Philemon Thomas

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Philemon Thomas (painting by George Healy , 1845)

Philemon Thomas (born February 9, 1763 in Orange County , Colony of Virginia , †  November 18, 1847 in Baton Rouge , Louisiana ) was an American politician . Between 1831 and 1835 he represented the state of Louisiana in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Philemon Thomas attended public schools in his home country. Despite his youth, he took part in the War of Independence as a soldier in the Continental Army . After the war, he settled in Mason County , Kentucky . There he began a political career. He was a member of the Kentucky State Constituent Assembly. Between 1796 and 1799 he was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives ; from 1800 to 1803 he was a member of the State Senate .

In 1806 Thomas moved to Louisiana, where he settled on the lower Mississippi . He continued his political career in his new home and was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. In 1810 he led an uprising against the neighboring Spaniards and captured one of their fortresses near Baton Rouge. The background was the unresolved border issue of West Florida , which at that time was still in Spanish possession. After the uprising led by Thomas, the Spaniards were expelled from the area. In 1819 all of Florida fell to the United States. Philemon Thomas was Major General in the Louisiana Militia during the British-American War of 1812 . After the war he moved to Baton Rouge.

Thomas joined the Democratic Party founded by later President Andrew Jackson . In the congressional elections of 1830 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the second constituency of Louisiana , where he succeeded Henry Hosford Gurley on March 4, 1831 . After re-election, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1835 . During this time, President Jackson's policies were debated both inside and outside of Congress. 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.

After the end of his time in the US House of Representatives, Philemon Thomas withdrew from politics. He died in Baton Rouge on November 18, 1847.

Web links

  • Philemon Thomas in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)