{"value"=>"<p>The writings preserved in the collection date from Tilden's school years up until his death. An 1833 essay on the presidency of Martin Van Buren gained him early prominence in New York's Democratic circles, while an article entitled <span class=\"title\">Coercive Temperance Law and the Democratic Candidate for Attorney General</span> decries the \"barbarian\" paternalism of the Temperance movement. In the years of political unrest leading up to the Civil War, Tilden wrote vehemently on <span class=\"title\">The Union!! Its Dangers!! And How They Can Be Averted,</span> and outlined his opinion on the war between the States in an 1862 memorandum. Much of the writing contained herein relates to the Tweed Ring, including a letter to the <span class=\"title\">Evening Post,</span> drafts of a manuscript covering the events of the investigation and trial, and even a prose play, <span class=\"title\">The Drama of the Ring</span>. Later writings include a statement to the press regarding the \"cipher telegrams,\" a vote-buying scandal centering on his nephew, Col. William Tilden Pelton, and his letter declining the nomination for the presidency in 1880. Most of the early writings are quite fragmentary, while later writings are generally represented by more complete drafts.</p>"}