Christopher Memminger

The Honorable
Christopher Memminger
1st Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury
In office
February 25, 1861 – July 18, 1864
President Jefferson Davis
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by George Trenholm
Member of the Provisional C.S. Congress
from South Carolina
In office
February 4, 1861 – February 18, 1862
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Position abolished
Personal details
Born (1803-01-09)January 9, 1803
Vaihingen, Würtemberg
(present-day Stuttgart, Germany)
Died March 7, 1888(1888-03-07) (aged 85)
Flat Rock, North Carolina, U.S.
Resting place St. John in the Wilderness,
Flat Rock, North Carolina, U.S.
35°16′18″N 82°27′41″W / 35.271667°N 82.461389°W / 35.271667; -82.461389
Political party Democratic
Alma mater South Carolina College
Religion Episcopal

Christopher Gustavus Memminger (January 9, 1803 – March 7, 1888) was a German-born American politician and a founding father of the Confederate States.

As the first Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury, Memminger was the primary author of the economic policies of the Jefferson Davis administration.

Early life and career

Memminger was born in Vaihingen, Würtemberg (present-day Stuttgart, Germany). His father, Gottfried Memminger, was a military officer who died in combat a month after his son's birth. His mother, Eberhardina Kohler Memminger, immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States but died of yellow fever in 1807. Christopher was placed in an orphanage.[1]

Memminger's fortunes changed when, at the age of eleven, he was taken under the care of Thomas Bennett, a prominent lawyer and future Governor. Memminger entered South Carolina College at the age of 12 and graduated second in his class at 16. Memminger passed 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 excitement. He published The Book of Nullification (1832–33) which satirized the advocates of the doctrine in biblical style.[2] 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.[3] Memminger was a staunch advocate of education and helped give Charleston one of the most comprehensive public school systems in the country.[4] 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.[5]

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 depicted on a 1862 CSA $5 banknote.

Memminger was considered a moderate on the secession issue, but after Lincoln's election, Memminger decided secession was necessary. 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, Memminger was selected as a South Carolina delegate to the provisional congress which formed the Confederate States of America, and was the chairman of the committee which drafted the Confederate Constitution. The twelve-man committee produced a provisional constitution 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. Memminger attempted to finance the government initially via bonds and tariffs (and confiscation of gold from the United States Mint in New Orleans), but soon found himself forced to more extreme measures such as income taxation and fiat currency. Memminger had been a supporter of hard currency before the war, but found himself issuing increasingly devalued paper money, which by war's end was worth less than two percent of its face value in gold.

Resignation

Memminger resigned his post as Secretary of the Treasury on July 18, 1864 and was replaced by fellow South Carolinian George Trenholm. Memminger returned to his summer residence in Flat Rock, North Carolina. In the post-war years, Memminger 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.

Legacy

Memminger was featured on the Confederate $5.00 bill.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Patrick 1944, p. 205
  2. ↑  Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John, eds. (1900). "Memminger, Charles Gustavus". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
  3. ↑  Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Memminger, Christopher Gustavus". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
  4. ↑ Patrick 1944, pp. 205–206
  5. ↑  Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Memminger, Christopher Gustavus". Encyclopedia Americana.
  6. ↑ "Legendary Coins and Currency: Confederacy, 5 dollars, 1862". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2011-08-12.

References

Further reading

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