American politician (1791-1875)
Duff Green
(August 15, 1791 – June 10, 1875) was an American teacher, military leader,
Democratic Party
politician, journalist, author, diplomat and industrialist.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Green, the son of William and Lucy Ann (Marshall) Green, was born August 15, 1791, in
Woodford County, Kentucky
. He was a school teacher in his native state of Kentucky and served under General
William Henry Harrison
in the Kentucky militia in the
War of 1812
and led the Missouri Brigade in the Indian Campaign, earning the rank brigadier general. Thereafter, he was known by many as General Duff Green.
[1]
He then settled in
Missouri
, where he worked as a schoolmaster and practiced law. He was a member of the Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1820, ll and was elected to the
Missouri House of Representatives
in 1820 and to the
Missouri State Senate
in 1822, serving one term in each house. Becoming interested in journalism, he purchased and for two years edited the
St Louis Enquirer
.
[2]
Career
[
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]
In 1826, in
Washington, DC
, Green bought and later edited,
The United States Telegraph
, which became the principal organ of
Andrew Jackson
's backers, helping him defeat
John Quincy Adams
in the presidential election of 1828. Upon Jackson's election to the presidency, the
Telegraph
became the principal mouthpiece of the administration, receiving printing patronage estimated at $50,000 a year. Green became one of the
coterie
of unofficial advisers of Jackson, known as the
Kitchen Cabinet
, on which Jackson depended heavily after the
Petticoat affair
. In the quarrel between Jackson and Vice President
John C. Calhoun
, Green supported Calhoun and, through the
Telegraph
, violently attacked the Jackson administration.
[2]
In consequence, the Jackson administration revoked its patronage for the
Telegraph
in the spring of 1831. Under the date of December 24, 1833, Adams records in his diary that
James Blair
"had knocked down and very severely beaten Duff Green, editor of the
Telegraph
...." Blair paid a "three hundred dollars fine for beating and breaking the bones" of Green.
[3]
Green, however, continued to edit
The United States Telegraph
in the Calhoun interest until 1835 and gave vigorous support to Calhoun's views in the
Nullification Crisis
.
[2]
Duff's daughter, Margaret Maria, was the mother of Calhoun's grandson, also named John Caldwell Calhoun.
[4]
In his second term, Jackson replaced Calhoun with
Martin Van Buren
as vice president.
From 1835 to 1838, Green edited
The Reformation
, a radically partisan publication, devoted to free trade,
states' rights
, and the idea of "
Manifest Destiny
".
[2]
In 1840, he established the
Pilot
in
Baltimore
to support the Harrison-Tyler ticket. Although initially endorsed by the Whig party, Green's controversial editorials on Catholic influence in American politics alienated his readers. Subscriptions declined, and publication was suspended in 1841.
[5]
In 1841 to 1843, he was in Europe on behalf of the administration of President
John Tyler
and is said to have been instrumental in causing the appointment of
Lord Ashburton
to negotiate in Washington on the
boundary dispute
between
Maine
and
Canada
.
[2]
In January 1844, Green established in
New York City
a short-lived journal,
The Republic
, to combat the
spoils system
and to advocate free trade. In September 1844, Calhoun, now
secretary of state
, sent Green to
Texas
ostensibly as consul at
Galveston
but actually, it appears, to report to the administration, which was then considering the question of the
annexation of Texas
, on the political situation in Texas and
Mexico
.
[2]
After the close of the
Mexican?American War
, Green was sent to Mexico in 1849 by President
Zachary Taylor
to negotiate concerning the money that in the
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
, the
United States
had agreed to pay, and he saved his country a considerable sum by arranging for payment in exchange instead of
in specie
.
[2]
Subsequently, Green was engaged in railway building in
Georgia
and
Alabama
.
[2]
He was also one of the founding associates in the incorporation of the
New Mexican Railway Company
. Duff was attracted to
Dalton, Georgia
in 1851 by the construction of the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad from Knoxville, Tennessee to connect with the Western and Atlantic Railroad. He profited by making strategic land purchases. As his wealth grew, he donated land for many public projects in Dalton.
American Civil War
[
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]
During the
American Civil War
, Green organized three iron manufacturing plants for production of iron, nails, horseshoes, and rails in support of the
Confederacy
. He and his son Ben also established the Dalton Arms Company in 1862.
Meeting with Abraham Lincoln in Virginia
[
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]
On April 4, 1865, near the end of the war, Green reportedly met with US President
Abraham Lincoln
aboard
a US Navy ship
as the latter visited Virginia.
[6]
Calling Green a friend, Lincoln greeted him amicably with a smile at first, but Green did not reciprocate in kind, refusing to shake Lincoln's hand when it was offered.
