[Printed Circular Regarding the Disruption of the 1836 Cotton Crop Due to the Indian Wars in the Southeast and the Texas Revolution]

Charleston, S.C.: William C. Duke's & Co., August 6, 1836. Very good.. [1]p. of text, with integral address leaf, addressed to Edward Broughton, Esq. of Fulton, South Carolina, docketed on address leaf. Original mailing folds, small marginal chip from removal of wax seal, minor toning, some spotting. Five-line contemporary manuscript note in bottom margin. An apparently unrecorded circular from South Carolina in which a commission merchant in Charleston communicates that the Texas Revolution, the Indian wars in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and certain weather factors will significantly affect the the year's cotton crop. The work reads, in part: "The great injury done by rains in the early part of the season...destroying in a good degree the river plantations of the Atlantic, as well as some of the Western States, and injuring the growth on the uplands; particularly the mudlands and prairies of Alabama and Mississippi; the Indian war of Florida which will cut short the product of that territory, at least one half; the Creek war, which must materially affect the production of the article, both in Georgia and Alabama, on the borders of the Creek Nation; and, finally, the Texian Revolution, will have a decided effect to lessen, if not totally destroy the present crop of that fertile region." As a result of these factors they forecast lower supply and higher cotton prices, with a detailed analysis regarding number of bales produced and higher per-bale prices. The manuscript note at the bottom indicates the recipient of the circular sent forty-five bales of cotton to Liverpool, and instructs his correspondent, "Don't bid too high for Cotton, unless in the way of trade."

A fascinating primary source look at the cotton plantation economy with the Texas Revolution mentioned by name as an effective cause of lower production of the cotton crop. Cotton was a huge industry in Texas at the time, and this is the first contemporary mention of the Texas Revolution we have encountered as it pertains to King Cotton, especially from as far afield as South Carolina. No copies in OCLC, nor in any other source we could locate.