Bayly, Thomas Henry

[cover title] SPEECHES OF HON. T. H. BAYLY, OF VIRGINIA, on the French Resolutions, and upon the Question of Privilege. Delivered in the House of Representatives, April 3, 10, 11, & 21, 1848

Washington: Congressional Globe Office, 1848. Unbound. Very Good binding. Item #7539

Octavo. 24 pp. Folded, printed sheets, never bound or trimmed. A bit of soiling to the covers as well as some silverfishing to the bottom corner of the margin of most leaves and bit to the top margin of the first leaf—none of this affects any text; otherwise a very nice copy of an uncommon report of Bayly's speeches related to Joint Resolutions following the 1848 February Revolution in France. Some material related to slavery, including slavery in French controlled Caribbean. Uncommon.

Bayly served 12 years in the House of Representatives. He is perhaps most noted as a dedicated Unionist who argued that the issue of slavery in the territories was not an issue to be decided by the executive or legislative branches of government, but a matter for the courts. He was largely responsible for rallying southern and western Democrats to defeat the Wilmot proviso. He was a Virginian and a slave-owner but largely maintained a moderate stance on this issue, recognizing that the growing sectional tensions were straining the Union. Oxford American National Biography. Sabin 4078.

Price: $75.00