A group of three (3) scarce pro-slavery and pro-states' rights pamphlets. Works include: 

1. Benjamin M. Palmer. The South: Her Peril, and her Duty. A Discourse, Delivered in the First Presbyterian Church. New Orleans, Louisiana: Office of the True Witness and Sentinel, 1860.

8vo, 16 pages. Original wrappers. FIRST EDITION. Jumonville 2984; LCP, Afro-Americana 7388; Sabin 58346.

Very rare and important sermon preached by New Orleans Presbyterian and prolific fire-eater Benjamin Morgan Palmer (1818-1902) in response to the election of President Abraham Lincoln. He averred that the South had a “providential trust to conserve and to perpetuate the institution of slavery as now existing," and that abolition was “undeniably atheistic.” The South “defended the cause of God and religion,” and nothing “is now left but secession.”

The very scarce first printing of this widely reprinted secessionist and pro-slavery speech that is often credited with arousing secessionism and encouraging enlistment in the Confederate Army. 

RARE. No copies have sold at auction since 1946. 

2. Robert M.T. Hunter. Speech of Hon. R.M.T. Hunter, of Virginia, on Invasion of States. [Washington, D.C.]: Lemuel Towers, 1860.

8vo, 16 pages. Caption title. Uncut. LCP, Afro-Americana 5073.

Rare drop title imprint by Robert M.T. Hunter (1809-1887), who would go on to become the Confederate Secretary of State (July 1861-February 1862) and the President pro tempore of the Confederate Senate. 

The pamphlet, written while he was a United States Senator from Virginia, is his scathing response to Republicans and abolitionists in the aftermath of John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry. One of the most sophisticated defenses of Southern slaveholding we have ever read, he intends to convince the Senate that Southern slavery is not only critical to the South, but that it is a conservative and stabilizing institution for the entire United States economy, social order, and constitution. 

He writes, in part: "Mr. President, when I think of what it is that may be destroyed by this narrow spirit of sectional hate and bigotry, I turn away from the contemplation with a feeling of an almost indignant despair; but I will not, as yet, despair of my country. I will yet hope that the great army of northern Democrats and conservatives will arise in the might of a noble cause, and expel the intruders from the seats of power."

Hunter argues that the master-slave relationship is more humane than the capital-labor relationship, suggesting that the master has a vested interest in the health of the slave, which ensures that shelter, food, and care are received. Free market labor offers no such protections. And, perhaps most "innovatively," he argues that national growth means someone needs to be the cheap labor ground under progress' wheels and that the presence of negro slaves makes white people more equal to each other and diminishes class strife among them. 

Very rare in the trade. No copies ever traced at auction. 

3. William D. Porter and James Kirke Paulding. State Sovereignty and the Doctrine of Coercion, by the Hon. Wm. D. Porter; Together with a Letter from Hon. J. K. Paulding, Former Sec. of Navy. The Right to Secede, by "States." Charleston, South Carolina: Evans & Cogswell, 1860.

8vo, 34pp. Original wrappers. FIRST EDITION. LCP, Afro-Americana 8313. 

Provenance: The Library, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia (stamp to front wrapper). 

Very rare Charleston issue in 1860 with an articulation of states' rights doctrine, federal infringement, and eventual secession. Printed locally and with "Read and Send to Your Neighbor" in bold text on the front wrapper. Uncommon. 

[African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [Pamphlets, Publications, Ephemera, Books, Rare Books, Tracts]

Palmer - soiling to wrappers, soft vertical folds. 

Porter & Paulding - Dampstain, some toning. Ex-library.

Hunter - pages uncut, soft horizontal folds. Erased pencil notation to lower corner.