Joshua Reed Giddings

Joshua R. Giddings

Joshua Reed Giddings (born October 6, 1795 in Tioga Point , Bradford County , Pennsylvania , † May 27, 1864 in Montreal , Canada ) was an American lawyer and politician . From 1838 to 1859 he represented the state of Ohio in the United States House of Representatives . Throughout his life he stood up against human oppression, first during the Second Seminole War (1835–1842), then as an ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery .

Life

Giddings was born on October 6, 1795 in what is now Athens, Pennsylvania. In 1806, he and his family moved to Ohio, Ashtabula County , then a sparsely populated area, almost wilderness.

He worked on his father's farm, but he read and learned a lot. After 1814 he worked as a teacher for several years. In 1821 he was admitted to the bar. Soon he had built a thriving law firm specializing in criminal defense. In 1838 he lost a large part of his fortune on the stock exchange and was thus forced to give up the firm.

After Giddings had represented his constituency in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1826 to 1828 , he decided to run for the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC . From December 1838 to March 1859 he was a member of the House of Representatives, until 1843 for the 16th electoral district of Ohio, then for the 20th district. Giddings ran first for the Whigs , then as Free-Soiler, and finally as Republican .

With regard to slavery, Giddings took the view that it was a state institution and that the US government was therefore not allowed to act in this area. As a result, in his view, slavery was illegal in the District of Columbia and the Territories and should be abolished there; The same applied to the coastal trade in slaves flying the federal flag, which had to be stopped. Also, in Giddens view, Congress had no power to pass laws that would have recognized slavery at the federal level.

Giddings was particularly involved in the case of the Creole . It was about an American slave ship that came into their power in 1841 as a result of a revolt by the slaves and was brought by the rebels to the port of the British city of Nassau . The US government demanded that Great Britain surrender the slaves because they were on an American ship. The process was not over when Giddings introduced several resolutions in the House of Representatives on March 21, 1842. He argued that the slaves did not violate US law, but only asserted their inalienable right to personal freedom . The US should therefore refrain from demanding the return of the slaves. Gidding's motions caused a sensation and a nuisance, and the House of Representatives issued him a formal reprimand. Thereupon Giddings resigned the mandate, whereupon he was re-elected with a large majority.

Under the influence of his daughter Lura Maria and the opponents of slavery around William Lloyd Garrison , Giddings became radicalized. He no longer based his rejection of slavery on the US Constitution, but on natural law .

Giddings led the opposition in Congress to the expansion of slavery and accordingly turned against the annexation of Texas (1846), the war against Mexico (1846–1848), the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 he is an active supporter of the Underground Railroad .

In 1859, Giddings resigned from Congress after more than 20 years of membership after he was no longer nominated for re-election. From 1861 until his death in Montreal on May 27, 1864, he represented the United States as Consul General in Canada.

Works

• The exiles of Florida; or, The crimes committed by our government against the Maroons who fled from South Carolina and other slave states, seeking protection under Spanish laws. Follett, Foster and Co., Columbus, O., 1858.
• History of the rebellion: its authors and causes. Follet, Foster, New York 1864.

swell

• Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12. http://www.archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit12chisrich
• James W Eaton, Joshua R. Giddings: antislavery congressman , MA Thesis, Kent State University, 1967.
• George Washington Julian, The life of Joshua R. Giddings , AC McClurg and Co., Chicago, 1892.
• James Brewer Stewart, Joshua R. Giddings and the tactics of radical politics , Press of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, 1970.
• "Giddings, Joshua Reed" in American national biography , Vol. 8 (1999)

Web links

• Joshua Reed Giddings in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)