Promissory Note. Part printed official promissory note for $1,200, with manuscript additions. Autograph signature by Confederate Secretary of War and Secretary of State, Judah P. Benjamin (1811-1884)

(AMERICAN JUDAICA)

February 13th

New Orleans

1838

A few words filling out the blanks possibly in Benjamin’s hand

In 1852 Judah P. Benjamin became the first professing Jew to be elected to the United States Senate. Initially a Whig, he became a Democrat in 1856 after the Democratic Party espoused the cause of Southern rights. He was a leading member of the school of Southern politicians who favored succession from the Union as the only safeguard for Southern survival. Upon the succession of the State of Louisiana, Benjamin withdrew from the Senate to join, as senior member, President Jefferson Davis’ Confederate Cabinet. He fled to England at the end of the war in order to avoid prosecution for his convictions regarding slavery