Christopher G. Memminger, CSA Cabinet

Civil War Confederate Cabinet Secretary. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany. Jefferson Davis appointed this German-born South Carolinian to the Confederate Cabinet as secretary of the treasury in February 1861. A conscientious, industrious man, he struggled to finance the Confederate budget for 3 years in the face of severe criticism and insurmountable odds. Orphaned shortly after his family immigrated to Charleston, he was accepted into a wealthy family and educated as a lawyer. As his practice grew, so did his political aspirations. Elected to the state house of representatives in 1836, he chaired the Committee on Finance. His persistent efforts to establish controls over the banking industry earned him recognition as a sound financier. A conservative Democrat, he opposed independent action by South Carolina in response to the issue of slavery but defended slavery as an institution. By the time of John Brown's Raid he firmly believed both secession and unified action by the Southern states a necessary defense against Northern domination. In his frustrating position as Treasury secretary, he tried to stabilize the Confederate economy, establish its credit, and draw money from the states into the Richmond government coffers. Though he agitated to increase bond sales, restrict currency issues to control inflation, and prod Congress into passing a comprehensive tax bill, the States-Rights faction thwarted his attempts to control the flow of cash and credit at a national level. Considering Congress' sluggishness, cotton's uselessness as a cash crop, and widespread resistance to central government, it is unlikely that anyone could have done better. He resigned in July 1864, in the face of harsh criticism from Congress and the press. Back in South Carolina after the war, he reopened his law practice and entered business. Already distinguished as the founder of Charleston's public-school system, he devoted his later years to promoting free education for blacks and whites in the state. He died in Charleston.

https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/memminger-christopher

https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/memminger-christopher-gu...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Memminger

Christopher Gustavus Memminger (January 9, 1803 – March 7, 1888) was a prominent political leader and the first Secretary of the Treasury for the Confederate States of America.

Early life and career

Memminger was born in Nayhingen, Germany (in what was then the Kingdom of Württemberg). 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.

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 was quite intelligent and entered South Carolina College at the age of 12 and graduating second in his class at 16. Memminger passed the bar in 1825 and became a successful lawyer. He married Mary Wilkinson in 1832. He entered state politics and served in the South Carolina state legislature from 1836 to 1852 and 1854 to 1860. Memminger was a staunch advocate of education and helped give Charleston one of the most comprehensive public school systems in the country.

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 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 devaluated 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.

He is featured on the Confederate $5.00 bill.

Preceded by

none Representative to the Provisional Confederate Congress from South Carolina

1861 Succeeded by

none

Preceded by

none Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury

1861–1864 Succeeded by

George Trenholm

[hide]v • d • eConfederate States Cabinet

President Jefferson Davis

Vice President Alexander H. Stephens

Secretary of State Robert A. Toombs • Robert M. T. Hunter • Judah P. Benjamin

Secretary of the Treasury Christopher G. Memminger • George A. Trenholm • John H. Reagan

Secretary of War Leroy P. Walker • Judah P. Benjamin • George W. Randolph • James A. Seddon • John C. Breckinridge

Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory

Postmaster General John H. Reagan

Attorney General Judah P. Benjamin • Thomas Bragg • Thomas H. Watts • George Davis

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Memminger"

Categories: 1803 births | 1888 deaths | German-born United States political figures | Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives | Confederate States Cabinet members | People of South Carolina in the American Civil War | Deputies and delegates of the Provisional Confederate Congress