David C. Broderick

David C. Broderick

David Colbreth Broderick (born February 4, 1820 in Washington, DC , † September 16, 1859 in San Francisco , California ) was an American politician . He represented the state of California in the US Senate .

Life

David Broderick was born in Washington to a stonemason ; his father himself was one of the numerous construction workers who worked on the construction of the Capitol in the federal capital. When Broderick was three years old, the family moved to New York City in 1823 , where the son attended school. As a teenager, Broderick did an apprenticeship with a stonemason in order to take up his father's profession. He later worked as a doorman in a saloon . Unlike many US politicians, he had no academic career to record. In 1846 the 26-year-old ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Congress for the state of New York ; probably also because of his simple education, he was denied the approval of the population.

Political career

Broderick, a member of the Democratic Party , was moved in 1849, during the gold rush to California, where he settled in San Francisco and with luck, a small fortune in real estate and real estate made. In 1850 he received a seat in the California Senate ; In the middle of the 19th century he was one of the staunch opponents of slavery .

From 1851 to 1852 Broderick served as Lieutenant Governor of California before he successfully ran for a seat in the United States Senate in 1856. Broderick created opposition among his colleagues because of his liberal and humane views towards the black African slaves; even within his party he thereby made enemies; Above all, it was William M. Gwin , who was serving as Senator at the same time as Broderick , who pursued a pro-slavery course.

death

Broderick increasingly represented the political views of the Free Soil Party in the eyes of his opponents - a fact that the Chief Justice of California, David S. Terry , denounced publicly in the fall of 1859 at the Congress of the Democrats in Sacramento . Broderick, according to Terry, is not a true Democrat. A bitter argument ensued between the two men, in the course of which Broderick accused Terry of being a dishonorable judge and, as he himself put it, a miserable bastard . Terry, who could not accept this disgrace, challenged Broderick to a duel .

This took place in the early morning of September 13, 1859 at Lake Merced , outside of San Francisco. The duel should initially go harmlessly on the stage. After the countdown known for duels, Broderick drew the gun, but it went off early. The bullet hit the ground. Terry, who in turn drew the gun, fired at Broderick. At first everything indicated a flesh wound in Broderick's chest that he had sustained, but the wound was fatal. The senator succumbed to his injuries three days later.

David C. Broderick was never married and had no children.

Aftermath

Broderick, who found his final resting place in Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco, was long considered a martyr among abolitionists . When the cemetery was closed in 1942, his remains were exhumed and transferred to Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma . The fact was, however, that his death was another step in the direction of the Civil War .

David Smith Terry, who had to resign that same year due to the fatal incident, was himself the victim of a gun attack 30 years later, in August 1889.

Web links

• David C. Broderick in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)