Arthur Bagby: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:04, 8 December 2013

Arthur Bagby

Arthur Pendleton Bagby (born 1794 in Louisa County, Virginia; died September 21, 1858 in Mobile) was Governor of Alabama from 1837 to 1841 and later served in the U.S. Senate and as the United States' minister to Russia.

Bagby was born in Virginia to James M. and Mary Jones Bagby, and was educated there before the family moved to Monroe County in the Alabama Territory. Bagby read law there and opened a practice in Claiborne in 1819. He married the former Emily Steel the same year.

Bagby began his political career when he was elected to represent Monroe County in the Alabama House of Representatives in 1821. He was re-elected the following year and named Speaker of the House. He was elected to the Alabama State Senate in 1825 and also became president of that body, but returned to the lower house in 1834. During the 1820s he switched his loyalty from John Quincy Adams' National Republicans to Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party. He opposed the creation of a federal bank, but supported Jackson's position that federal law trumped state law.

In 1828 Bagby remarried, to the former Anne Elizabeth Connell of South Carolina. He and Anne had at least five children, including Confederate general Arthur Bagby, Jr.

Bagby ran for Governor of Alabama during the economic panic of 1837 and defeated independent Samuel Oliver. He continued the failings of previous governors in failing to intervene in a corrupt private banking system. He opposed plans to expand the state bank's capacity to loan capital to cotton planters, but was overruled by the legislature. The depressed cotton market left the state in serious debt. Nevertheless, he was re-elected in 1839. A year later the Merchants Bank of New York reported that the state owed $11.5 million in bond debt and was only barely able to fund interest payments.

Meanwhile, Bagby's attention was focused on advancing his party's power in the U.S. Congress. He signed a General Ticket Bill sponsored by William Lowndes Yancey that called for Alabama's five representatives to be elected at-large rather than by district. The result was the loss of two seats for the Whigs in the 1841 election. The measure was overturned by popular referendum that November.

As Governor, Bagby also assigned state militia members to assist General Winfield Scott with the removal of Cherokee Indians from the lower Appalachians and to South Alabama and Florida to fight in the Seminole War. He authorized the construction of the first state penitentiary at Wetumpka and ended the practice of debtor's prison.

After his second term, Bagby was selected by the state legislature to fill the vacancy in the U.S. Senate left by the resignation of Clement Clay, and re-elected in 1842 for a full term. As Senator, Bagby chaired of the committees on Territories, Claims, and Indian Affairs. He voted for the annexation of Texas as a slave state. He briefly served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Russian court in St Petersburg under President James Polk. He resigned after less than a year when Zachary Taylor assumed the presidency.

Bagby then returned to Alabama and served on a committee working to codify state laws. He resided in Camden, Wilcox County for a while before moving to Mobile in 1856. In retirement, Bagby proved unable to support himself and died from yellow fever in 1858 with no property and more than $3,000 in debt. He is buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile.

Preceded by: Hugh McVay	Governor of Alabama 1837-1841	Succeeded by: Benjamin Fitzpatrick
Preceded by: Clement Clay	U.S. Senator from Alabama 1841-1848	Succeeded by: William Rufus King
Preceded by: Ralph Ingersoll	U.S. Minister to Russia 1848-1849	Succeeded by: Neill Brown

References

McDaniel, Mary Jane (June 28, 2013) "Arthur P. Bagby (1837-41)" Encyclopedia of Alabama - accessed December 6, 2013

