André Bienvenu novel

André Bienvenu novel

André Bienvenu Roman (born March 5, 1795 in Opelousas , Louisiana , † January 26, 1866 in New Orleans , Louisiana ) was an American politician and from 1831 to 1835 and between 1839 and 1843 governor of the state of Louisiana.

Early years

André Roman was born to Jacques and Louise Roman, both of whom came from France . In later years the family moved to St. James Parish , where they operated a sugar plantation. The young André attended St. Mary College in Baltimore , Maryland until 1815 .

Political rise

On his return to Louisiana, Roman was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1818 to 1826 . Since 1822 he was its president as speaker . Between 1826 and 1828 he was a judge in St. James Parish. He was then re-elected to the House of Representatives of his state, where he stayed between 1828 and 1831 and where he was again President of the House. During this time, the succession of a deceased governor was hotly debated in Louisiana. The background to this was the death of Governor Pierre Derbigny in October 1829. According to the state constitution, the President of the Senate of Louisiana had to take over the office of governor. That was Armand Beauvais from October 1829 to January 1830 and Jacques Dupré from January 1830 to January 1831 . For the final settlement of the succession of a governor, the office of vice governor was introduced in 1845 . In order to establish stable conditions in 1830, extraordinary gubernatorial elections were announced. André Roman won this election on July 5, 1830.

Louisiana Governor

André Roman took up his new office on January 31, 1831. His first four-year term was overshadowed by a number of natural disasters such as storms and floods. There were also some epidemics that ravaged the state. 5000 people fell victim to a yellow fever epidemic alone. The first railways operated in Louisiana in 1832. The number of banks in this state rose from five to eleven. The penal system was improved and some new schools were built. It was then that the state's agricultural society came into being, with Governor Roman as its president. During the nullification crisis between the federal government under President Andrew Jackson and the state of South Carolina , Roman sided with the president.

In 1834 he was defeated by Edward Douglass White in the gubernatorial elections . After the end of his first term, Roman ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the state Senate and in 1836 just as unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate . In 1838, Roman was elected to a second term as governor, which began on February 4, 1839 and ran until February 2, 1843. The focus of his second term of office was education policy and the improvement of the infrastructure. This included improving shipping in the Mississippi River Delta , building levees and opening new railroad lines. In the school area, the previous history of the region was processed. The law punishing debtors with prison was repealed. The last phase of his second term was overshadowed by an economic crisis. In 1842, the Bank Act made lending more difficult.

Another résumé

After his governorship, Roman was a delegate to the respective meetings for the revision of the state constitution of Louisiana in 1845 and 1852. He was also a member of the assembly that deliberated Louisiana's exit from the Union in 1861. Roman advocated the state's retention in the Union. But after the assembly had decided on the separation, he was sent to Washington with two other delegates to negotiate a peaceful separation. In Washington, however, they refused to contact the group. During the civil war that followed, he lost almost all of his property and assets. André Roman died in January 1866. He had eight children with his wife Aimee Francoise Parent.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

• Roman at the National Governors Association (English)
• The Governors of Louisiana (English)

• André Bienvenu novel in the database of Find a Grave (English)