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John Slidell
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| Biography: John Slidell |
John Slidell (1793-1871), American politician, represented the Confederacy in France during the American Civil War.
John Slidell was born in New York City. After graduating from Columbia College in 1810, he entered into business but was ruined by the War of 1812. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in New York. In 1819 he moved to New Orleans and for the next 42 years was closely identified with Democratic politics in Louisiana.
Slidell ran several times for the U.S. House of Representatives and for the Senate between 1828 and 1843 but was successful only once, in 1843 taking a seat in the House. In 1845 President James K. Polk, wishing to settle various problems with Mexico arising out of the annexation of Texas by the United States, chose Slidell to conduct the negotiations. He arrived in Mexico City in December, but the Mexican government refused to receive him, and he returned home.
Finally Slidell gained a Senate seat by appointment in 1853. During his senatorial years he was one of the most influential members of the Democratic party. He was instrumental in getting James Buchanan nominated and elected in 1856 and wielded great power during his administration. Slidell left the Senate in February 1861, when Louisiana seceded from the Union.
Slidell served the Confederacy as a diplomat. In September 1861 he was appointed commissioner to France, charged with getting the French emperor to recognize the independence of the Confederacy, to break the blockade by the Union Navy of the Southern ports, to permit ships to be built in French yards for the Confederacy, and to provide money. Early in November, Slidell boarded the British steamer Trent in Havana for the passage to Europe. On November 8, the second day at sea, a U.S. warship overtook the Trent and removed Slidell and James M. Mason, the Confederate commissioner to England. They were taken to Boston as prisoners but were later released when Great Britain protested the action as a violation of international law.
Slidell finally reached France in February 1862 and was received cordially by Napoleon III. But that warm feeling was not translated into policies favorable to the South. The Emperor did not recognize the Confederacy's independence, nor would he use his navy to break the blockade. Slidell did succeed in contracting for six vessels to be built in French yards, but after their completion Napoleon refused to permit Slidell to take possession of them. Slidell convinced a French banker to float $15 million of Confederate bonds, but most of the sum went to commissions. After the war, Slidell remained in France. In 1870 he moved to England, where he died on July 29, 1871.
Further Reading
Louis Martin Sears, John Slidell (1925), is a good biography of Slidell. Beckles Willson, John Slidell and the Confederates in Paris, 1862-65 (1932), is not scholarly, but it is interesting.
Additional Sources
Diket, A. L., Senator John Slidell and the community he represented in Washington, 1853-1861, Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1982.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: John Slidell |
Slidell, John (slīdĕl', slī'dəl), 1793-1871, American political leader and diplomat, b. New York City. He became a prominent lawyer and political figure in New Orleans and served as a Democrat in Congress (1843-45). In 1845, Slidell was appointed special U.S. envoy to Mexico to adjust the Texas boundary and to negotiate the purchase of California and New Mexico; the Mexican government, which had broken off diplomatic relations after the U.S. Congress had provided for the annexation of Texas, refused to receive him (see Mexican War). Senator from Louisiana (1853-61), he was influential in securing the nomination and election of James Buchanan to the presidency (1856) and was a power in the administration. Slidell joined the Confederate cause early in 1861. Appointed Confederate commissioner to France the same year, he figured with James M. Mason in the Trent Affair. Although cordially received in Paris, Slidell was unable to get official recognition or any material aid for the Confederacy from the French emperor, Napoleon III. After the Civil War, Slidell resided in France.
Bibliography
See L. M. Sears, John Slidell (1925); B. Willson, John Slidell and the Confederates in Paris (1932, repr. 1970).
| Wikipedia: John Slidell |
| John Slidell | |
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| In office December 5, 1853 – February 4, 1861 |
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| Preceded by | Pierre Soulé |
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| Succeeded by | William P. Kellogg |
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| Born | 1793 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | July 26, 1871 Cowes, Isle of Wight, England |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mathilde Deslonde Slidell |
| Children | Alfred Marie Matilda |
| Alma mater | Columbia College |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Merchant |
John Slidell ( 1793 – July 29, 1871 ) was an American politician, lawyer and businessman. Originally a native of New York, Slidell moved to Louisiana as a young man and became a staunch defender of southern rights as a U.S. Representative and Senator.
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Early life
He was born to the merchant John Slidell and the former Margery Mackenzie, a Scot. He graduated from Columbia University (then "College") in 1810. In 1835, Slidell married the former Mathilde Deslonde, and they had three children, Alfred Slidell, Marie Rosine (later comtess de St. Roman), and Marguerite Mathilde (later baronness Frederic Emile d'Erlanger).[1] He died at age 78.