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-'''Arthur Pendleton Bagby''' (born [[1794]] in Louisa County, Virginia; died [[September 21]], [[1858]] in Mobile) was [[Governor of Alabama]] from [[1837]] to [[1841]].
+[[Image:Arthur Bagby.jpg|right|thumb|Arthur Bagby]]
+'''Arthur Pendleton Bagby''' (born [[1794]] in Louisa County, Virginia; died [[September 21]], [[1858]] in Mobile) was [[Governor of Alabama]] from [[1837]] to [[1841]] and later served in the U.S. Senate and as the United States' minister to Russia.
-<!--A lawyer and powerful state legislator, Bagby became governor during a time of serious financial crisis in the state and faced strong opposition to his efforts at financial reform from the state's entrenched banking interests. A staunch supporter of President Andrew Jackson, Bagby oversaw the forced removal of Native Americans in the state, in accordance with federal mandates. After his term as governor, Bagby served as a U.S. senator and ambassador to Russia.
+Bagby was born in Virginia to James M. and Mary Jones Bagby, and was educated there before the family moved to Monroe County in the [[Alabama Territory]]. Bagby read law there and opened a practice in Claiborne in [[1819]]. He married the former [[Emily Bagby|Emily Steel]] the same year.
-Arthur Pendleton Bagby was born in 1794 in Louisa County, Virginia, to James M. and Mary Jones Bagby. The family remained in Virginia through Bagby's educational years, but financial problems ultimately caused his family to migrate to Claiborne, Monroe County, in the Alabama Territory. Here the future governor read law, opened a legal practice in 1819, and married Emily Steel .
+Bagby began his political career when he was elected to represent Monroe County in the [[Alabama House of Representatives]] in [[1821]]. He was re-elected the following year and named Speaker of the House. He was elected to the [[Alabama State Senate]] in [[1825]] and also became president of that body, but returned to the lower house in [[1834]]. During the 1820s he switched his loyalty from John Quincy Adams' National Republicans to Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party. He opposed the creation of a federal bank, but supported Jackson's position that federal law trumped state law.
-Andrew Jackson, nicknamed "Old Hickory" for his toughness, Andrew JacksonIn 1821, Bagby was elected to represent Monroe County in the state legislature. After his reelection in 1822, he was named speaker of the house at the exceptionally young age of twenty-eight. Over the next 15 years, he served in both houses of the state legislature and was elected to several terms as president of the senate. In the early 1820s, Bagby was a National Republican who supported President John Quincy Adams. His loyalties soon changed, and by the end of the decade, he became a committed Jacksonian Democrat, advocating expanding the power of the state and expanding the political power of poor whites. In the Nullification Crisis of the late 1820s and early 1830s, Bagby supported President Andrew Jackson's position that federal law trumped state law and openly opposed a bill committing Alabama to support an expanded national bank. Bagby married his second wife, Anne Elizabeth Connell of South Carolina, in 1828, with whom he had at least five children. One son, Arthur P. Bagby Jr., became a Confederate general.
+In [[1828]] Bagby remarried, to the former Anne Elizabeth Connell of South Carolina. He and Anne had at least five children, including Confederate general [[Arthur Bagby, Jr]].
-Arthur P. Bagby Jr. rose to the rank Arthur P. Bagby Jr. In 1837, Bagby ran for governor on the Democratic ticket. A gifted orator, he defeated former speaker of the house Samuel W. Oliver, who ran as an independent opposing the Whigs. Bagby's immense popularity led to a decisive reelection victory in 1839 over a weak Whig opponent. When Bagby took office, he inherited serious economic problems resulting from the depression of 1837 and its intertwined effect on the banking system in Alabama. Private banks were reeling from charges of mismanagement and corruption from all quarters. Additionally, banking executives and pro-bank legislators kept information about the state's financial institutions from Bagby, as they had from the previous administration. In his first year as governor, Bagby naively assumed the legislature would act seriously on his cautious and conservative agenda, and he failed to press actively for his program among the lawmakers. Bagby may not have understood fully the complex economic issues, and in pursuing his anti-bank program, as his predecessors, made far-reaching mistakes.
+Bagby ran for [[Governor of Alabama]] during the [[Panic of 1837|economic panic of 1837]] and defeated independent [[Samuel Oliver]]. He continued the failings of previous governors in failing to intervene in a corrupt private banking system. He opposed plans to expand the state bank's capacity to loan capital to cotton planters, but was overruled by the legislature. The depressed cotton market left the state in serious debt. Nevertheless, he was re-elected in [[1839]]. A year later the Merchants Bank of New York reported that the state owed $11.5 million in bond debt and was only barely able to fund interest payments.
-His first major crisis came in 1838, when the state bank proposed a plan to advance funds to planters in return for profit shares from the sale of their cotton harvest in Europe. Whigs and most big planters favored the approach, but Bagby opposed it. In addition, he tried to limit the sale of state bonds to provide capital for the banks' continued operations, but the state legislature ignored his recommendations and approved a new $2.5 million issue. When Alabama cotton found only a small market in Europe, the state was plunged deeper into debt.
+Meanwhile, Bagby's attention was focused on advancing his party's power in the U.S. Congress. He signed a General Ticket Bill sponsored by [[William Lowndes Yancey]] that called for Alabama's five representatives to be elected at-large rather than by district. The result was the loss of two seats for the Whigs in the [[1841]] election. The measure was overturned by popular referendum that November.
