Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875
Name Entries
person
Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Surname :
Wilson
Forename :
Henry
Date :
1812-1875
eng
Latn
authorizedForm
rda
Colbath, Jeremiah Jones, 1812-1875
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Surname :
Colbath
Forename :
Jeremiah Jones
Date :
1812-1875
eng
Latn
alternativeForm
rda
Genders
Male
Exist Dates
Biographical History
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th vice president of the United States (1873–75) and a senator from Massachusetts (1855–73). Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading Republican, and a strong opponent of slavery. Wilson devoted his energies to the destruction of the "Slave Power" – the faction of slave owners and their political allies which anti-slavery Americans saw as dominating the country.
Originally a Whig, Wilson was a founder of the Free Soil Party in 1848. He served as the party chairman before and during the 1852 presidential election. Wilson worked diligently to build an anti-slavery coalition, which came to include the Free Soil Party, anti-slavery Democrats, New York Barnburners, the Liberty Party, anti-slavery members of the Native American Party (Know Nothings), and anti-slavery Whigs (called Conscience Whigs). When the Free Soil party dissolved in the mid-1850s, Wilson joined the Republican Party, which he helped found, and which was organized largely in line with the anti-slavery coalition he had nurtured in the 1840s and 1850s.
While a Senator during the Civil War, Wilson was considered a "Radical Republican", and his experience as a militia general, organizer and commander of a Union Army regiment, and chairman of the Senate military committees enabled him to assist the Abraham Lincoln administration in the organization and oversight of the Union Army and Union Navy. Wilson successfully authored bills that outlawed slavery in Washington, D.C., and incorporated African Americans in the Union Civil War effort in 1862.
After the Civil War, he supported the Radical Republican program for Reconstruction. In 1872, Wilson was elected Vice President as the running mate of Ulysses S. Grant, the incumbent President of the United States, who was running for a second term. The Grant and Wilson ticket was successful, and Wilson served as Vice President from March 4, 1873, until his death on November 22, 1875. Wilson's effectiveness as Vice President was limited after he suffered a debilitating stroke in May 1873, and his health continued to decline until he was the victim of a fatal stroke while working in the United States Capitol in late 1875.
Throughout his career, Wilson was known for championing causes that were at times unpopular, including workers' rights for both blacks and whites and the abolition of slavery. Massachusetts politician George F. Hoar, who served in the United States House of Representatives while Wilson was a Senator, and later served in the Senate himself, believed Wilson to be the most skilled political organizer in the country. However, Wilson's reputation for personal integrity and principled politics was somewhat damaged late in his Senate career by his involvement in the Crédit Mobilier scandal.
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Latn
External Related CPF
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10574462
https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-nr90004425/
https://viaf.org/viaf/47898846
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr90004425
https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q313302
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Languages Used
eng
Latn
Subjects
Slavery
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Boston
MA, US
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Natick
MA, US
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Washington, D. C.
DC, US
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Farmington
NH, US
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Birth
Convention Declarations
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