![VAN BUREN, Martin (1782-1862), President. Autograph manuscript signed (in various forms) or initialed 23 times in the text, A CONGRESSIONAL SPEECH ON CARIBBEAN PIRACY, with a journal of Senator Van Buren's actions in this area. [Washington, D.C., 1824]. 43½ pages, 4to (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.), mostly on recto only, minor browning, otherwise fine, brown morocco protective case.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2002/NYR/2002_NYR_01032_0059_000(041913).jpg?w=1)
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VAN BUREN, Martin (1782-1862), President. Autograph manuscript signed (in various forms) or initialed 23 times in the text, A CONGRESSIONAL SPEECH ON CARIBBEAN PIRACY, with a journal of Senator Van Buren's actions in this area. [Washington, D.C., 1824]. 43½ pages, 4to (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.), mostly on recto only, minor browning, otherwise fine, brown morocco protective case.
VAN BUREN ENDORSES A BLOCKADE OF CUBA AND PUERTO RICO
A rare autograph speech by the architect of the Democratic Party, then serving as New York Senator, testifying to the prodigious energy Van Buren brought to both politics and Congressional business, traits which would win him the post of Secretary of State under Jackson and, ultimately, to the White House. With the disintegration of the Spanish empire and the independence of many of her former colonies, a new and devastating breed of pirate had appeared, operating from the coasts of Cuba and Puerto Rico and preying on American merchant vessels. In 1819, Congress had declared that piracy was an offense punishable by death (this was the law under which the famous Amistad mutineers were prosecuted, in 1839); in 1823, a naval squadron under the command of David Porter (1780-1843) was dispatched to the Caribbean. (Porter's high-handed actions in seizing a fort at Fajardo, Puerto Rico, would lead to his courts-martial.)
Here, Van Buren ringingly calls on the Congress to enact a formal naval blockade of Cuba and Puerto Rico; he argues that the depredations of the pirates are "of the utmost importance, requiring the prompt, zealous & efficient attention of the government"; the increase in piracy was "so alarming as to call for the most rigorous exertion of the government for their suppression." Van Buren acknowledges initiatives to increase the strength of the navy. In spite of their actions, Van Buren acknowledges that piracy has worsened: "the horrid practise had been gradually extending & assuming new features of atrocity until it had arrived at a height...destructive of the lives of our citizens and distressing to the cause of humanity." Van Buren argues that "the right of Blockade is...one of the highest acts of sovereignty which the law of nations allows to a belligerent."
America's aggressive actions against the pirates in the Carribbean brought the nation close to war with both Cuba and Puerto Rico. An enlarged naval presence, though, had generally brought the activities of the privateers under control by 1827.
SUBSTANTIAL MANUSCRIPTS OF VAN BUREN ARE RARE.
Provenance: Philip D. Sang (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 14 November 1978, lot 586); sale, Robert Batchelder, 1980.
VAN BUREN ENDORSES A BLOCKADE OF CUBA AND PUERTO RICO
A rare autograph speech by the architect of the Democratic Party, then serving as New York Senator, testifying to the prodigious energy Van Buren brought to both politics and Congressional business, traits which would win him the post of Secretary of State under Jackson and, ultimately, to the White House. With the disintegration of the Spanish empire and the independence of many of her former colonies, a new and devastating breed of pirate had appeared, operating from the coasts of Cuba and Puerto Rico and preying on American merchant vessels. In 1819, Congress had declared that piracy was an offense punishable by death (this was the law under which the famous Amistad mutineers were prosecuted, in 1839); in 1823, a naval squadron under the command of David Porter (1780-1843) was dispatched to the Caribbean. (Porter's high-handed actions in seizing a fort at Fajardo, Puerto Rico, would lead to his courts-martial.)
Here, Van Buren ringingly calls on the Congress to enact a formal naval blockade of Cuba and Puerto Rico; he argues that the depredations of the pirates are "of the utmost importance, requiring the prompt, zealous & efficient attention of the government"; the increase in piracy was "so alarming as to call for the most rigorous exertion of the government for their suppression." Van Buren acknowledges initiatives to increase the strength of the navy. In spite of their actions, Van Buren acknowledges that piracy has worsened: "the horrid practise had been gradually extending & assuming new features of atrocity until it had arrived at a height...destructive of the lives of our citizens and distressing to the cause of humanity." Van Buren argues that "the right of Blockade is...one of the highest acts of sovereignty which the law of nations allows to a belligerent."
America's aggressive actions against the pirates in the Carribbean brought the nation close to war with both Cuba and Puerto Rico. An enlarged naval presence, though, had generally brought the activities of the privateers under control by 1827.
SUBSTANTIAL MANUSCRIPTS OF VAN BUREN ARE RARE.
Provenance: Philip D. Sang (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 14 November 1978, lot 586); sale, Robert Batchelder, 1980.