Benjamin Harvey Hill

Benjamin Harvey Hill
United States Senator from Georgia
In office March 4, 1877 – August 16, 1882
Preceded by	Thomas Norwood
Succeeded by	Middleton Barrow
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 9th district
In office May 5, 1875 – March 4, 1877
Preceded by	Hiram Bell
Succeeded by	Hiram Bell
Confederate States Senator from Georgia
In office February 18, 1862 – May 10, 1865
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Deputy to the C.S. Congress from Georgia
In office February 8, 1861 – February 17, 1862
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	September 14, 1823 Jasper County, Georgia
Died	August 16, 1882 (aged 58) Gurley, Alabama
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Whig (Before 1855) American (1855–1859) Constitutional Union (1859–1861)
Alma mater	University of Georgia

Benjamin Harvey Hill (September 14, 1823 – August 16, 1882) was a U.S. Representative, U.S. senator and a Confederate senator from the state of Georgia.

Early life

Hill was born September 14, 1823, in Hillsboro, Georgia, in Jasper County. He was of Welsh and Irish American ancestry.^[1] He attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, where he was a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society and graduated in 1844 with first honors. He was admitted to the Georgia bar later in 1844. He married Caroline E. Holt in Athens, in 1845.

Early career

Hill's home, Bellevue

Hill was a candidate representing a number of parties, reflecting the volatile politics before the American Civil War and after. He was elected to the state legislature of Georgia in 1851 as a member of the Whig Party. He supported Millard Fillmore running on the Know-Nothing ticket in 1856, and was an elector for that party in the Electoral College. In 1857, he ran for governor of Georgia unsuccessfully against the Democratic nominee Joseph E. Brown. In 1859, he was elected to the state senate as a Unionist. In 1860, he was again an elector, this time for John Bell and the Unionist party.

Hill known as "the peerless orator" for his skill in delivering speech,^[2] was the only non-Democratic member of the Georgia secession convention on January 16, 1861, where he spoke publicly against the dissolution of the Union, along with Alexander Stephens, a former opponent. Following Stephens' highly regarded argument based on a conservative reading of the Constitution, Hill struck a more pragmatic tone. His arguments related to the conservative belief that disunion would ultimately lead to the abolition of slavery and the downfall of Southern society. He quoted Henry Ward Beecher, a Northern abolitionist who enthusiastically supported the dissolution of the Union as a means to end slavery, and described the anti-slavery Republican Party as a "disunionist" party, in contrast to the "Union men and Southern men" participating in the convention. Acknowledging the need to respond to the threat of Lincoln's election, Hill argued that his fellow Georgians should continue to resist Lincoln democratically within the bounds of the Constitution. He compared this course to George Washington, "so cool, so brave, and so thoughtful." He argued that the Northern states would eventually follow the British course of rising abolitionist thought, followed by acceptance again of slavery due to economic necessity. But he allowed that the South should prepare for secession and war if it should become necessary.^[3]

Hill voted against secession,^[4] but became a political ally of Jefferson Davis, who was elected as president of the Confederacy. When the Confederate government was formed, Hill transferred to the Confederate Provisional Congress. He was subsequently elected by the Georgia legislature to the Confederate States Senate, a term which he held throughout its existence.

At one point in the Senate, Hill and fellow Senator William Lowndes Yancey had to be separated by other members after a bloody scuffle on the floor.^[5]

At the end of the Civil War, Hill was arrested as a Confederate official by the Union and confined in Fort Lafayette from May until July in 1865.

Later career

Unlike many Confederate politicians, Hill had a long and distinguished career as a "reconstructed" Southerner and U.S. politician. He ultimately became a Democrat after the Civil War ended. He spoke out passionately against Radical Reconstruction and in the summer of 1867 made a series of speeches in Atlanta, the most famous being the Davis House speech of July 16, 1867, denouncing the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. His courage and eloquence enhanced his regional fame and won him national recognition.

In 1875 he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, serving from May 5, 1875 - March 3, 1877. He quickly won a reputation as a spokesman for the South. He was later elected by the Georgia legislature to the U.S. Senate on January 26, 1877, as Reconstruction was ending. He served in the U.S. Senate from March 4, 1877, until his death on August 16, 1882. His obituary was featured on the front page of the Atlanta Constitution, on August 17, 1882.

Later life

Hill is buried in historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.

Legacy

There is a life-size statue of Hill looking down from atop a similarly sized plinth inside the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as a larger than life portrait in the Capitol Rotunda. Ben Hill County, Georgia is named in his honor.

See also

• List of American Civil War generals
• List of signers of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession

References

1. Senator Benjamin H. Hill of Georgia: his life, speeches and writings page 9
2. Candler, Allen Daniel (1909). The Confederate records of the State of Georgia, Volume 1. Atlanta, GA: C. P. Byrd publishing. ISBN 978-1147068887. Retrieved July 22, 2013
3. Freehling, William W., and Craig M. Simpson, Secession Debated: Georgia's Showdown in 1860, New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
4. The Civil War: The First Year Told by Those Who Lived It. The Library of America. 2011. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-59853-088-9.
5. Ferguson, Stuart, "The Zealotry of the Convert: Slavery's Firebrand Defender," book review of Eric H. Walther's William Lowndes Yancey and the Coming of the Civil War, in The Wall Street Journal, 8 July 2006; page P9; accessed on July 14, 2006

External links

• United States Congress. "Benjamin Harvey Hill (id: H000587)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Benjamin Harvey Hill at the New Georgia Encyclopedia