Bedford Brown

Bedford Brown

Bedford Brown (born June 6, 1795 in Caswell County , North Carolina , † December 6, 1870 there ) was an American politician . Between 1829 and 1840 he represented the state of North Carolina in the US Senate .

Career

Bedford Brown studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until 1813 . After completing a law degree, he was admitted to the bar in 1815. In fact, he never practiced as such. Instead, he worked as a planter in agriculture. At the same time he began a political career. In 1815, 1816 and 1817 he was elected to the State House of Representatives. From 1828 to 1829 he sat in the North Carolina Senate and became its president. In the 1820s he joined the movement around the future President Andrew Jackson and became a member of the Democratic Party founded by him in 1828 .

After the resignation of the Secretary of the Navy, John Branch from the US Senate, Bedford Brown was elected as his successor in Congress . After re-election, he exercised this mandate between December 9, 1829 and his resignation on November 16, 1840. The resignation was due to disagreements between him and the state legislature of North Carolina. During his tenure in the US Senate, he was Chairman of the Agriculture Committee from 1833 to 1837. At times he also belonged to other committees such as B. the Committee on Claims from the American Revolution. During his tenure in Congress, President Jackson's policies were hotly debated. It was about the controversial enforcement of the Indian Removal Act , the conflict with the state of South Carolina , which culminated in the nullification crisis and the banking policy of the president.

In 1842, Brown was re-elected to the North Carolina State Senate. In the same year, a candidacy for his return to the US Senate failed. He then lived in Missouri and Virginia for a few years before returning to North Carolina. He continued to work in agriculture. In the years 1858 to 1860 he was again State Senator in North Carolina. In the run-up to the American Civil War , Brown was initially against a secession of his state from the Union. After President Abraham Lincoln requested troops for the Union from North Carolina, Brown joined the majority of his compatriots and supported the withdrawal of his state from the Union. In 1868 he was last elected to the State Senate. However, the Republicans denied him his seat in the Age of Reconstruction . He died on December 6, 1870 in his country estate in Caswell County.

Web links

• Bedford Brown in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)