Caesar A. Rodney

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Caesar Augustus Rodney

Caesar Augustus Rodney (born January 4, 1772 in Dover , Delaware Colony , † June 10, 1824 in Buenos Aires ) was an American lawyer , politician , diplomat , United States Senator and United States Attorney General .

Family, studies and professional career

His father, Thomas Rodney, was not only a delegate to the Continental Congress , but also Chief Justice of Mississippi for several years . Caesar Augustus Rodney, who was named after his uncle Caesar Rodney , one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence , also first completed a general education program at the University of Pennsylvania , which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1789 . The subsequent study of law in Philadelphia he completed in 1793 with admission to the bar. He then worked as a lawyer in Wilmington and New Castle .

During the British-American War of 1812 he served as a captain in the 1st Artillery Regiment of Delaware on the border with Canada and in the defense of Baltimore in 1814.

Political career

MPs in Delaware and Washington

Rodney began his political career in 1797 with the election to the House of Representatives from Delaware , of which he was a member until 1802. During this time he became a supporter of Thomas Jefferson and a leader of the Democratic Republican Party .

Spurred on by his role model Jefferson, he decided in 1802 to run for the House of Representatives against the previous Congressman and later US Senator James A. Bayard Sr. , whom he beat in the election with a majority of only 15 votes. As a representative of the Delaware Congressional District, he served in the House of Representatives from March 4, 1803 to March 3, 1805, and at that time to the Committee on Ways and Means . As a MP, he also built a reputation for managing impeachment proceedings against Judges John Pickering and Samuel Chase .

In the following congressional election of 1804, however, he was defeated by Bayard with a clear majority. Despite their mutual political preferences, Bayard and Rodney remained good friends throughout their lives. From January 3, 1815 to January 6, 1818 he was initially a member of the Senate of Delaware . From March 4, 1821 to January 22, 1822 he was again an MP for Delaware in the US House of Representatives.

Attorney General under President Jefferson and Senator

On January 20, 1807 President Jefferson appointed him as Attorney General ( Attorney General ) in his cabinet . In this position he was also taken over by Jefferson's successor James Madison . As Attorney General in 1807, he was co-counsel for the prosecution in the high treason trial against former Vice President Aaron Burr .

Of disappointment that he at a nomination for the judge at the Supreme Court of the United States was passed over, he resigned as Minister of Justice on 5 December 1811th

On March 4, 1821, he was sworn in as a US Senator. As such, he was a member of Congress until January 29, 1823 . Rodney was the only Democratic Republican Senator in Delaware, which was then dominated by the federalists .

Diplomatic missions

In 1817 Rodney was appointed chairman of a special commission by President James Monroe . Its task was to investigate whether the newly established states in South America could be recognized by the United States. Rodney was a strong supporter of these recognitions and published his research results in 1819 together with the diplomat and former Secretary of State John Graham in the Reports On The Present State Of The United Provinces Of South America . This report was ultimately one of the foundations for the Monroe Doctrine presented to Congress in 1823 . The demand contained therein on the European powers not to recolonize the now independent states of Latin America led to the shortening of the doctrine under the catchphrase “America for the Americans”.

The activity as chairman of the commission was also the reason for his appointment as Plenipotentiary Envoy to the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina) on January 29, 1823. He held this office until his death on June 10, 1824 in Buenos Aires .

literature

  • William T. Read: Biographical Sketch of Caesar Augustus Rodney: Read Before the Grand Lodge of Delaware. CP Johnson, Wilmington DE 1853, OCLC 13813351 .
  • George Herbert Ryden: Biographical Sketches of Caesar Rodney (the Signer), Thomas Rodney and Caesar A. Rodney. Public Archives Commission, Dover DE 1943, OCLC 8230494 .
  • Rodney, Caesar A. In: James Grant Wilson, John Fiske (Eds.): Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography . tape 5 : Pickering - Sumter . D. Appleton and Company, New York 1888, p. 300 (English, text archive - Internet Archive - additional entry at the uncle).

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personal data
SURNAME Rodney, Caesar A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rodney, Caesar Augustus (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 4, 1772
PLACE OF BIRTH Dover , Delaware
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1824
Place of death Buenos Aires , Argentina