Merchant, lawyer, politician
Slidell was in the mercantile business in New York before he relocated to New Orleans. He practiced law in New Orleans from 1819-1843. He was the district attorney in New Orleans from 1829-1833. He also served in the state's House of Representatives. Though he lost an election to the United States House in 1828, he was elected in 1842 and served a term and a half from 1843-1845, as a Democrat.[2] He served as minister plenipotentiary to Mexico from 1845-1846.
Prior to the Mexican-American War, Slidell was sent to Mexico, by President James Knox Polk, to negotiate an agreement whereby the Rio Grande River would be the southern border of Texas. He also was instructed to offer, among other alternatives, a maximum of $30 million for California by Polk and his administration.[3] Slidell hinted to Polk that the Mexican reluctance to negotiate might require a show of military force by the United States. Under the guidance of General Zachary Taylor, U.S. troops were stationed at the U.S./Mexico border, ready to defend against Mexican attack. The Mexican government rejected Slidell's mission. After Mexican forces attacked at Matamoros the United States declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846.
Slidell was elected to the Senate in 1853 and cast his lot with other pro-Southern congressmen to repeal the Missouri Compromise, acquire Cuba, and admit Kansas. In the 1860 campaign Slidell supported Democratic presidential candidate John C. Breckinridge, but remained a pro-Union moderate until Abraham Lincoln's election pushed the Southern states into seceding. At the Democratic Convention in Charleston, South Carolina, in April 1860, Slidell plotted with "Fire-Eaters" such as William Lowndes Yancey of Alabama to stymie the nomination of the popular Northern Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.
Civil War
Siding with the South during the American Civil War, Slidell accepted a diplomatic appointment to represent the Confederacy in France. John Slidell was one of the two CSA diplomats involved in the Trent Affair in November, 1861. After having been appointed the Confederate States of America's commissioner to France in September, 1861, he ran the blockade from Charleston, South Carolina, with James Murray Mason of Virginia. They then set sail from Havana on the British mail boat steamer RMS Trent, but were intercepted by the U.S. Navy while en route and taken into captivity at Fort Warren in Boston. After the resolution of the Trent Affair, the two diplomats set sail for Europe on January 1, 1862.
John Slidell was a brother of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, a naval officer who commanded the USS Somers on which a unique event occurred in 1842 off the coast of Africa during the Blockade of Africa. In that incident, three crewmen were hanged after being convicted of mutiny at sea. Mackenzie reversed the order of his middle and last names to honor a maternal uncle.
Another brother, Thomas Slidell, was chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was also the brother-in-law of the American naval Commodore Matthew C. Perry, who was married to Slidell's sister, Jane. Perry is remembered for opening United States trade with Japan in 1853.
Later life
Slidell moved to Paris, France, after the Civil War. He died in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. He is interred in the Saint-Roman family private cemetery near Paris. He, Judah P. Benjamin and A. Dudley Mann were among the high-ranking Confederate officials buried abroad.
Legacy
The city of Slidell in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana was named in his honor by his son-in-law Baron Frederick Emile d'Erlanger; the village of Slidell, Texas is also named after him.[4]
References
- ^ Matilde d'Erlanger Slidell
- ^ The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, p. 97
- ^ Teaching With Documents: Lincoln's Spot Resolutions, U.S. National Archives, http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/lincoln-resolutions/
- ^ "Handbook of Texas Online - Slidell, TX". http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/hls56.html. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
- John Slidell at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- "John Slidell", A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), pp. 746–747
- John Slidell (1793 - 1871), civilwarhome.com
| United States House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by Edward D. White, Sr. |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st congressional district March 4, 1843 – November 10, 1845 |
Succeeded by Emile La Sére |
| United States Senate | ||
| Preceded by Pierre Soulé |
United States Senator (Class 3) from Louisiana December 5, 1853 – February 4, 1861 Served alongside: Judah P. Benjamin |
Succeeded by William P. Kellogg(1) |
| Notes and references | ||
| 1. Because of Louisiana's secession, the Senate seat was vacant for seven years before Kellogg succeeded Slidell. | ||
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Mentioned in
- James Murray Mason (American statesman)
- Slidell's Mission to Mexico (American history)
- Charles Wilkes
- Trent Affair (historical event, United States/England)
- James Buchanan (American president)
- James Knox Polk (American president)
- Judah Philip Benjamin
- What caused the Mexican War? (history)
- Mexican War (historical event, Mexico/United States)
- Confederacy (organization, United States – in government, history)
- Land Speculation (American history)
- Civil War Diplomacy (US foreign policy)
- Civil War (1861 – 65): Military and Diplomatic Course
- Slidell's proposal