[6]
In full view of US Navy admiral
David Dixon Porter
, Green reportedly then proceeded to verbally berate Lincoln, calling him a tyrant, a murderer, and accusing him of visiting Virginia only to gloat boastfully over the defeated Confederacy as well as accusing him of starting the Civil War.
[6]
After patiently listening to Green berate him for a while, Lincoln's smile soon disappeared and, according to Porter's narrative, Lincoln became incensed, angrily condemning Green as a traitor for supporting the Confederacy:
Stop, you political tramp. You, the aider and abettor of those who have brought all this ruin upon your country, without the courage to risk your person in defense of the principles you profess to espouse! A fellow who stood by to gather up the loaves and fishes, if any should fall to you! A man who had no principles in the North, and took none South with him! A political hyena who robbed the graves of the dead, and adopted their language as his own! You talk of the North cutting the throats of the Southern people. You have all cut your own throats, and, unfortunately, have cut many of those of the North. Miserable impostor, vile intruder! Go, before I forget myself and the high position I hold! Go, I tell you, and don't desecrate this national vessel another minute!
[6]
Porter's account ends with Green, surprised and left speechless by Lincoln's rare bout of anger, quickly exiting the room and being removed from the ship.
[6]
According to another eyewitness account, however, namely that of Lincoln's bodyguard
William H. Crook
, Lincoln listened impassively and said nothing until Green, having "exhausted himself," said, "I would like, sir, to go to my friends," prompting Lincoln to direct
Gen. Godfrey Weitzel
, who was also present, to "please give Mr. Green a pass to go to his friends."
[7]
Pardon by Andrew Johnson
[
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]
After the war, Green was pardoned by President
Andrew Johnson
for his support of the Confederacy and paid a $20,000 fine.
Later life and death
[
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]
Green was one of the founding members of the Pennsylvania Fiscal Agency, incorporated November 1, 1859 in Pennsylvania.
[8]
At the time, he gained 42,000 shares but paid with a bad check the 5% payment on only 5,000 shares.
[9]
On March 26, 1864,
Thomas C. Durant
, the vice president of the
Union Pacific Railroad Company
purchased the corporation as a front construction company, whereby the directors and principal stock holders of the Union Pacific retained all construction profits. They then used the funds to purchase Union Pacific stock at par value and resell it on the open market for even greater profits. Durant changed the company name to the
Credit Mobilier of America
. The scandal involving the sale of discounted Credit Mobilier stock to Congressional members voting for payment of exorbitant
transcontinental railroad
construction costs took place during the Johnson administration but was uncovered during the
Grant administration
.
Green died in Dalton, GA, a city that he had helped to build.
Works
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Dalton, Anita Thornton (November 13, 2010).
"Civil War anniversary: General Duff Green"
.
The Daily Citizen (Dalton, GA)
. William Bronson
. Retrieved
16 December
2011
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Green, Duff
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 534.
- ^
Diary
(New York, Longmans, Green, 1929) p. 434, 450.
- ^
Cornish, Louis Henry; Alonzo Howard Clark (1902).
"Captain John Caldwell Calhoun"
.
A national register of the society, Sons of the American Revolution
. Press of A. H. Kellogg, 1902. p. 804
. Retrieved
16 December
2011
.
- ^
Green, Fletcher (January 1947). "Duff Green, Militant Journalist of the Old School".
The American Historical Review
.
52
(2): 258?9.
doi
:
10.2307/1841273
.
JSTOR
1841273
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Porter, David Dixon
(1886).
Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War
. New York: D. Appleton and Company. pp.
307
?309
. Retrieved
March 26,
2016
.
- ^
Wm. H. Crook,
Through Five Administrations: Reminiscences of Colonel William H. Crook, Body-Guard to President Lincoln
, pp.56-57
, Harper & Bros., 1910.
- ^
Crawford, Jay Boyd (1880).
II THE ACT OF INCORPORATION An Act to incorporate the Pennsylvania Fiscal Agency
. C. W. Calkins & Co., 1880. p. 17.
ISBN
9780722227602
. Retrieved
16 December
2011
.
- ^
Report of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives, Appointed Under the Resolution of January 6, 1873: To Make Inquiry in Relation to the Affairs of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Credit Mobilier of America, and Other Matters...
(1873) pp.140?145
Sources
[
edit
]
- Thomas Hart Benton
,
Thirty Years View: A History of the Working of The American Government For Thirty Years from 1820 to 1850
(two volumes, New York, 1854?56)
- W. Stephen Belko,
The Invincible Duff Green: Whig of the West
(University of Missouri Press, 2006).
External links
[
edit
]
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Gilman, D. C.
; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Duff Green".
New International Encyclopedia
(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
- Green, Duff.
"[Letter] 1844 Sept. 19, Montgomery, Ala[bama to] W[illia]m H[olland] Thomas / Duff Green"
.
Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842
. Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Cherokee, N.C
. Retrieved
21 February
2018
.
[
permanent dead link
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