Christopher Memminger
Christopher Gustavus Memminger (German: Christoph Gustav Memminger; January 9, 1803:– March 7, 1888) was a German-born American politician and a secessionist who participated in the formation of the Confederate States government. He was the principal author of the Provisional Cons*ution (1861) as well as the founder of the Confederate financial system. As the first Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury, Memminger was the main author of the economic policies of Jefferson Davis's administration.
Contents
- 1 Early life and career
- 2 American Civil War
- 3 Later life
- 4 Notable works
- 5 Honors
- 6 See also
- 7 Notes
- 8 References
- 9 Further reading
- 10 External links
Early life and career
Christopher Gustavus Memminger was born on January 9, 1803, in Vaihingen, Wuerttemberg (present-day Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany). His father, Gottfried Memminger, was an officer who died a month after his son's birth. His mother, Eberhardina (née Kohler) Memminger, immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina, but died of yellow fever in 1807. Christopher was placed in an orphanage. His fortunes changed when, at the age of eleven, he was taken under the care of Thomas Bennett, a prominent lawyer and future Governor. He entered South Carolina College at the age of 12 and graduated second in his cl* at 16. Memminger p*ed the bar in 1825 and became a successful lawyer. He married Mary Withers Wilkinson in 1832.
He was a leader of the opponents during the Nullification Crisis. He published The Book of Nullification (1832–33) which satirized the advocates of the doctrine in biblical style. He entered state politics and served in the South Carolina state legislature from 1836 to 1852 and 1854 to 1860, where for nearly twenty years he was the head of the finance committee. Memminger was a staunch advocate of education and helped give Charleston one of the most comprehensive public school systems in the country. In 1859, after John Brown's raid, he was commissioned by South Carolina to consult with other delegates in Virginia as to the best method of warding off attacks of abolitionists.
American Civil War
The original Confederate Cabinet. L-R: Judah P. Benjamin, Stephen Mallory, Christopher Memminger, Alexander Stephens, LeRoy Pope Walker, Jefferson Davis, John H. Reagan and Robert Toombs.Memminger was considered a moderate on the secession issue, but after the election of Abraham Lincoln, decided that secession was necessary. Memminger owned 12 slaves, which were listed in his estate in the Charleston, South Carolina, census of 1850, six of them being males. His estate was in Henderson County, North Carolina, where he built his Connemara summer home). When South Carolina seceded from the United States in 1860, Memminger was asked to write the Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union, which outlined the reasons for secession. When other states also seceded, he was selected as a South Carolina delegate to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States and was the chairman of the committee which drafted the Provisional Cons*ution of the Confederate States. The twelve-man committee produced a provisional cons*ution in only four days.
When Jefferson Davis formed his first cabinet, Memminger was chosen as Secretary of the Treasury on February 21, 1861. It was a difficult task in view of the financial challenges facing the Confederacy. He attempted to finance the government initially by bonds and tariffs (and the confiscation of gold from the United States Mint in New Orleans), but he soon found himself forced to more extreme measures such as income taxes and fiat currency. He had been a supporter of hard currency before the war but found himself issuing increasingly-devalued paper money, which had become worth less than 2% of its face value in gold by the end of the war.
Later life
Memminger resigned his post as Secretary of the Treasury on July 1, 1864 and was replaced by fellow South Carolinian G. A. Trenholm. He returned to his summer residence in Flat Rock, North Carolina. In the post-war years, he returned to Charleston, received a presidential pardon in 1866, and returned to private law practice and business investment. He also continued his work on developing South Carolina's public education system and was voted to a final term in the state legislature in 1877.
Notable works
- The Book of Nullification (1830)
Honors
Christopher Memminger was featured on the Confederate $5.00 bill.
-
Memminger on the 1862 CS$5 banknote
See also
- List of German Americans
- List of orphans and foundlings
- List of people from Stuttgart
Notes
References
- Capers, Henry D. (1893), The Life and Times of C. G. Memminger, Richmond: Everett Waddey Co., LCCN:12030042, OCLC:4790450 – via Internet Archive
- Patrick, Rembert Wallace (1944), Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, pp.:205–234, LCCN:44009637, OCLC:475783
- Schwab, John Christopher (1901), The Confederate States of America, 1861-65: A Financial and Industrial History of the South During the Civil War, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, LCCN:01022093, OCLC:1612925 – via Internet Archive
Further reading
- Memminger, Christopher (1830). The Book of Nullification. Charleston: n.p. LCCN:07034837. OCLC:2421630 – via Internet Archive.
External links
Official- C. G. Memminger Papers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Christopher Memminger at Find a Grave
- Christopher Memminger at The Historical Marker Database (HMdb.org)
- Christopher Memminger at South Carolina Encyclopedia (scencyclopedia.org)
- Christopher Memminger at NCpedia (ncpedia.org)
- Christopher Memminger at The Political Graveyard
- Works by or about Christopher Memminger at Internet Archive
- Works by or about Christopher Memminger in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
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