Judah P. Benjamin
Encyclopedia
Judah Philip Benjamin was an American politician and lawyer. Born a British subject
in the West Indies, he moved to the United States with his parents and became a citizen. He later became a citizen of the Confederate States of America
. After the collapse of the Confederacy, Benjamin moved to England, where he established a second legal career. In 1883 he retired and moved permanently to Paris, where his wife and daughter had lived for years. He died the following year.
During his career in U.S. politics, Benjamin was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
; in 1852 he was elected by the state legislature to the US Senate from Louisiana
; the second Jewish senator in U.S. history. Following the formation of the Confederate States of America
in 1861, he was appointed by President Jefferson Davis
to three different Cabinet
posts in his administration. Benjamin was the first Jewish appointee to a Cabinet position in a North American government, and the first Jewish American to be seriously considered for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court (he twice declined offers of nomination). Following his relocation to the United Kingdom
, he became a distinguished barrister
and was selected in 1872 as Queen's Counsel
.
, to Phillip Benjamin, an English Sephardic Jew, and his wife, Rebecca de Mendes, a Sephardic Jew from Spain. This was during the period of the British occupation of the Danish West Indies
(now U.S. Virgin Islands). His father was a first cousin and business partner of Moses Elias Levy, father of future Florida senator David Levy Yulee
.
He emigrated with his parents to the U.S. several years later, where the family first lived in North Carolina. By 1824 they had moved to Charleston, South Carolina
, where his father was among the founders with Isaac Harby of the first Reform
congregation in the United States, the "Reformed Society of Israelites for Promoting True Principles of Judaism According to Its Purity and Spirit." The formation of the congregation was of such interest that it was covered by the North American Review, a national journal of the time.
As a youth, Benjamin attended Fayetteville Academy
in North Carolina
. At the age of fourteen, he entered Yale College
. He left without completing the degree and read the law. In 1828 he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana
to make his way, where he started clerking with a law firm as an alternative route to certification as an attorney. He studied law and learned French to qualify to practice in Louisiana. He was admitted to the bar in 1833 at the age of 21. He entered private practice as a commercial lawyer.
family. They were married in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the St. Louis Cathedral
. He became a slaveholder and soon established a sugar cane plantation
in Belle Chasse, Louisiana
. His plantation and legal practice both prospered.
In 1842 the couple's only child, Ninette, was born. She was christened and raised as Catholic. In 1847 Natalie Benjamin took the girl and moved to Paris
, where she remained for most of the rest of her life. Benjamin traveled each summer to France to see his wife and daughter.
By 1852, Benjamin's reputation as an eloquent speaker with a subtle legal mind was sufficient to win him selection by the state legislature to the U.S. Senate. He was the second Jewish senator after David L. Yulee of Florida, who was elected by his state legislature in 1845.
The outgoing President, Millard Fillmore
of the Whig Party
, offered to nominate Benjamin, a Southerner, to fill a Supreme Court vacancy after the Senate Democrats had defeated Fillmore's other nominees for the post. The New York Times reported (on February 15, 1853) that "if the President nominates Benjamin, the Democrats are determined to confirm him." He was the first Jewish-American to be formally offered a Supreme Court appointment. Benjamin declined to be nominated. He took office as Senator on March 4, 1853. During his first year, he challenged another young Senator, Jefferson Davis
of Mississippi
, to a duel
over a perceived insult on the Senate floor; Davis apologized, and the two began a close friendship.
Benjamin quickly gained a reputation as a great orator. In 1854 President Franklin Pierce
offered him nomination to a seat on the Supreme Court, which he declined. He was a noted advocate of the interests of the South. According to the author Carl Sandburg
, the abolitionist Benjamin Wade
of Ohio
said the Southern senator was "a Hebrew with Egyptian Principles", as he represented slaveholders. Benjamin replied, "It is true that I am a Jew, and when my ancestors were receiving their Ten Commandments
from the immediate Deity, amidst the thundering and lightnings of Mt. Sinai, the ancestors of my opponent were herding swine in the forests of Great Britain."
By the next election, amid increasing regional tensions and divisions among Whigs over the issue of slavery, Benjamin had joined the Democratic Party
; in the South the party was dominated by the planter
slaveholding elite. He was elected by the state legislature in 1858 to serve as US Senator. During the 34th through 36th Congresses, he was chairman of the Senate Committee on Private Land Claims. Benjamin resigned his seat on February 4, 1861, after Louisiana seceded from the Union.
