Albert Taylor Bledsoe
Encyclopedia
Albert Taylor Bledsoe was an Episcopal priest, attorney, professor of mathematics, and officer in the Confederate army and was best known as an architect of the Lost Cause and an apologist for the Confederate States of America
.
). He was a cadet at the United States Military Academy
at West Point from 1825 to 1830, where he was a fellow cadet of Jefferson Davis
and Robert E. Lee
. After serving two years in the United States Army, he studied law and theology at Kenyon College
in Gambier, Ohio, and received his M.A. and LL.M. In 1836. he married Harriet Coxe of Burlington NJ, and they had seven children, four of whom survived childhood.
His daughter was the author Sophia Bledsoe Herrick
.
Bledsoe in his lectures at the University of Virginia would frequently "interlard his demonstration of some difficult problem in differential or integral calculus--for example, the lemniscata of Bernouilli--with some vigorous remarks in the doctrine of States' rights
". His book The Philosophy of Mathematics was one of the earliest American works on mathematics and includes chapters on Descartes, Leibnitz
, and Newton
.
and Stephen Douglas. He practiced before the United States Supreme Court in Washington DC from 1840–1848.
and secession
. His book Is Davis a Traitor has been called the "best book every written on the right of secession" by Gene Kizer.
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
.
Early life and education
Bledsoe was born on November 9, 1809 in Frankfort, Kentucky, the oldest of five children of Moses Owsley Bledsoe and Sophia Childress Taylor (who was a relative of President Zachary TaylorZachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
). He was a cadet at the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point from 1825 to 1830, where he was a fellow cadet of Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
and Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
. After serving two years in the United States Army, he studied law and theology at Kenyon College
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio...
in Gambier, Ohio, and received his M.A. and LL.M. In 1836. he married Harriet Coxe of Burlington NJ, and they had seven children, four of whom survived childhood.
His daughter was the author Sophia Bledsoe Herrick
Sophia Bledsoe Herrick
Sophia Bledsoe Herrick was a science writer, editor, and literary critic.Born 26 March 1837, the daughter of Albert Taylor Bledsoe, of Gambier, Ohio, Sophia moved to New York after her marriage to the Reverend James B. Herrick, by whom she had several children. The couple separated when Herrick...
.
College Professor and Mathematician
- Adjunct Professor of Mathematics and French, Kenyon College, (OH) 1833–1834.
- Professor of Mathematics, Miami University (OH), 1834–1835.
- Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, University of Mississippi, 1848–1854.
- Professor of Mathematics, University of Virginia, 1854–1861.
Bledsoe in his lectures at the University of Virginia would frequently "interlard his demonstration of some difficult problem in differential or integral calculus--for example, the lemniscata of Bernouilli--with some vigorous remarks in the doctrine of States' rights
States' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
". His book The Philosophy of Mathematics was one of the earliest American works on mathematics and includes chapters on Descartes, Leibnitz
Leibnitz
Leibnitz is a city in the Austrian state of Styria and at the 2001 census had a population of approximately 7.577 .It is located to the south of the city of Graz, between the Mur and Sulm rivers....
, and Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
.
Clergyman
In 1835, Bledsoe became an Episcopal minister and became an assistant to Bishop Smith of Kentucky. He abandoned his clerical career in 1838 because of his opposition to infant baptism. Later in life, he was ordained a Methodist minister in 1871, but he never took charge of a church. He was a strenuous advocate of the doctrine of free will and his views are set forth in his book Examination of Edwards on the Will (1845).Lawyer
In 1838, Bledsoe moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he was a law partner of Edward D. Baker, and where he practiced law in the same courts as Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
and Stephen Douglas. He practiced before the United States Supreme Court in Washington DC from 1840–1848.
Confederate Official
In 1861, Bledsoe received a commission as a colonel in the Confederate army, and later became Acting Assistant Secretary of War. In 1863 he was sent to London for the purpose of researching various historical problems relating to the North-South conflict, as well as guiding British public opinion in favor of the Confederate cause.Southern Apologist
In 1868 he moved back to the United States and published the Southern Review. He was the "epitome of an unreconstructed Southerner" and published articles defending slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
. His book Is Davis a Traitor has been called the "best book every written on the right of secession" by Gene Kizer.
Writings
- Examination of Edwards on the Will (Philadelphia, 1845)
- A Theodicy, or Vindication of the Divine Theory (1853)
- Essay on Liberty and Slavery (1856)
- Is Davis a Traitor? or Was Secession a Constitutional Right previous to the War of 1861? (1866)
- The Philosophy of Mathematics, with Special Reference to the Elements of Geometry and the Infinitesimal Method (1868)
- The Southern Review (1871)
Further reading
- Barnhart, Terry A. Albert Taylor Bledsoe: Defender of the Old South and Architect of the Lost Cause (Louisiana State University Press; 2011) 288 pages; the standard scholarly biography
- Freeman, Douglas Southall, "The South to Posterity: An Introduction to the Writing of Confederate History" (1939).
- The Wonders of Plant Life under the Microscope, 1883
- Century of Sonnets, 1902
- Herrick, Sophia BledsoeSophia Bledsoe HerrickSophia Bledsoe Herrick was a science writer, editor, and literary critic.Born 26 March 1837, the daughter of Albert Taylor Bledsoe, of Gambier, Ohio, Sophia moved to New York after her marriage to the Reverend James B. Herrick, by whom she had several children. The couple separated when Herrick...
, "Albert Taylor Bledsoe (1809–1877)," in Library of Southern Literature, ed. Edwin Andersen Alderman and Joel Chandler Harris, vol. 1, New Orleans/Atlanta/Dallas: The Martin and Hoyt Company, 1907. - Woodworth, Stephen E., "Bledsoe, Albert Taylor," American National Biography, vol. 3, pp. 11–12. 1999.
External links
- Biography of Albert Taylor Bledsoe at Answers.com
- Biography of Albert Taylor Bledsoe at the University of Virginia
- Biography of Albert Taylor Bledsoe from the Encyclopedia of World Biography
- Biography on Albert Taylor Bledsoe from the Kentucky Historical Society
- Fact sheet on Albert Taylor Bledsoe from the United States Military Academy
- Entry on Bledsoe, Albert Taylor at the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge