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Judah P. Benjamin, the Ultimate Outsider
If Judah P. Benjamin were a fictional character, no one would believe such a story to be possible.
There's a new biography out about him, and it was reviewed in The Wall Street Journal. over the weekend.
Judah P. Benjamin
Benjamin c. 1856
3rd Confederate States Secretary of State
Born: Judah Philip Benjamin; August 6, 1811; Christiansted, Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands)
Died: May 6, 1884 (aged 72); Paris, France
Resting place: Père Lachaise Cemetery
Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a lawyer and politician who was a United States Senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English barrister. Benjamin was the first Jew to hold a Cabinet position in North America and the first to be elected to the United States Senate who had not renounced his faith.
Benjamin was born to Sephardic Jewish parents from London, who had moved to St. Croix in the Danish West Indies when it was occupied by Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. Seeking greater opportunities, his family immigrated to the United States, eventually settling in Charleston, South Carolina. Judah Benjamin attended Yale College but left without graduating. He moved to New Orleans, where he read law and passed the bar.
Benjamin rose rapidly both at the bar and in politics. He became a wealthy planter and slaveowner and was elected to and served in both houses of the Louisiana legislature prior to his election by the legislature to the US Senate in 1852. There, he was an eloquent supporter of slavery. After Louisiana seceded in 1861, Benjamin resigned as senator and returned to New Orleans.
{snip}
Louisiana lawyer
{snip}
In 1842, Benjamin had a group of cases with international implications. He represented insurance companies being sued for the value of slaves who had revolted aboard the ship Creole in 1841, as they were being transported in the coastwise slave trade from Virginia to New Orleans. The rebels had sailed the ship to Nassau in the Bahamas, a British colony, where those who came ashore were freed, as Britain had abolished slavery in 1834. The owners of the slaves brought suit for $150,000 against their insurers, who declined to pay. Benjamin made several arguments, the most prominent of which was that the slaveowners had brought the revolt on themselves by packing the slaves in overcrowded conditions.
Benjamin said in his brief to the court:
The court ruled for Benjamin's clients, although on other grounds. Benjamin's brief was widely reprinted, including by abolitionist groups. Historian Eli Evans, Benjamin's biographer, does not believe that the argument in the Creole case represented Benjamin's personal view; rather, he was an advocate for his clients in an era when it was usual to write dramatically to distract attention from the weaker points of a case. Evans finds it remarkable and a testament to Benjamin that he could be elected to office in antebellum Louisiana, a slave society, after writing such words.
{snip}
Electoral career
{snip}
Election to the Senate
Benjamin, c. 1856
Benjamin spent the summer of 1851 abroad, including a visit to Paris to see Natalie and Ninette. He was still away in October 1851, when the Whigs nominated him for the state Senate. Despite his absence, he was easily elected. When the new legislature met in January 1852, Benjamin emerged as one of the leading Whig candidates for election to the U.S. Senate seat that would become vacant on March 4, 1853. As the Louisiana legislature, responsible for electing the state's senators, met once in two years under the 1845 constitution, it was not scheduled to meet again before the seat became vacant. Some Whig newspapers thought Benjamin too young and inexperienced at forty, despite his undoubted talent, but the Whig legislative caucus selected him on the second ballot, and he was elected by the two houses over Democrat Solomon W. Downs.
The outgoing president, Fillmore, offered to nominate Benjamin, a fellow Whig, to fill a Supreme Court vacancy after the Senate Democrats had defeated Fillmore's other nominees for the post. The New York Times reported on February 15, 1853, that "if the President nominates Benjamin, the Democrats are determined to confirm him." The new president, Franklin Pierce, a Democrat, also offered Benjamin a place on the Supreme Court. Pierce Butler suggested in his 1908 biography of Benjamin that the newly elected senator likely declined these offers not only because he preferred active politics, but because he could maintain his law practice and substantial income as a senator, but could not as a justice. As an advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court, Benjamin won 13 of his first 18 cases.
{snip}
Benjamin c. 1856
3rd Confederate States Secretary of State
Born: Judah Philip Benjamin; August 6, 1811; Christiansted, Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands)
Died: May 6, 1884 (aged 72); Paris, France
Resting place: Père Lachaise Cemetery
Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a lawyer and politician who was a United States Senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English barrister. Benjamin was the first Jew to hold a Cabinet position in North America and the first to be elected to the United States Senate who had not renounced his faith.
Benjamin was born to Sephardic Jewish parents from London, who had moved to St. Croix in the Danish West Indies when it was occupied by Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. Seeking greater opportunities, his family immigrated to the United States, eventually settling in Charleston, South Carolina. Judah Benjamin attended Yale College but left without graduating. He moved to New Orleans, where he read law and passed the bar.
Benjamin rose rapidly both at the bar and in politics. He became a wealthy planter and slaveowner and was elected to and served in both houses of the Louisiana legislature prior to his election by the legislature to the US Senate in 1852. There, he was an eloquent supporter of slavery. After Louisiana seceded in 1861, Benjamin resigned as senator and returned to New Orleans.
{snip}
Louisiana lawyer
{snip}
In 1842, Benjamin had a group of cases with international implications. He represented insurance companies being sued for the value of slaves who had revolted aboard the ship Creole in 1841, as they were being transported in the coastwise slave trade from Virginia to New Orleans. The rebels had sailed the ship to Nassau in the Bahamas, a British colony, where those who came ashore were freed, as Britain had abolished slavery in 1834. The owners of the slaves brought suit for $150,000 against their insurers, who declined to pay. Benjamin made several arguments, the most prominent of which was that the slaveowners had brought the revolt on themselves by packing the slaves in overcrowded conditions.
Benjamin said in his brief to the court:
What is a slave? He is a human being. He has feelings and passion and intellect. His heart, like the heart of the white man, swells with love, burns with jealousy, aches with sorrow, pines under restraint and discomfort, boils with revenge, and ever cherishes the desire for liberty ... Considering the character of the slave, and the peculiar passions which, generated by nature, are strengthened and stimulated by his condition, he is prone to revolt in the near future of things, and ever ready to conquer [i.e. obtain] his liberty where a probable chance presents itself.
The court ruled for Benjamin's clients, although on other grounds. Benjamin's brief was widely reprinted, including by abolitionist groups. Historian Eli Evans, Benjamin's biographer, does not believe that the argument in the Creole case represented Benjamin's personal view; rather, he was an advocate for his clients in an era when it was usual to write dramatically to distract attention from the weaker points of a case. Evans finds it remarkable and a testament to Benjamin that he could be elected to office in antebellum Louisiana, a slave society, after writing such words.
{snip}
Electoral career
{snip}
Election to the Senate
Benjamin, c. 1856
Benjamin spent the summer of 1851 abroad, including a visit to Paris to see Natalie and Ninette. He was still away in October 1851, when the Whigs nominated him for the state Senate. Despite his absence, he was easily elected. When the new legislature met in January 1852, Benjamin emerged as one of the leading Whig candidates for election to the U.S. Senate seat that would become vacant on March 4, 1853. As the Louisiana legislature, responsible for electing the state's senators, met once in two years under the 1845 constitution, it was not scheduled to meet again before the seat became vacant. Some Whig newspapers thought Benjamin too young and inexperienced at forty, despite his undoubted talent, but the Whig legislative caucus selected him on the second ballot, and he was elected by the two houses over Democrat Solomon W. Downs.
The outgoing president, Fillmore, offered to nominate Benjamin, a fellow Whig, to fill a Supreme Court vacancy after the Senate Democrats had defeated Fillmore's other nominees for the post. The New York Times reported on February 15, 1853, that "if the President nominates Benjamin, the Democrats are determined to confirm him." The new president, Franklin Pierce, a Democrat, also offered Benjamin a place on the Supreme Court. Pierce Butler suggested in his 1908 biography of Benjamin that the newly elected senator likely declined these offers not only because he preferred active politics, but because he could maintain his law practice and substantial income as a senator, but could not as a justice. As an advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court, Benjamin won 13 of his first 18 cases.
{snip}
BOOKS & ARTS | BOOKS | BOOKSHELF
‘Judah Benjamin’ Review: The Ultimate Outsider
Arguably the most important American Jew of the 19th century, he deserves our attention, but not our admiration.
By Diane Cole
Sept. 24, 2021 10:27 am ET
The career of Judah P. Benjamin (1811-1884), the Jewish son of the South who lent his legal brilliance to the Confederacy as its secretary of state and chief adviser to its president, Jefferson Davis, has long troubled me. That Benjamin—or any Jew, North or South—would defend slavery simply does not jibe with my practice or understanding of Jewish tradition. Doesn’t the Bible teach us to remember that we, too, had once been slaves in Egypt, and command us to commemorate the journey of the Exodus from bondage to freedom by retelling the saga each spring on the holiday of Passover?
James Traub places these contradictions at the center of his concise biography, “Judah Benjamin: Counselor to the Confederacy,” part of Yale’s “Jewish Lives” series. Mr. Traub, who teaches foreign policy at New York University, puts forward a cogent argument for acknowledging, rather than ignoring, Benjamin’s role in both Jewish and American history. As Davis’s right-hand man, Mr. Traub writes, “Judah Benjamin was the most politically powerful, and arguably the most important, American Jew of the nineteenth century. He was also the most widely hated one, not only in the North but in portions of the South. Benjamin does not deserve our admiration; but like some other figures who have yoked their lives to deplorable causes, he nevertheless deserves our attention.”
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‘Judah Benjamin’ Review: The Ultimate Outsider
Arguably the most important American Jew of the 19th century, he deserves our attention, but not our admiration.
By Diane Cole
Sept. 24, 2021 10:27 am ET
The career of Judah P. Benjamin (1811-1884), the Jewish son of the South who lent his legal brilliance to the Confederacy as its secretary of state and chief adviser to its president, Jefferson Davis, has long troubled me. That Benjamin—or any Jew, North or South—would defend slavery simply does not jibe with my practice or understanding of Jewish tradition. Doesn’t the Bible teach us to remember that we, too, had once been slaves in Egypt, and command us to commemorate the journey of the Exodus from bondage to freedom by retelling the saga each spring on the holiday of Passover?
James Traub places these contradictions at the center of his concise biography, “Judah Benjamin: Counselor to the Confederacy,” part of Yale’s “Jewish Lives” series. Mr. Traub, who teaches foreign policy at New York University, puts forward a cogent argument for acknowledging, rather than ignoring, Benjamin’s role in both Jewish and American history. As Davis’s right-hand man, Mr. Traub writes, “Judah Benjamin was the most politically powerful, and arguably the most important, American Jew of the nineteenth century. He was also the most widely hated one, not only in the North but in portions of the South. Benjamin does not deserve our admiration; but like some other figures who have yoked their lives to deplorable causes, he nevertheless deserves our attention.”
TO READ THE FULL STORY
SUBSCRIBE
SIGN IN
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