Davis appointed Benjamin to be the first Attorney General
of the Confederacy on February 25, 1861, remarking later that he chose him because he "had a very high reputation as a lawyer, and my acquaintance with him in the Senate had impressed me with the lucidity of his intellect, his systematic habits, and capacity for labor." Benjamin has been referred to as "the Brains of the Confederacy."
In September 1861, he became the acting Secretary of War
, and in November he was confirmed in the post. He became a lightning-rod for popular discontent with the Confederacy's military situation, and quarrelled with the Confederate Generals P.G.T. Beauregard and Stonewall Jackson. He had strong disagreements with Davis about how to conduct the war.
Worried about Confederate defenses in the West, Benjamin had urged foreign consuls in New Orleans to defend the city when attacked. He had no power to order them into Confederate military service. He ordered the seizure of fourteen privately owned steamers at New Orleans. The impressed vessels were strengthened with iron casings at the bow to be used as rams. The ships kept civilian crews. Each vessel had a single heavy gun to be used in the event it was attacked by the Union. The Confederacy allocated $300,000 to outfit these vessels.
The military issues were highlighted by the Confederate's loss of Roanoke Island
to the Union "without a fight
" in February 1862. Roanoke's commander, Brig. Gen. Henry A. Wise
was in desperate need of reinforcements when he was informed of the imminent Federal attack. He begged for some of the 13,000 men he knew were idle under the control of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger in nearby Norfolk, Va
, but his pleas to Huger and Benjamin went unheeded. The heavily outnumbered Confederate force of some 2,500 surrendered and were taken prisoner after losing nearly a hundred of their number. (See Battle of Roanoke Island
). Benjamin was held responsible for the loss (although he was carrying out Davis' priorities), and the public was outraged. Rather than reveal the pressing shortage of military manpower that had led to the decision to concede Roanoke, Benjamin accepted Congressional censure
for the action without protest and resigned.
As a reward for Benjamin's loyalty, Davis appointed him as Secretary of State
in March 1862. Benjamin arranged the Erlanger loan from a Paris bank to the Confederacy in 1863, which was the only significant European loan of the war. In a round of "secondary diplomacy," he sent commercial agents to the Caribbean to negotiate opening ports in Bermuda, the West Indies, and Cuba to Confederate blockade-runners to maintain supplies, which the Union was trying to prevent. After mid-1863, the system was expanded and "brought rich rewards to investors, shipowners, and the Confederate Army."
Benjamin wanted to draw the United Kingdom
into the war on the side of the Confederacy, but it had abolished slavery years before and public opinion was strongly divided on the war. In 1864, as the South's military position became increasingly desperate, he publicly advocated a plan to emancipate and induct into the military any slave willing to bear arms for the Confederacy. Such a policy would have the dual results of removing slavery as the greatest obstacle in British public opinion to an alliance with the Confederacy, and easing the shortage of soldiers that was crippling the South's military efforts. With Davis' approval, Benjamin proclaimed, "Let us say to every Negro who wishes to go into the ranks, 'Go and fight — you are free." Robert E. Lee
supported the scheme as well, but it faced stiff opposition from conservatives. The Confederate Congress did not pass the measure until March 1865, by which time it was too late to salvage the Southern cause.
Benjamin is pictured on the CSA $2.00 bill
.
's surrender, Judah P. Benjamin fled south with Jefferson Davis and the rest of his cabinet, but he left the group shortly before they reached Washington, Georgia
, where they held their last meeting. Benjamin is reported to have stayed in Ocala, Florida
, with Solomon Benjamin, a relative, before continuing south to Gamble Mansion
in Ellenton
. From there, assisted by the blockade runner Captain Archibald McNeill, who owned the plantation, as well as William Whitaker
, Benjamin made it by sea to the Bahamas and then to England. His escape from Florida to England was not without hardship. The small sponge-carrying vessel on which he left Bimini
bound for Nassau
exploded on the way, and he and the three crewmen had to be rescued by a British warship. His ship from the Bahamas to England caught fire on the way but managed to make it to port. He was the only high-ranking Confederate politician to flee the country to avoid treason charges.
In the immediate aftermath of the end of the war, Benjamin and Davis were rumored to have masterminded the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
through the Confederate intelligence apparatus. According to Benjamin's biographer, Eli Evans, no evidence for this assertion has been found by historians. Fearing that he could not receive a fair trial, Benjamin burned his papers, took brief refuge at Gamble Plantation on the west coast of southern Florida, and left for England under a false name
. The historian Donald C. Simmons thinks that Benjamin may have considered joining his brother Joseph Benjamin, Colin J. McRae, the former Confederate Financial Agent in Europe, and other Confederates at New Richmond, British Honduras, in the Confederate settlements
.
