John A. Campbell

• Born: June 24, 1811, Washington, Ga.
• Education: University of Georgia, B.A., 1825; U.S. Military Academy, 1825–28
• Previous government service: Alabama House of Representatives, 1837, 1843
• Appointed by President Franklin Pierce Mar. 21, 1853; replaced Justice John McKinley, who died
• Supreme Court term: confirmed by the Senate Mar. 25, 1853, by a voice vote; resigned Apr. 30, 1861
• Died: Mar. 12, 1889, Baltimore, Md.

John A. Campbell was a brilliant child who entered college at the age of 11 and graduated three years later. In 1828, he was admitted to the bar by a special act of the Georgia legislature and started his legal career in Alabama two years later. Campbell quickly became one of the best lawyers in Alabama.

Campbell joined the Supreme Court in 1853, during the political crisis that led to the Civil War. Important questions about human rights and property rights faced the Court. In response to these issues, Campbell supported states’ rights and slavery. In Scott v. Sandford (1857), he joined Chief Justice Roger Taney to protect the property rights of slave owners, ruling that Congress could not prohibit slavery in U.S. territories.

When the Civil War started, Campbell left the Court and became assistant secretary of war for the Confederate States of America. After the war, he resumed his career as a lawyer and often represented clients in cases that went to the Supreme Court. For example, he represented the Butchers’ Benevolent Association in oral argument in the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873).