James Gadsden facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
James Gadsden
|
|
|---|---|
painted by Charles Fraser, circa 1831
|
|
| Born | May 15, 1788 |
| Died | December 26, 1858 (aged 70) |
| Education | Yale University |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Gadsden Purchase |
| Relatives | Christopher Gadsden (grandfather) |
James Gadsden (May 15, 1788 – December 26, 1858) was an American diplomat, soldier, and businessman. He is best known for the Gadsden Purchase. This was a deal where the United States bought land from Mexico. This land is now parts of southern Arizona and New Mexico. James Gadsden also served in the U.S. Army and was the U.S. Minister to Mexico.
Contents
Who Was James Gadsden?
Not much is known about James Gadsden's early life. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1788. His grandfather was Christopher Gadsden, a hero from the American Revolutionary War. The famous Gadsden flag is named after his grandfather.
James Gadsden studied at Yale University in Connecticut. He earned his degree in 1806. While at Yale, he was part of a debating and secret group called Brothers in Unity.
James Gadsden's Army Adventures
Gadsden joined the U.S. Army in December 1812. He served as an officer under General Andrew Jackson. Jackson later became president of the United States.
Gadsden fought with General Jackson in the War of 1812 against the British Army. From 1816 to 1821, he helped protect the southern U.S. border. This area faced raids from Native American groups and maroons (people who had escaped slavery and their families) living in Spanish Florida.
As part of this effort, Jackson asked Gadsden to build a fort. Gadsden was an engineer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He built a fort at a place called Prospect Bluff. Jackson later named it Fort Gadsden. Gadsden also helped create Fort Brooke in what is now Tampa, Florida. He became the Adjutant General of the U.S. Army in 1821.
Life After the Army
After leaving the army, Gadsden became a planter in Florida. He also served in the Florida Territorial Legislature. In 1823, Gadsden was appointed to help with the relocation of the Seminole Indian Tribe. This involved moving them from their homes in Florida and southern Georgia. They were moved along the Trail of Tears to land set aside for them in what is now Oklahoma.
Years later, Gadsden County, Florida, was named after him. So were the city of Gadsden, Alabama, and the town of Gadsden, Arizona.
Leading Railroad Projects
From 1840 to 1850, Gadsden was the president of the South Carolina Railroad company. When it was finished in 1833, this railroad was the longest in the world managed by one company.
As an engineer, Gadsden oversaw the building of a branch line to Columbia, which was completed in 1842. He also surveyed a plan for a railroad extension to the Ohio River. He helped promote the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, which started in 1845. This railroad was the first U.S. rail link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River.
By 1846, Gadsden wanted to build a southern transcontinental railroad. This railroad would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He encouraged Georgia and South Carolina to work together for trade. A map from the late 1840s showed this railroad going from Charleston through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to El Paso, Texas. From there, it would go through Mexico to the coast. This land would soon become American territory after the war with Mexico.
In 1852, the South Carolina Railroad moved its main station. This showed that South Carolina was changing its focus on economic independence.
The California Question
In 1850, Gadsden supported the idea of South Carolina leaving the United States. This was when California was allowed to join the Union as a free state. Gadsden believed that slavery was good for society. He thought people who wanted to end slavery were harmful to the nation.
When the idea of leaving the Union failed, Gadsden tried another plan. He worked with his cousin Isaac E. Holmes and California state senator Thomas Jefferson Green. They tried to divide California into two parts. The southern half would allow slavery. Gadsden wanted to create a colony there that used forced labor to grow crops like rice, cotton, and sugar. He also planned to use forced labor to build a railroad and highway. These would transport people to the California gold fields.
In 1851, Gadsden asked for a large land grant from the California state legislature. This land would be between the 34th and 36th parallels. This line would eventually divide the two proposed California states. A few months later, Gadsden and 1,200 people from South Carolina and Florida asked the California legislature for permission to settle there. They wanted to farm the land using "not less than Two Thousand of their African Domestics" (meaning people forced into slavery). This request was discussed but eventually failed.
The Gadsden Purchase
After the war between Mexico and the United States (1846-1848), there were disagreements about the border. These disputes almost led to another conflict in the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico. In May 1853, President Franklin Pierce chose Gadsden to be the U.S. Minister to Mexico. His job was to buy more land from Mexico. This would help settle the border dispute and create a path for the planned railroad. It would also help with issues concerning the Apache people along the border.
Gadsden successfully completed this mission. He negotiated with the Mexican government in Mexico City. He bought more land for southern New Mexico and Arizona. He also set the border between the United States and Mexico. This border stretched from the Rio Grande in Texas to the River Colorado near California.
This agreement is known as the "Gadsden Treaty." It resulted in the Gadsden Purchase. The United States bought about 30,000 square miles (78,000 km2) of land from Mexico for $10,000,000.
In the fall of 1856, Gadsden retired from his role as minister to Mexico. He returned to Charleston, where he passed away in 1858. The disagreements leading up to the Civil War delayed the building of the southern transcontinental railroad.
However, between 1878 and 1881, the Southern Pacific Railroad built a section of the railroad within the Gadsden Purchase territory. At the same time, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad completed another transcontinental link. This line went through the Gadsden Purchase and southwest to a port in Sonora, Mexico. Today, the rail link across the Gadsden Purchase is one of the busiest in the Western Hemisphere.
The land bought in the Gadsden Purchase includes several important cities. These are Tucson, Casa Grande, Yuma, Arizona, Lordsburg, Deming, New Mexico, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. It also defined the area north of the Gila River. This area later became the metropolitan areas of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale, and Tempe, Arizona.
Much of the land south of Phoenix, where the railroad was planned, is desert. This land is not suitable for many people to live on. Most of this land is now American Indian reservations, military testing ranges, national monuments, and wildlife refuges.
James Gadsden was buried in St. Philips Church Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.
Images for kids
-
James Gadsden, painted around 1831.
See also
In Spanish: James Gadsden para niños
