Catalog Archive
Auction 186, Lot 789

Carpetbagger Express Broadside

"[Reconstruction-Era Railroad Broadside] Reduced Rates on Special Tickets for Land Buyers via North Central Railway",

Subject: Document - Carpetbaggers

Period: 1870 (dated)

Publication:

Color: Printed Color

Size:
4.9 x 15.1 inches
12.4 x 38.4 cm
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This scarce broadside advertises "special tickets" for land buyers "to meet the necessities of persons wishing to go to Virginia, and the Carolinas, the [Railway] …has placed on Sale…tickets…in order to enable such persons who desire to purchase lands in the South, the opportunity, at little expense, to make their selection in person." The broadside goes on to list the railway’s schedule and stops from Virginia to Georgia in December, 1870. The broadside documents that the economic challenges and controversy of the Reconstruction period was real. Following the war Southern states lost the revenue derived from the property tax on slaves and began to tax land. When taxes were not paid in the depressed economy the land frequently was auctioned off at bargain prices. There apparently were enough northerners seeking to take advantage of the situation that the railway marketed to them. Controversy continued over the motives and influence of the carpetbaggers during Reconstruction. Clearly there was a segment who sought financial gain from the post-war collapse of the economies of the Southern states. Printed by James Lucas & Sons in Baltimore. We found no past sales records or institutional examples located on OCLC.

References:

Condition: B+

There is light color offsetting at bottom and a couple of dampstains in the right margin that just touch the border.

Estimate: $250 - $325

Sold for: $150

Closed on 2/9/2022

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