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THBMordecai M. Noah, Jewish American Editor & Journalist, Extraordinarily Lengthy ALS to James Monroe, May 1823
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About Auction
LiveSep 8, 2017 - Sep 9, 2017
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- Lot Description
Noah, Mordecai Manuel (1785 - 1851). ALS, 19pp, approx. 8 x 12 in., New York. May 27, 1823. Addressed to James Monroe.
Noah was a writer, editor, diplomat, and one of the first Jews born in America (his parents were Portuguese Sephardim) to rise to national prominence. He was also a Utopian and developed an idea to settle Jews (from everywhere) in their own community in Grand Island in the Niagara River. Although that community never materialized, he is also seen by some as an early Zionist; in 1844 Noah called for a massive return of Jews to Palestine.
This lengthy letter to the President delves into the underbelly of politics. He claims that his primary concern is the President's place in history and reputation, as well as the "safety and prosperity of the country," which he claims others are trying to destroy. The first couple pages seek to reassure Monroe that Mr. Noah has always supported his administration. Noah had served as Consul to the Kingdom of Tunis, but Monroe, as Secretary of State, removed him from that position, ostensibly because of conflict between his Jewish religion and the Arab (Islamic) region in which he was serving, but no complete statement of why he was removed was ever forthcoming from the Administration, despite numerous requests from not only Noah and his Jewish friends, but from non-Jews as well. So Noah felt it important to establish his support and admiration for Monroe as Chief Magistrate.
Noah notes:
We have arrived at a very important & critical moment of our national and political history; -- The soldiers & statesmen of our Revolutionary War are nearly all melted in the crucible of time, there are none left of that band of (warriors?) to whom national gratitude and national safety can entrust the administration of our public affairs.... Although a patriotic & able successor can be obtained yet the influence of Revolutionary merit which caused so much recommendation with it ceases. Those Citizens who have sacrificed so much for freedom, who have been so constant & so faithful in the hour of national calamity have also been found the most consistent in measures calculated to give permanence to the system which their early labours established.
During this administration the people have been perfectly satisfied & tranquil Relying with implicit confidence on their integrity & patriotism. We now enter on a new era, and great anxiety prevails among the people to make choice of a President, who shall approximate in character, in caution, in patriotism, & in politics to his immediate predecessors, and very serious apprehensions exist but the ambition of some and the management of others, may wrest the choice from the people, and throw the election in the House of Representatives; thus opening the door to corruption, & sowing the seeds of anarchy, revolution & confusion, & producing a state of things the most appalling, the most dangerous that the country has ever witnessed.
As a newspaper editor in New York, Noah certainly heard the "scuttlebutt" from many sides. He went on to control the Tammany Hall political machine from 1827-1828. Operating on the assumption that William Crawford would be the nominee of the Democratic party in the coming election: "A very powerful combination is making against Mr. Crawford, the man of the people, the only proper candidate of that great democratic influence which produced the 'civil revolution' of 1800;.." He goes on to describe how this "combination" is conspiring to get Monroe's support, and when power is wrested from the people, they will ask if the President was to blame.
Noah looks at the support for various proposed candidates, including Clay, Calhoun, and Adams and the support they have, state by state. "We cannot also be insensible to the fact that the South and West have hitherto united to decide the Presidential Question when the middle states have been balancing & divided..."
In his analysis of each candidate and who each state will likely support, Noah goes on:
The unwearied executions made by the Eastern States to create geographical distinctions & promote sectional interests on the slavery question, & on the particular art for the admission of Missouri have united the Southern people on this cardinal point against the Massachusetts candidate, besides the fact cannot be concealed that the New England Democrats are not all in favour of Mr. Adams, Maine & New Hampshire cannot be calculated on, Connecticut is more than doubtful, so also is Vermont...
You must pardon me for addressing you so unceremoniously on this subject but I write as I think & speak. I have Zealously supported your administration and if in any subordinate points I have found fault, it has been in the spirit of candour & with feelings tho' most friendly. I can have no other motive than a desire that you should retire tranquilly prosperously & influentially from the cares of public life, but I am persuaded that there is a fixed determination to make you an active party to this context, to bring you into the storm at the eminent hazard of losing your best & oldest friends, and sacrificing that great reputation with which you ought to retire from office;...
Why hazard any thing to promote the success of such men? If regular nominations are broken down – if the Democratic party is divided, distracted & defeated, it will be said this is the fault of Mr Monroe who permitted an insidious cry of amalgamation, & era of good feeling to check the circulation of that old republican blood which so long has run current through his veins...
I am fearful that I tire you with this long letter I will therefore close it. My Zeal for the harmony & triumph of the Republican party may have led me too far in mingling in what may be deemed your private feelings, my motives however must plead my apology – they are pure & disinterested. I wish to see our country united & happy – the Democratic party triumphant, the Presidential question decided tranquilly by the people, & your administration terminate in a manner entirely satisfactory to yourself & the nation.
It is signed simply "M.M.N."
After some years working in trade and the law, Mordecai Noah moved to Charleston, SC and became active in politics. He served as a diplomat, then moved to New York City and founded several newspapers, including The National Advocate, The New York Enquirer, The Evening Star and The Sunday Times. About this time he also had one of his most successful plays (She Would Be a Soldier) produced.
Noah saw slavery as a divisive issue. While he seemed to abhor slavery, he feared emancipation would tear the country apart. It may be fortunate that Mordecai Noah died in 1851, before he could see his beloved union nearly torn apart by slavery, among other factors, as he predicted.
Condition
A few separations beginning at folds, especially the last (outer when folded) page. Moderate overall toning. Generally very good and readable.
Excellent condition.
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