Sullivan, James: [Gerry, Elbridge]:

$1,750 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

[AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM JAMES SULLIVAN TO ELBRIDGE GERRY, CALLING FOR FRUGALITY AS A NATIONAL CHARACTERISTIC, INCLUDING AT THE PRESIDENT'S DINING ... James Sullivan, Massachusetts lawyer and politician, writes to Founding Father Elbridge Gerry, discussing the need for frugality to be a core American virtue. Sullivan was involved in the convention that wrote the state's first constitution, and led the movement to secure representation in the lower House for a representative from each town. He served as Massachusetts attorney general from 1790 to 1807, when he resigned his post to assume the position of governor. He was a good friend of his correspondent, Elbridge Gerry.Gerry served in the Continental Congress and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was an early and vigorous advocate of American Independence, and played a crucial role in the formation of the new United States government, insisting on a bill of rights being added to the new constitution. His name is perhaps best remembered, however ignominiously, in connection with the term "gerrymandering." In his second term as governor of Massachusetts, Gerry redrew district lines to consolidate his party's control in the state senate. Though this was not necessarily a new practice, the name stuck. Gerry ran on the ticket with President Madison in 1812, for Madison's second term as president, and died in office in November 1814.Espousing a very New England view of the situation, Sullivan imparts his th

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