Person:Thomas Benton (9)

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Sen. Thomas Hart Benton
b.14 Mar 1782 Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina
d.10 Apr 1858 Washington, District of Columbia
Parents and Siblings
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  1. Sen. Thomas Hart Benton1782 - 1858
Spouse and Children
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m. 20 Mar 1821
  1. Elizabeth Preston Benton1822 - 1895
  2. Jessie Ann Benton1824 - 1902
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Facts and Events
Name[1] Sen. Thomas Hart Benton
Gender Male
Birth[1] 14 Mar 1782 Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina
Marriage 20 Mar 1821 Rockbridge County, Virginiato Elizabeth Preston McDowell
Death[1] 10 Apr 1858 Washington, District of Columbia
Burial[1] Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri
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Thomas Hart Benton (March 14, 1782April 10, 1858), nicknamed "Old Bullion", was a United States Senator from Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he was an architect and champion of westward expansion by the United States, a cause that became known as Manifest Destiny. Benton served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve five terms.

Benton was born in Harts Mill, Orange County, North Carolina. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he established a law practice and plantation near Nashville, Tennessee. He served as an aide to General Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812 and settled in St. Louis, Missouri, after the war. Missouri became a state in 1821, and Benton won election as one of its inaugural pair of United States Senators. The Democratic-Republican Party fractured after 1824, and Benton became a Democratic leader in the Senate, serving as an important ally of President Jackson and President Martin Van Buren. He supported Jackson during the Bank War and proposed a land payment law that inspired Jackson's Specie Circular executive order.

Benton's prime concern was the westward expansion of the United States. He called for the annexation of the Republic of Texas, which was accomplished in 1845. He pushed for compromise in the partition of Oregon Country with the British and supported the 1846 Oregon Treaty, which divided the territory along the 49th parallel. He also authored the first Homestead Act, which granted land to settlers willing to farm it.

Though he owned slaves, Benton came to oppose the institution of slavery after the Mexican–American War, and he opposed the Compromise of 1850 as too favorable to pro-slavery interests. This stance damaged Benton's popularity in Missouri, and the state legislature denied him re-election in 1851. Benton won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1852 but was defeated for re-election in 1854 after he opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Benton's son-in-law, John C. Frémont, won the 1856 Republican Party nomination for president, but Benton voted for James Buchanan and remained a loyal Democrat until his death in 1858.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Thomas Hart Benton (politician). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
References
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Find A Grave.

    Thomas Hart Benton

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