In June 1866, Benjamin was called to the bar in England, the beginning of his successful and eventually lucrative second career as a barrister
, working in corporate law. In 1868, he published his Treatise on the Law of Sale of Personal Property, which came to be regarded as one of the classics of its field. The work's current edition remains authoritative under the name Benjamin's Sale of Goods. He was influential in commercial law that supported the rise of Great Britain as an imperial power. In 1872 he was selected as Queen's Counsel
.
Benjamin retired in 1883 on his doctor's advice. He had earned $720,000 during his nearly two decades at the bar in London. He moved to Paris, where his daughter Ninette and three grandchildren lived. He died there on May 6, 1884. He was interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery
.
British subject
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
in the West Indies, he moved to the United States with his parents and became a citizen. He later became a citizen of the Confederate States of America
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...
. After the collapse of the Confederacy, Benjamin moved to England, where he established a second legal career. In 1883 he retired and moved permanently to Paris, where his wife and daughter had lived for years. He died the following year.
During his career in U.S. politics, Benjamin was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
; in 1852 he was elected by the state legislature to the US Senate from Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
; the second Jewish senator in U.S. history. Following the formation of the Confederate States of America
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...
in 1861, he was appointed by President 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...
to three different Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
posts in his administration. Benjamin was the first Jewish appointee to a Cabinet position in a North American government, and the first Jewish American to be seriously considered for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court (he twice declined offers of nomination). Following his relocation to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, he became a distinguished barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and was selected in 1872 as Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
.
Family and early life
Judah Philip Benjamin was born a British subject in 1811 in Saint CroixSaint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of...
, to Phillip Benjamin, an English Sephardic Jew, and his wife, Rebecca de Mendes, a Sephardic Jew from Spain. This was during the period of the British occupation of the Danish West Indies
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles", were a colony of Denmark-Norway and later Denmark in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917...
(now U.S. Virgin Islands). His father was a first cousin and business partner of Moses Elias Levy, father of future Florida senator David Levy Yulee
David Levy Yulee
David Levy Yulee, born David Levy was an American politician and attorney from Florida, a territorial delegate to Congress, the first Jewish member of the United States Senate, and a member of the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War...
.
He emigrated with his parents to the U.S. several years later, where the family first lived in North Carolina. By 1824 they had moved to Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, where his father was among the founders with Isaac Harby of the first Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
congregation in the United States, the "Reformed Society of Israelites for Promoting True Principles of Judaism According to Its Purity and Spirit." The formation of the congregation was of such interest that it was covered by the North American Review, a national journal of the time.
As a youth, Benjamin attended Fayetteville Academy
Fayetteville Academy
The Fayetteville Academy was established in 1970 as a private school for both males and females. The current Fayetteville Academy, although not an heir to the original Fayetteville Academy by continuous charter, was established in 1970.-History:...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. At the age of fourteen, he entered Yale College
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. He left without completing the degree and read the law. In 1828 he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
to make his way, where he started clerking with a law firm as an alternative route to certification as an attorney. He studied law and learned French to qualify to practice in Louisiana. He was admitted to the bar in 1833 at the age of 21. He entered private practice as a commercial lawyer.
Marriage and family
On February 16, 1833, the 22-year-old Benjamin married Natalie Bauché de St. Martin, the 16-year-old daughter of a prominent and wealthy New Orleans French CreoleLouisiana Creole people
Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...
family. They were married in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the St. Louis Cathedral
St. Louis Cathedral
St. Louis Cathedral may refer to:* St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, 18th century* Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, 20th century structure in St. Louis, Missouri* Saint Louis Cathedral, Carthage, 19th century structure, Tunisia...
. He became a slaveholder and soon established a sugar cane plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in Belle Chasse, Louisiana
Belle Chasse, Louisiana
Belle Chasse is a census-designated place in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Belle Chasse is part of the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area. The population was 9,848 at the 2000 census....
. His plantation and legal practice both prospered.
In 1842 the couple's only child, Ninette, was born. She was christened and raised as Catholic. In 1847 Natalie Benjamin took the girl and moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where she remained for most of the rest of her life. Benjamin traveled each summer to France to see his wife and daughter.
