Scope and Content Note
The papers of Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) cover the period 1811-1927, although the bulk of the material is concentrated in the years 1850-1868. The collection is organized into the following series: General Correspondence, Speeches and Writings File, Legal File, Miscellany, and Oversize.
The General Correspondence series, consisting primarily of letters from constituents from Pennsylvania and from inhabitants of many northern and southern states, reflects major issues that concerned Stevens throughout his political career. Also included are letters from political colleagues and friends. Stevens's involvement during the 1830s and 1840s in Pennsylvania politics, especially his role in the anti-Masonic movement, is recorded. His stature within the Whig Party, and later the Republican Party, was to take on a national significance, with Stevens aggressively pushing issues and people he championed. Of particular interest are letters from Winfield Scott concerning Scott's nomination as the Whig candidate for the presidency in 1852.
The largest portion of the correspondence centers on issues surrounding the Civil War and its aftermath. Antislavery appears as a prominent theme in the 1850s and continues to be debated throughout the 1860s. As one of the most outspoken members of the radical Republicans, Stevens received many letters on states' rights, secession, rebellion, and the ensuing war, most in support of his point of view. Abraham Lincoln's and Stevens's cautious relationship is discussed: the opposition of Stevens and his colleagues to Simon Cameron for a position in Lincoln's cabinet, their dismay at Lincoln's conciliatory course with the rebel states, and Stevens's initial reluctance to endorse Lincoln for reelection and his later vigorous support.
The fate and movement of the Union army, conscription, and African-American soldiers are also significant topics. Stevens's nephews, A. J. Stevens, who died in the war in 1863, and Thaddeus Stevens, Jr., write their uncle detailed reports of Civil War battles in which they were involved. Their letters recount the hardships of war, often a consequence of the disorganization and mismanagement of the army. During and after the war, other soldiers provide Stevens with similar if less intimate accounts.
As chairman of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, Thaddeus Stevens played an instrumental role in the financing of the Union war effort and later in the process of Reconstruction. In order to attack the problem of financing the war and rebuilding the country at the end of the war, the committee discussed a wide range of solutions including taxation on goods, bank loans, printing paper money secured by government bonds, tariffs on foreign products, the Gold Bill, and the controversial postwar confiscation. The papers document public opinion concerning the progression of these programs.
Another issue in the General Correspondence relating to Reconstruction is the political situation in the South, with many complaints from loyal Union men at the election of rebels and old guard Southerners into the government. The Freedman's Bureau Bill and Negro suffrage are debated as means for remedying the lack of political status and protection for ex-slaves and the mistreatment resulting therefrom. The growing discontentment with Andrew Johnson's policies and the movement toward his impeachment are also major topics.
Other subjects aside from United States politics include Maximillian's occupation of Mexico in 1866 and the offer to the United States of Johanna Island, one of the Comoro Islands, by Abdallah, Sultan of Njouan, Comoros, in 1867.
Along with his interest in politics, Stevens was also engaged in various business enterprises. From 1826 until his death, he was involved with the Caledonia Iron Works. Initially Stevens was the partner of J. D. Paxton & Company; Stevens later bought out Paxton and became sole owner. Letters from Stevens's nephew, Thaddeus Stevens, Jr., and from his foreman, John Sweney, provide particulars about the day-to-day operations. The struggles, profits, innovations, and attempts to sell the works are discussed. Also included are letters describing the complete destruction of the Caledonia Iron Works operations by rebel forces in 1863. The Legal File also has information relating to the ironworks. Stevens's concern for exploitation of mineral resources goes beyond his personal financial concerns, for he encouraged the mining of iron ore and coal throughout Pennsylvania. He also advocated tariffs on foreign materials to enhance domestic development, which his Pennsylvania constituents supported.
The other major business in which Stevens actively concerned himself with is the railroad industry. He was president of the Wrightsville, York and Gettysburg Railroad Company in 1840. A file in the Miscellany series concerns this company. There is also voluminous correspondence concerning railroad expansion throughout Pennsylvania and the United States, especially the Union Pacific railroad, whose construction Stevens pushed.
Family correspondence consists of letters from his mother and brothers in the earlier years and from his nephews and nieces.
Stevens's law students, Edward McPherson and Alexander Hood, write to Stevens giving him their devoted support for his political judgments. Simon Stevens (not related), who was a student and later law partner, writes to him concerning Stevens's business affairs.
Other correspondents in the General Correspondence include John Binney, James Buchanan, John Charles Frémont, Salmon P. Chase, W. M. Dent, Oliver James Dickey, F. A. Dockray, Henry Goddard, Horace Greeley, Reverdy Johnson, Alexander K. McClure, D. M'Conaughy, Lewis Merrill, William Nesbit, William B. Reed, Edward Reilly, Dudley Selden, Samuel Shoch, Charles S. Spencer, Charles Sumner, and David Wills.
Stevens's letters are scattered throughout the General Correspondence series. Although they do not represent a comprehensive file of his responses, they give an impression of his business and political activities.
Included in the Speeches and Writings File is Stevens's speech to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1835 in which he advocates free schools throughout the state. Stevens's speech of 1860 at Cooper Union Institute in New York endorsed Lincoln for president and defends the principles of the Republican Party. The bulk of the speeches, however, relate to issues surrounding the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. More specific topics in this series are Abraham Lincoln's death, confiscation, secession, suffrage, and the treaty to purchase Alaska.
About one-third of the Legal File concerns settlement of the estate of William E. Camp, of which Stevens was executor. The Legal File also contains documents relating to Stevens's ironwork operations that supplement the letters in the General Correspondence series. A file on the Stevens & Paxton, an iron company, concerns contractual arrangements between the two partners. In addition, the cases of Stevens v. Sam Hughes and Stevens v. J. H. Hughes relate to property rights surrounding the Caledonia Iron Works.
In the Miscellany series is material related to congressional business, including bills, drafts of resolutions, memorials, and petitions, for the most part related to the aftermath of the Civil War. The printed matter consists chiefly of newspapers and clippings with some pamphlets, mostly relating to Stevens.