Joel Barlow Sutherland

Joel Barlow Sutherland (born February 26, 1792 in Gloucester County , New Jersey , †  November 15, 1861 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) was an American politician . Between 1827 and 1837 he represented the state of Pennsylvania in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Joel Sutherland attended the public schools of his home country and then studied until 1812 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He then received medical training. During the British-American War of 1812 he was initially a surgeon. He then became a lieutenant colonel in the Philadelphia State Militia. At the same time he embarked on a political career. Between 1813 and 1816 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania ; from 1816 to 1817 he was a member of the State Senate . Sutherland was also the founder of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. In the following years he gave up his medical work and instead practiced as a lawyer, which suggests a law degree not mentioned in the sources. In the 1820s he joined the movement around the future President Andrew Jackson and became a member of the Democratic Party founded by this in 1828 .

In the congressional election of 1826 , Sutherland was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the first constituency of Pennsylvania , where he succeeded John Wurts on March 4, 1827 . After four re-elections, he was able to complete five terms in Congress by March 3, 1837. Since President Jackson's inauguration in 1829, there has been heated debate within and outside of Congress about its policy. 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. Since 1833 Sutherland was chairman of the trade committee. During his final term in office, he joined the Whig Party . In 1836 he failed as their candidate with the attempt to be re-elected. Two years later he again applied unsuccessfully to return to Congress.

In the years 1833 and 1834, Joel Sutherland served as an appellate judge in Philadelphia in addition to his membership of parliament. After his time in the US House of Representatives, he no longer appeared politically. He died in Philadelphia on November 5, 1861.

Web links

• Joel Barlow Sutherland in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Joel Barlow Sutherland in the database of Find a Grave (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
John Wurts	United States House Representative for Pennsylvania (1st constituency) March 4, 1827 - March 3, 1837	Lemuel Paynter