Political career
In 1842, Benjamin was elected to the lower house of the Louisiana State Legislature as a Whig. In 1845 he served as a member of the state Constitutional Convention. In 1850 he sold his plantation and its 150 slaves.The outgoing President, Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
of the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
, offered to nominate Benjamin, a Southerner, to fill a Supreme Court vacancy after the Senate Democrats had defeated Fillmore's other nominees for the post. The New York Times reported (on February 15, 1853) that "if the President nominates Benjamin, the Democrats are determined to confirm him." He was the first Jewish-American to be formally offered a Supreme Court appointment. Benjamin declined to be nominated. He took office as Senator on March 4, 1853. During his first year, he challenged another young Senator, 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...
of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, to a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
over a perceived insult on the Senate floor; Davis apologized, and the two began a close friendship.
Benjamin quickly gained a reputation as a great orator. In 1854 President Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
offered him nomination to a seat on the Supreme Court, which he declined. He was a noted advocate of the interests of the South. According to the author Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
, the abolitionist Benjamin Wade
Benjamin Wade
Benjamin Franklin "Bluff" Wade was a U.S. lawyer and United States Senator. In the Senate, he was associated with the Radical Republicans of that time.-Early life:...
of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
said the Southern senator was "a Hebrew with Egyptian Principles", as he represented slaveholders. Benjamin replied, "It is true that I am a Jew, and when my ancestors were receiving their Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
from the immediate Deity, amidst the thundering and lightnings of Mt. Sinai, the ancestors of my opponent were herding swine in the forests of Great Britain."
By the next election, amid increasing regional tensions and divisions among Whigs over the issue of slavery, Benjamin had joined the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
; in the South the party was dominated by the planter
Planter
Planter may refer to:*A flower pot or box for plants**Jardinière, one such type of pot*A person or object engaged in sowing seeds**Planter , implement towed behind a tractor, used for sowing crops through a field*A coloniser...
slaveholding elite. He was elected by the state legislature in 1858 to serve as US Senator. During the 34th through 36th Congresses, he was chairman of the Senate Committee on Private Land Claims. Benjamin resigned his seat on February 4, 1861, after Louisiana seceded from the Union.
Confederate statesman
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
of the Confederacy on February 25, 1861, remarking later that he chose him because he "had a very high reputation as a lawyer, and my acquaintance with him in the Senate had impressed me with the lucidity of his intellect, his systematic habits, and capacity for labor." Benjamin has been referred to as "the Brains of the Confederacy."
In September 1861, he became the acting Secretary of War
Confederate States Secretary of War
The Confederate States Secretary of War was a member of the Confederate States President's Cabinet during the Civil War. The Secretary of War led the Confederate States Department of War. The position ended in May 1865 when the Confederacy crumbled during John C. Breckinridge's tenure of the...
, and in November he was confirmed in the post. He became a lightning-rod for popular discontent with the Confederacy's military situation, and quarrelled with the Confederate Generals P.G.T. Beauregard and Stonewall Jackson. He had strong disagreements with Davis about how to conduct the war.
Worried about Confederate defenses in the West, Benjamin had urged foreign consuls in New Orleans to defend the city when attacked. He had no power to order them into Confederate military service. He ordered the seizure of fourteen privately owned steamers at New Orleans. The impressed vessels were strengthened with iron casings at the bow to be used as rams. The ships kept civilian crews. Each vessel had a single heavy gun to be used in the event it was attacked by the Union. The Confederacy allocated $300,000 to outfit these vessels.
The military issues were highlighted by the Confederate's loss of Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....
to the Union "without a fight
Battle of Roanoke Island
The opening phase of what came to be called the Burnside Expedition, the Battle of Roanoke Island was an amphibious operation of the American Civil War, fought on February 7–8, 1862, in the North Carolina Sounds a short distance south of the Virginia border...
" in February 1862. Roanoke's commander, Brig. Gen. Henry A. Wise
Henry A. Wise
Henry Alexander Wise was an American politician and governor of Virginia, as well as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
was in desperate need of reinforcements when he was informed of the imminent Federal attack. He begged for some of the 13,000 men he knew were idle under the control of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger in nearby Norfolk, Va
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, but his pleas to Huger and Benjamin went unheeded. The heavily outnumbered Confederate force of some 2,500 surrendered and were taken prisoner after losing nearly a hundred of their number. (See Battle of Roanoke Island
Battle of Roanoke Island
The opening phase of what came to be called the Burnside Expedition, the Battle of Roanoke Island was an amphibious operation of the American Civil War, fought on February 7–8, 1862, in the North Carolina Sounds a short distance south of the Virginia border...
