Alexander Long
Alexander Long | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 2nd district | |
In office March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865 | |
Preceded by | John A. Gurley |
Succeeded by | Rutherford B. Hayes |
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the Hamilton County district | |
In office December 4, 1846 – December 1, 1850 | |
Preceded by | Multi-member district |
Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
Personal details | |
Born | Greenville, Pennsylvania, U.S. | December 24, 1816
Died | November 28, 1886 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | (aged 69)
Resting place | Spring Grove Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Cynthia Parker Sammons |
Alexander Long (December 24, 1816 – November 28, 1886) was a Democratic United States Congressman who served in Congress from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1865.[1]
During the
Early life
Alexander Long was born in the north, in Greenville, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1816.
In March 1845 Long was admitted to the bar by the Ohio Supreme Court then in session at Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio.[8] Long entered politics in 1848 after turning down two previous nominations in 1846 and 1847.[9]
Ohio legislature
While serving in the Ohio legislature, Long became an associate of Salmon P. Chase, and helped steer the Ohio legislature towards electing Chase as the United States Senator from Ohio in 1848.[10] Long also continued to teach when the legislature was not in session.[11]
After serving two years as a "free-soiler" Democrat[4] in the Ohio State House of Representatives (1848–1850), Long moved to Cincinnati, where he began an active and lucrative law practice in January, 1851.[11] A staunch Democrat, Long supported the compromiser James Buchanan on the eve of the war in 1856.[12]
Civil War years
In 1862, Long ran for Congress and was elected as an anti-war Democrat from the Second District of Ohio, and he served in the
Long is best known for his opposition to the Civil War and being in favor of independence for the Confederacy on the basis of "states' rights".[13] By 1864, Long's arguments on the institution of slavery had changed since his "free-soiler" days, and he argued against President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation because Long believed the proclamation only served to harden the resolve of Southerners as they continued to resist and prolong the war.[13][14][15] In a speech he made in Congress on April 8, 1864, Long expressed his anti-war views, and he championed the "states' rights" arguments proffered by Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in their The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798.[13][16][17]
I believe now that there are but two alternatives, and these are, either an acknowledgment of the independence of the South as an independent nation, or their complete subjugation and extermination as a people, and of these alternatives I prefer the former... I do not believe there can be any prosecution of the war against a sovereign State under the Constitution, and I do not believe that a war so carried on can be prosecuted so as to render it proper, justifiable, or expedient. An unconstitutional war can only be carried on in an unconstitutional manner, and to prosecute it further under the idea of the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Stevens], as a war waged against the Confederate States as an independent nation, for the purpose of conquest and subjugation, as he proposes, and the Administration is in truth and in fact doing, I am equally opposed.[14][15]
Long's April 8 speech firmly cemented his opprobrious label of "Copperhead"; thereafter, Long was seen as one of the chief leaders of that group: the "peace wing of the Democratic Party."[1][2][13][14] Long's speech was immediately and roundly denounced by several congressmen including Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax who wanted to expel Long from the House.[1][14][18] Speaker Colfax could not muster the votes to expel Long, so on April 9, 1864, Long was censured by Congress for "treasonable utterances" by a vote of 80 to 69.[5][19]
The pro-peace Democrats sought to nominate Long as a candidate for president in 1864, but he declined the candidacy.
Postwar years
After his failed run for the House in 1864, Long was nominated by the "states' rights" faction of the Ohio Democratic Party to make a run for governor of Ohio.
In 1868, Long worked diligently to reorganize the Democratic Party, and he sought out Salmon P. Chase to be the Democratic nominee for president.
Death and burial
Long died on November 28, 1886, and he is interred in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.[1]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- ^ a b c d e Harlan (1961), p. 100
- ^ Harlan (1961), p. 119
- ^ a b Harlan (1961), p. 102
- ^ a b c d e Klement (1977), p. 109
- ^ a b c d Hubbell & Geary (1995)
- ^ Harlan (1961), p. 104
- ^ a b c Harlan (1961), p. 116
- ^ Harlan (1961), p. 117
- ^ Perzel (1965), p. 3
- ^ a b Harlan (1961), p. 121
- ^ Harlan (1961), pp. 102, 124
- ^ a b c d e Perzel (1965), p. 4
- ^ a b c d Klement (1977), p. 108
- ^ a b Long (1864), p. 9
- ^ a b c Harlan (1961), p. 103
- ^ Long (1864)
- ^ Harlan (1961), pp. 100–101
- ^ Harlan (1961), p. 101
- ^ Porter (1911), pp. 214–219
- ^ Porter (1911), pp. 215–216
- ^ Porter (1911), p. 219
- ^ a b Perzel (1965), p. 8
- ^ Perzel (1965), pp. 5–6
- ^ Perzel (1965), p. 7
- ^ a b Perzel (1965), p. 6
- ^ Perzel (1965), pp. 6–7
- ^ Perzel (1965), p. 11
References
- Harlan, Louis R. (1961). "The Autobiography of Alexander Long". Bulletin of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. 19: 99–127.
- Hubbell, John T.; Geary, James W., eds. (1995). Biographical Dictionary of the Union: Northern Leaders of the Civil War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 315.
- Klement, Frank L. (1977). "Sound and fury: Civil War dissent in the Cincinnati area" (PDF). Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin. 35: 98–114. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-16.
- Long, Alexander (1864). The present condition and future prospects of the country: speech of Hon. Alexander Long, of Ohio, delivered in the House of Representatives, April 8, 1864.
- Perzel, Edward S. (1965). "Alexander Long, Salmon P. Chase, and The Election of 1868". Bulletin of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. 23: 2–18.
- Porter, George H. (1911). Ohio Politics During the Civil War Period. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.