-Political maneuvering kept Bagby from making much headway with the crisis, and the token steps made by the legislature toward controlling the banks did little to give the state government more control over them. As one result, in 1840 the Merchants Bank of New York submitted a shocking financial report stating that Alabama owed $11.5 million on state bonds with no apparent way of paying. The state could barely keep up with the annual interest on these bonds, which was more than $600,000, and suffered under a debilitating debt that remained a political issue for years.
+As Governor, Bagby also assigned state militia members to assist General Winfield Scott with the removal of Cherokee Indians from the lower Appalachians and to South Alabama and Florida to fight in the [[Seminole War]]. He authorized the construction of the first state penitentiary at Wetumpka and ended the practice of debtor's prison.
-William Lowndes Yancey (1814-1863), originally a Unionist, later William Lowndes YanceyEconomics were not Bagby's only woes. An ambitious and loyal Democrat, Bagby was faced with increased Whig power after their presidential candidate William Henry Harrison was elected in 1840 and Democrats in Alabama won their narrowest majority even in the legislature. In an effort to limit Whig power, Bagby signed the General Ticket Bill, originally proposed by state senator William Lowndes Yancey, which provided for the election of congressmen on the basis of each party's overall returns rather than congressional district votes. Whigs, who controlled three of the state's five congressional districts, understandably fought the bill, asserting that it was unconstitutional and "an unrighteous attempt at disfranchisement." The General Ticket Bill was enacted in January 1841, but Whig outrage forced the legislature to include a rider that required a popular referendum on the bill in August. The new system resulted in five Democrats being sent to the U.S. Congress in 1841, but the victory was short lived. The public voted in the August referendum to restore the district system, and in November 1841 the legislature repealed the general ticket legislation. Bagby, ever the faithful Democrat, continued to support the failed system, devoting half of his last annual message before the legislature to its defense.
+After his second term, Bagby was selected by the state legislature to fill the vacancy in the U.S. Senate left by the resignation of [[Clement Clay]], and re-elected in [[1842]] for a full term. As Senator, Bagby chaired of the committees on Territories, Claims, and Indian Affairs. He voted for the annexation of Texas as a slave state. He briefly served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Russian court in St Petersburg under President James Polk. He resigned after less than a year when Zachary Taylor assumed the presidency.
-Bagby's other notable accomplishments, for good or ill, were the completion of Indian removal as well as the mustering of state troops to help fight the Seminole War in Florida. He also introduced a chancery court and created a commission to finalize the boundary between Alabama and Georgia. In 1839, the legislature finally authorized construction of a penitentiary, which opened in Wetumpka in 1841. Imprisonment for debt was abolished except in the case of fraud, and the penitentiary system abolished branding and whipping.
+Bagby then returned to Alabama and served on a committee working to codify state laws. He resided in Camden, Wilcox County for a while before moving to Mobile in [[1856]]. In retirement, Bagby proved unable to support himself and died from yellow fever in [[1858]] with no property and more than $3,000 in debt. He is buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile.
-Bagby was strongly pro-slavery, and his annual message to the legislature in November 1840 foretold the typically patronizing position of many in the later antebellum period. He compared the condition of slaves to that of free laborers in other regions and made the assertion that slave laborers enjoyed more of the necessities of life than their free counterparts in the north and that the lives of slaves would deteriorate if they were emancipated.
+{{start box}}
+{{succession box | before = [[Hugh McVay]] | title = [[List of Governors of Alabama|Governor of Alabama]] | years = 1837-1841 | after = [[Benjamin Fitzpatrick]]}}
-Clement Comer Clay (1789-1866) was governor of Alabama Clement Comer ClayAfter completing his second term as governor, Bagby was selected to fill the vacancy in the U.S. Senate created by the resignation of Clement Comer Clay, and in 1842 the legislature elected him to a full term. As a senator, Bagby supported the expansion of the U.S. frontier, the annexation of Texas, and the extension of slavery to the territories. In 1848, President James K. Polk appointed him minister to Russia, a position he resigned from after Whig candidate Zachary Taylor was elected president later that year. Bagby's last public activity was to serve on a committee to codify the laws of Alabama.
+{{succession box | before = [[Clement Clay]] | title = U.S. Senator from Alabama | years = 1841-1848 | after = [[William Rufus King]]}}
+{{succession box | before= Ralph Ingersoll | title= U.S. Minister to Russia  | years=1848-1849 | after= Neill Brown}}
-After retiring from public life, Bagby lived in Wilcox County for a few years and then moved to Mobile, where his financial problems continued, caused by a habit of living on borrowed money. At his death from yellow fever in the fall of September 21, 1858, he owed the Alabama bank at Mobile more than $3,000, and he had no property to cover his debt.-->
+{{end box}}
 ==References==
-* McDaniel, Mary Jane (June 28, 2013) "[ Arthur P. Bagby (1837-41)]" Encyclopedia of Alabama - accessed December 6, 2013
+* McDaniel, Mary Jane (June 28, 2013) "[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1446 Arthur P. Bagby (1837-41)]" ''Encyclopedia of Alabama'' - accessed December 6, 2013
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagby, Arthur}}
 [[Category:1794 births]]
 [[Category:1858 deaths]]
+[[Category:Attorneys]]
+[[Category:State legislators]]
+[[Category:State senators]]
 [[Category:Alabama governors]]
+[[Category:U.S. Senators]]
+[[Category:Ambassadors]]
+[[Category:Yellow fever deaths]]

Arthur Bagby: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:04, 8 December 2013

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