). Benjamin was held responsible for the loss (although he was carrying out Davis' priorities), and the public was outraged. Rather than reveal the pressing shortage of military manpower that had led to the decision to concede Roanoke, Benjamin accepted Congressional censure
Censure
A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spiritual penalty imposed by a church, and a negative judgment pronounced on a theological proposition.-Politics:...
for the action without protest and resigned.
Confederate States Secretary of State
The Confederate States Secretary of State was the head of the Confederate States State Department from 1861 to 1865 during the American Civil War. There were three people who served the position in this time. The department crumbled with the Confederate States of America in May 1865, marking the...
in March 1862. Benjamin arranged the Erlanger loan from a Paris bank to the Confederacy in 1863, which was the only significant European loan of the war. In a round of "secondary diplomacy," he sent commercial agents to the Caribbean to negotiate opening ports in Bermuda, the West Indies, and Cuba to Confederate blockade-runners to maintain supplies, which the Union was trying to prevent. After mid-1863, the system was expanded and "brought rich rewards to investors, shipowners, and the Confederate Army."
Benjamin wanted to draw the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
into the war on the side of the Confederacy, but it had abolished slavery years before and public opinion was strongly divided on the war. In 1864, as the South's military position became increasingly desperate, he publicly advocated a plan to emancipate and induct into the military any slave willing to bear arms for the Confederacy. Such a policy would have the dual results of removing slavery as the greatest obstacle in British public opinion to an alliance with the Confederacy, and easing the shortage of soldiers that was crippling the South's military efforts. With Davis' approval, Benjamin proclaimed, "Let us say to every Negro who wishes to go into the ranks, 'Go and fight — you are free." 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....
supported the scheme as well, but it faced stiff opposition from conservatives. The Confederate Congress did not pass the measure until March 1865, by which time it was too late to salvage the Southern cause.
Benjamin is pictured on the CSA $2.00 bill
Confederate States of America dollar
The Confederate States of America dollar was first issued into circulation in April 1861, when the Confederacy was only two months old, and on the eve of the outbreak of the Civil War....
.
Surrender of Confederacy
After Robert E. LeeRobert 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....
's surrender, Judah P. Benjamin fled south with Jefferson Davis and the rest of his cabinet, but he left the group shortly before they reached Washington, Georgia
Washington, Georgia
Washington is a city in Wilkes County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,295 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Wilkes County...
, where they held their last meeting. Benjamin is reported to have stayed in Ocala, Florida
Ocala, Florida
Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County, and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.-History:Ocala...
, with Solomon Benjamin, a relative, before continuing south to Gamble Mansion
Gamble Plantation Historic State Park
Gamble Plantation Historic State Park is a Florida State Park located in Ellenton, Florida on the Manatee River and US 301. It consists of the antebellum mansion developed by the first owner, Major Robert Gamble; a 40,000-gallon cistern to provide the household with fresh water; and of the sugar...
in Ellenton
Ellenton, Florida
Ellenton is a census-designated place in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,142 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. From there, assisted by the blockade runner Captain Archibald McNeill, who owned the plantation, as well as William Whitaker
William Whitaker (pioneer)
William Henry Whitaker was an American Seminole War veteran and pioneer who, under the provisions of the Armed Occupation Act, established the first permanent settlement in what is now Sarasota, Florida. There he traded mullet with Cubans to bring the first groves of economically important oranges...
, Benjamin made it by sea to the Bahamas and then to England. His escape from Florida to England was not without hardship. The small sponge-carrying vessel on which he left Bimini
Bimini
Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas composed of a chain of islands located about 53 miles due east of Miami, Florida. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately 137 miles west-northwest of Nassau...
bound for Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
exploded on the way, and he and the three crewmen had to be rescued by a British warship. His ship from the Bahamas to England caught fire on the way but managed to make it to port. He was the only high-ranking Confederate politician to flee the country to avoid treason charges.
In the immediate aftermath of the end of the war, Benjamin and Davis were rumored to have masterminded the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham 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...
through the Confederate intelligence apparatus. According to Benjamin's biographer, Eli Evans, no evidence for this assertion has been found by historians. Fearing that he could not receive a fair trial, Benjamin burned his papers, took brief refuge at Gamble Plantation on the west coast of southern Florida, and left for England under a false name
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
. The historian Donald C. Simmons thinks that Benjamin may have considered joining his brother Joseph Benjamin, Colin J. McRae, the former Confederate Financial Agent in Europe, and other Confederates at New Richmond, British Honduras, in the Confederate settlements
Confederate settlements in British Honduras
The Confederate Settlements in British Honduras are a cultural and ethnic sub-group in Belize, formerly known as the colony of British Honduras. They are the descendants of Confederates who fled to British Honduras with their families during and after the American Civil War.As the American Civil...
