, and the 1864 presidential election, particularly the "blind memorandum" of 1864 August 23 and Lincoln's electoral vote estimate, 1864 October 13.
In addition, this series contains a small amount of family material, including letters from Lincoln to his father Thomas Lincoln and stepbrother John D. Johnston, 1848 December 24, and to Mary Todd Lincoln, 1862 November 9, as well as Todd family items.
Several items in this series concern slavery, including its potential expansion, fugitive enslaved persons, and emancipation—see letters to: Owen Lovejoy, 1855 August 11; Lyman Trumbull, 1860 December 10 and 17; Alexander H. Stephens, 1860 December 22; John M. Schofield, 1863 June 22; and Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, 1864 April 5; as well as a note of Lincoln's dated 1864 March 22. This series also includes Lincoln's drafts and a printed copy of the 1861 act for the gradual emancipation of slaves in the state of Delaware, and three copies of the U.S. Congress resolution to amend the constitution (13th Amendment) dated 1864 December 5, one with Lincoln's signature attached.
mssLincoln
