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Introduction
In this exuberant letter written from the Providence office of the New Age and Constitutional Advocate, the organ of the Suffrage Association, Thomas Dorr informs his political ally, Dutee Pearce (1789-1849), a prominent Newport attorney, that the Landholders' constitution had been defeated. Dorr mentions that his opponents tried to rally supporters by reading a jury charge delivered a few days before by Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Job Durfee (1790-1847). Dorr informed Pearce that 5,000 copies of a "Statement of Reasons" supporting the People's Constitution had just been printed to counter Durfee's charge.