.
Exile in England
From London in late 1865, Benjamin provided considerable financial assistance to several friends in the former Confederacy. Joan Cashin, the biographer of Varina Howell Davis, said that Benjamin gave the Davis family a gift of $12,000. The gift supported not only the Davis extended family but many of their relatives and friends during the early years of the Reconstruction era.Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, working in corporate law. In 1868, he published his Treatise on the Law of Sale of Personal Property, which came to be regarded as one of the classics of its field. The work's current edition remains authoritative under the name Benjamin's Sale of Goods. He was influential in commercial law that supported the rise of Great Britain as an imperial power. In 1872 he was selected as Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
.
Benjamin retired in 1883 on his doctor's advice. He had earned $720,000 during his nearly two decades at the bar in London. He moved to Paris, where his daughter Ninette and three grandchildren lived. He died there on May 6, 1884. He was interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
.
Representation in fiction
- Robert D. Abrahams', Mr. Benjamin's Sword (1948) is juvenile historical fiction which covers the period of Benjamin's escape from Union forces after the loss of Richmond.
- Benjamin is featured as a politician and amateur detective in John Dickson CarrJohn Dickson CarrJohn Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn....
's Papa La-Bas (1968), a mystery set in New Orleans in 1858. - Benjamin is a major character in the alternate history novel Gray VictoryGray VictoryGray Victory is a 1988 alternate history novel by Robert Skimin, taking place in an alternate 1866 where the Confederacy won its independence.-Plot introduction:...
(1988) by Robert SkiminRobert SkiminRobert Skirmin is a retired U.S. Army officer, artist, and Pulitzer Prize-nominated and award-winning author of both fiction and historical books. Died May 9, 2011 in El Paso, Texas.-Military career:...
, taking place in 1866, in which the Confederacy has won independence. A mixed-race woman, who is a member of a secret abolitionist underground, has an affair with Benjamin. - Benjamin, along with other historical figures, is a character in Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's alternate history novel The Guns of the SouthThe Guns of the SouthThe Guns of the South is an alternate history novel set during the American Civil War by Harry Turtledove.The story deals with a group of time-travelling Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members who supply Robert E...
(1992). - He is featured in Southern Victory Series, which chronicles an alternate history world after the South wins the Civil War. The Confederacy which Benjamin helped create is portrayed as an analog of Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in the 1930s-1940s. - In the 2004 mockumentaryMockumentaryA mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
film C.S.A.: The Confederate States of AmericaC.S.A.: The Confederate States of AmericaC.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is a 2004 mockumentary directed by Kevin Willmott. It is a fictional "tongue-in-cheek" account of an alternate history, in which the Confederates won the American Civil War, establishing the new Confederate States of America...
, Benjamin convinces France and Britain to side with the Confederacy, which wins the war. - Benjamin figures prominently in the award-winning writer Dara HornDara HornDara Horn is an American novelist and professor of literature.-Education and career:Dara Horn was born in New Jersey in 1977 and received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard University in 2006. In 2007 Dara Horn was chosen by Granta magazine as one of the Best Young American...
's short story "Passover in New Orleans" and her mystery novel, All Other Nights (2009). The story is a fictional account of an attempt to assassinate a New Orleans Jewish Confederate official before he can assassinate Lincoln. - Benjamin is a character in a fictional mystery trilogy by the author and intelligence analyst W. Patrick LangW. Patrick LangWalter Patrick "Pat" Lang, Jr. is a commentator on the Middle East, a retired US Army officer and private intelligence analyst, and an author. After leaving uniformed military service as a colonel, he held high-level posts in military intelligence as a civilian...
, a former US Army officer. His first two books of the trilogy are The Butcher's Cleaver (2007), and Death Piled Hard (2009).
Further reading
- Evans, Eli N., Judah Benjamin: The Jewish Confederate, New York: The Free Press, 1988.
- Judelson, Paul Alan. Judah Philip Benjamin: Conservative Revolutionary, Brown University Press, 1981
- Korn, Bertram Wallace. The Early Jews of New Orleans, Waltham, MA: American Jewish Historical Society, 1969
External links
- "Judah P. Benjamin", Jewish Virtual Library
- "Judah P. Benjamin Home", State historical marker at site of boyhood home in Wilmington, North Carolina, Historical Markers
