Alexander Hamilton Stephens

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Alexander Hamilton Stephens (born February 11, 1812 in or near Crawfordville , Taliaferro County , Georgia ; † March 4, 1883 in Atlanta , Georgia) was an American politician and from February 11, 1861 to May 11, 1865 the Vice President of the Confederate States of America . He was also the 50th governor of Georgia from November 4, 1882 to March 4, 1883 .

Life

Alexander Hamilton Stephens was born on February 11, 1812 and grew up in poor circumstances. His mother died early and his father when Stephens was 14 years old, so he grew up with relatives. Alexander Stephens studied at the University of Georgia , then Franklin College , until 1832 , and became a teacher. Shortly afterwards he studied law , graduated as the best of his year, was admitted to the bar in 1834 and settled in Crawfordville in 1834 as a lawyer, where he was also politically active. In 1836 he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives; he held his mandate until 1841, when he was elected to the Georgia Senate for one year . On October 2, 1843, he succeeded Mark Anthony Cooper as a member of the Whig Party a seat in the US House of Representatives , but later joined the Democratic Party . Stephens voted in 1854 for the Kansas-Nebraska Act and in 1856 promoted the election of James Buchanan as US President .

On March 3, 1859, he resigned from Congress because he did not approve of the extreme views of the slave-holding party, as he was initially against secession in 1861 . Nevertheless, he was a member of the Georgia body that prepared the 1861 secession and was sent to the Confederation Congress . There he was elected Vice President of the Confederate States of America (CS) and held this post until its fall in 1865. Measures by the government of Jefferson Davis led to a break with the latter. Stephens went back to Georgia, where he became a follower of Joseph E. Brown , the governor of Georgia. There he sabotaged many of the CS government's relations with that state. In 1862 he became the leader of the opposition in the CS Congress. Together with CS Senator Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter and John Archibald Campbell , the CS Deputy Secretary of War, he took part on February 3, 1865 as a delegate at the unsuccessful Hampton Roads conference with representatives of the Union to end the Civil War.

On May 11, 1865, he was arrested on his property in Georgia by order of the Northern States and taken to Fort Warren near Boston , but released after five months in October 1865. He then settled in Atlanta. In 1866 he was elected to the United States Senate, but could not take office.

From December 1, 1873 to November 4, 1882 he was again a democratic member of Congress and tried to reconcile the parties. In contrast to Jefferson Davis, he has probably not lost his citizenship. He was Chairman of the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures . In 1882 he was elected governor of Georgia. He died in office on March 4, 1883 and was initially buried in Oakland Cemetery . Today his grave can be found on his former property "Liberty Hall" near Crawfordville, which has now been converted into a museum.

Quote

“Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. "

“Our new government is founded on exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests on the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, submission to the superior race, is its natural and normal state. This, our new government, is the first in the history of the world based on this great physical, philosophical and moral truth. "

additional

Stephens was depicted on the Confederate State Currency ( CSA $ 20.00 banknote ). The County Stephens County (Georgia) and Stephens County (Texas) are named after him.

Works

  • Constitutional View of the Late War Between States: Its Causes ISBN 0527863505

literature

  • Myrta L. Avary: Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens ISBN 0807122688
  • Jon L. Wakelyn: Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy ISBN 0-8371-6124-X
  • Rembert W. Patrick: Jefferson Davis and his cabinet (Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1944)
  • Correspondence of Robert Toombs, Alexander H. Stephens, and Howell Cobb ISBN 0306711915 (Engl.)
  • Thomas E. Schott: Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia: A Biography , Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988

Web links

Commons : Alexander H. Stephens  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Alexander Hamilton Stephens  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander H. Stephens, "Corner Stone" Speech , Savannah, Georgia, March 21, 1861. TeachingAmericanHistory.org; accessed November 21, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Stephens, Alexander Hamilton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stephens, Alexander H.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1812
PLACE OF BIRTH Crawfordville , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH March 4, 1883
Place of death Atlanta , Georgia