John S. Carlile

John Snyder Carlile (born December 16, 1817 in Winchester , Virginia , † October 24, 1878 in Clarksburg , West Virginia ) was an American politician who represented the state of Virginia in both chambers of Congress .

Lawyer and politician

Until he was 14, John Carlile was homeschooled by his mother; after that he worked as a salesman in a shop. He then studied law , was admitted to the bar in 1840 and began practicing law in Beverly , what is now West Virginia. His political career began as a member of the Democratic Party , for which he took part in 1850 as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Virginia; he also sat in the State Senate from 1847 to 1851 .

In 1854 Carlile joined the recently founded Know-Nothing Party , for which he was a member of the United States House of Representatives for the first time between March 4, 1855 and March 3, 1857 . In the ensuing discussion of Virginia's secession , Carlile counted among the faction loyal to the Union and opposed to secession. So he also voted "no" at the secession convention in 1861 , in which he attended as a delegate from Harrison County .

In the Civil War

In June of the same year, Carlile spoke out at a meeting of the anti- secessionists in Wheeling against a discussion about the separation of the unionist part of Virginia; rather, he argued that Congress should recognize the state government formed in Wheeling as the sole legitimate representative of Virginia's interests. On June 13th, he presented a document at the convention entitled "A Declaration of the People of Virginia," calling for the government to be rebuilt.

In 1861, Carlile was elected to the US House of Representatives again as a unionist. However, he only stayed there from July 4 to 13, before moving to the Senate within Congress , to which he belonged until March 3, 1865. There he took the view that the rebellion in the south was not an uprising of states, but of individuals. He also denied Congress the right to take action on slavery in this regard ; Carlile was a slave owner himself. He met with US President Abraham Lincoln several times to seek support.

Ultimately, Carlile could not get his political demands through; Nor was he able to prevent the founding of West Virginia. After the end of the war, he withdrew from politics and returned home to devote himself to his legal profession.

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personal data
SURNAME	Carlile, John S.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Carlile, John Snyder (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	December 16, 1817
PLACE OF BIRTH	Winchester , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH	October 24, 1878
Place of death	Clarksburg , West Virginia