John Slidell

John Slidell (1859)

John Slidell (born 1793 in New York City , New York , † July 9, 1871 in Cowes , Isle of Wight , England ) was an American lawyer and politician . Between 1843 and 1861 he represented the state of Louisiana in both chambers of Congress with one interruption .

Life

John Slidell was the older brother of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (1803-1848), but who has changed his last name. In 1810, John graduated from Columbia College , later Columbia University in New York City. After studying law and becoming a lawyer, he began to work in this profession. He also worked in trade. Around 1819 he moved to New Orleans where he practiced as a lawyer. Politically, he joined the Democratic Party founded by Andrew Jackson in 1828 . Between 1829 and 1833 he was a federal prosecutor in his new home. In 1828 he ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives . In the years 1834, 1836 and 1848 his first attempts to be elected to the US Senate failed .

In the congressional elections of 1842 Slidell was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he took up his new mandate on March 4, 1843. After being re-elected, he could exercise it until his resignation on November 10, 1845. During his first term, he was chairman of the Private Land Claims Committee. Even then he was considered a staunch supporter of the southern states with regard to their position on the question of the rights of the individual states vis-à-vis the federal government. In the run-up to the Mexican-American War , Slidell was also diplomatically active in negotiations with Mexico . He recommended that the federal government show military strength against the Mexicans. An appointment as American envoy in this country failed because he was not accepted by Mexico. In 1853 he was offered a similar position in Central America, which he declined.

After the resignation of Pierre Soulé , Slidell was elected as his successor as a Class 3 category senator in the US Senate. He held this office after a re-election between December 5, 1853 and his resignation on February 4, 1861. In the meantime, he headed the Committee for Roads and Canal Affairs. His time in the Senate was overshadowed by the increasing antagonism between the northern and southern states in the run-up to the civil war . Slidell, although originally from the north and raised in New York, was an ardent supporter of the south. However, he was initially not in favor of secession from the southern states. But after the southern states took this path after the election of Abraham Lincoln as new president, he joined the secession. As a result, he resigned his mandate as a US Senator on February 4, 1861.

In November 1861, Slidell was one of the victims of the Trent affair . Together with James Murray Mason , another southern politician, he was on board a British mail ship that was illegally seized by the northern fleet . The two politicians were captured by the Union. The incident sparked a major diplomatic conflict between Britain and the United States, which could easily have led to the British entering the war on the Confederate side. On December 25, Washington relented and ordered the release of the two prisoners. Slidell traveled to Paris to represent the interests of the Confederate States . His mission to achieve international recognition of the confederation by France , however, failed. But he managed to find private investors who gave him a loan of $ 15 million for a warship for the southern states ( CSS Stonewall ). John Slidell lived in Paris after the Civil War.

He died on July 9, 1871 in Cowes on the Isle of Wight and was buried in a private cemetery near Paris.

literature

• Slidell, John . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 25 : Shuválov - Subliminal Self . London 1911, p. 241 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

Commons : John Slidell  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• John Slidell in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• John Slidell at The Political Graveyard