1860 New Speaker Pennington Brooklyn Factory Explosion St. Valentine's Feb 11

🗞️ HARPER'S WEEKLY · February 11, 1860
Complete Issue · New York

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A historically significant and varied Antebellum issue — the new Speaker of the House William Pennington on the front page, ending the two-month constitutional crisis over the Speakership; a full-page Brooklyn hat factory explosion; a South Carolina fire-eater congressman; and St. Valentine's Day. A primary document of the 36th Congress resolving its sectional crisis just months before the 1860 presidential election that would trigger the Civil War.

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🏛️ WILLIAM PENNINGTON — NEW SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
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🎖️ FRONT PAGE — "WM. PENNINGTON, OF NEW JERSEY, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES"
A front-page portrait of William Pennington — the New Jersey Republican who had been elected Speaker of the House on February 1, 1860, after 44 ballots over two months of bitter sectional conflict had failed to elect anyone else. Pennington's election ended one of the most dramatic constitutional crises in American history — a period during which members of the House came to sessions armed, open threats were exchanged, and the nation teetered on the edge of a congressional breakdown. Pennington was a political novice serving his first term in Congress and remains the only Speaker in American history to have been elected in his first term. His election was a compromise that satisfied no one fully but broke the deadlock just in time for the House to conduct the nation's business ahead of the fateful 1860 presidential election. A primary document of the resolution of the constitutional crisis that had dominated American political life since John Brown's execution.

👤 PORTRAIT — "HON. WM. PORCHER MILES, OF CHARLESTON, S.C."
A portrait of William Porcher Miles — the Charleston, South Carolina congressman who was one of the most extreme fire-eating secessionists in the House, and who had been a central figure in the Speaker crisis, refusing to vote for any Northern candidate. Miles would go on to design the Confederate Battle Flag — the St. Andrew's Cross design he proposed for the Confederacy became the most recognizable symbol of the Southern cause. A significant piece of Confederate and Southern history at the moment just before secession.

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💥 BROOKLYN HAT FACTORY EXPLOSION
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💥 FULL PAGE — "EXPLOSION AT AMES & MOULTON'S HAT FACTORY, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK"
A full-page illustration of the explosion at Ames & Moulton's hat factory in Brooklyn — a vivid piece of Brooklyn industrial and disaster history, capturing the dangers of industrial manufacturing in the Antebellum era when workplace safety regulations were essentially nonexistent. The Brooklyn hat industry was one of the borough's major industries in the 1850s-60s, and this factory explosion is a primary document of the industrial hazards faced by working-class Brooklynites.

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❤️ ST. VALENTINE'S DAY
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💝 THREE-QUARTER PAGE — "ST. VALENTINE'S MORNING, 1860"
A three-quarter page illustration of St. Valentine's Morning — a warm and charming piece of Victorian American holiday culture, capturing the anticipation and romance of the most beloved holiday of the Antebellum social calendar.

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📋 CONDITION
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I photograph every page of every issue so you can inspect the condition closely before purchasing. Please review all images carefully and don't hesitate to ask any questions — I'm happy to provide additional detail or close-up shots of any page, illustration, or area of concern before you buy.

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📌 DETAILS
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Publication ········ Harper's Weekly
Date ··············· February 11, 1860
City ··············· New York
Format ············· Illustrated newspaper, complete in 16 pages

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📦 SHIPPING & PRESERVATION
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• Stored in an acid-free protective bag and flat-shipped in a padded envelope with heavy cardboard reinforcement
• Fully tracked for your peace of mind

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🔍 SEO TAGS
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