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Introduction
In this letter to John Brown Francis, written just several days before Thomas Dorr’s attempt to take over the state arsenal in Providence, Elisha Potter, Jr. argued that conciliatory measures could have been passed if it were not for a few obstructionist members of the General Assembly. Potter argued that the Whigs refused to compromise because they wanted to divide the Democratic party. Note that the Democratic party in Rhode Island was split between an Equal Rights Faction, led by Thomas Dorr, and a conservative wing led by Elisha Potter, Jr. and others from the southern regions of the state.