Pierre Soulé

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Pierre Soulé

Pierre Soulé (born August 31, 1801 in Castillon-en-Couserans , Ariège , France , †  March 26, 1870 in New Orleans , Louisiana ) was an American politician of French origin who represented the state of Louisiana in the US Senate .

Life

Soulé originally came from a Pyrenees village. As a young man he was banished from France for participating in uprisings against the government. Although he was allowed to return, he was eventually arrested for continued oppositional acts. In 1825 he managed to escape from prison. He fled first to England , then to Haiti and finally to the United States, where he settled in New Orleans and practiced as a lawyer.

From January 21 to March 3, 1847 Soulé completed his first short term in the US Senate. As a Democrat, he had been elected to succeed Whig Senator Alexander Barrow . The following year he ran for the second Senate seat in Louisiana and was victorious again. He took his mandate from March 3, 1849 and was then among other things chairman of the Agriculture Committee before he resigned on April 11, 1853 to become US ambassador to Spain . Soulé stayed in this post until 1855; During this time he was co-author of the Ostend Manifesto , which contained the planned annexation of Cuba by the United States.

Upon his return from Europe, Soulé worked again as a lawyer in New Orleans. In the run-up to the civil war , he spoke out against the secession of Louisiana; but when this was done, he was loyal to his state. During the conquest of New Orleans by the Union troops , he was captured and detained for several months in Fort Lafayette, New York State . He later managed to escape to the Bahamas and from there back to Confederation territory ; after the end of the war he went into exile in Havana .

The federal government eventually allowed Soulé to return to the United States so that he could spend the end of his life in New Orleans.

Web links

  • Pierre Soulé in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
personal data
SURNAME Soulé, Pierre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician of French descent
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Castillon-en-Couserans , France
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1870
Place of death New Orleans , Louisiana