Zachary Taylor's State of the Union Message for 1850

[State of the Union Address] Message of the President of the United States to Congress: First Session—Thirty-first Congress

Taylor, Zachary

Notes: A very scarce separate publication of Zachary Taylor's State of the Union address (before it had that name and before it was delivered in person) for 1850, sent to Congress on December 4, 1849. The address is most commonly found as part of a large collection of reports delivered by the administration to Congress. There are two separate stand-alone editions recorded in OCLC, one without an imprint (three holdings) and a single copy like this one from the "Office of the Republic."

The first half of the message concerns foreign relations with Europe and Latin America. Of particular interest is his discussion of federal efforts to prevent a filibustering expedition of Americans to Cuba and discussion of the possibility of a canal in Nicaragua or Panama. President Taylor also asserts support for an independent Hawaii. He devotes several paragraphs to California and the Oregon territory and to plans to take advantage of the "great mineral wealth" of California.

Taylor largely avoids the issue of slavery, writing only to encourage "an amendment of our existing laws relating to the African slave trade with a view to the effectual suppression of that barbarous traffic." But he gives a prescient hint about the coming Civil War: "Attachment to the Union of the States should be habitually fostered in every human heart... In my judgment its dissolution would be the greatest of calamities, and to avert that should be the study of every American. Upon its preservation must depend our own happiness and that of countless generations to come."

[1] [blank] 13 [3 blanks] pages.

Edition + Condition: First edition (of this printing; priority with the version without an imprint is unknown). Folded twice, perhaps for mailing, else very good in original condition, folded and sewn sheet, entirely uncut and untrimmed.

Publication: Washington, DC: Office of the Republic, 1849.

Item No: #360755

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