Christopher Memminger | |
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%2c_Secretary_of_Treasury_Confederate_States_of_America.jpg) | |
| 1st Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury | |
| In office February 25, 1861 – July 18, 1864 | |
| President | Jefferson Davis |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Succeeded by | G. A. Trenholm |
| Deputy fromSouth Carolina to theProvisional Congress of the Confederate States | |
| In office February 4, 1861 – February 17, 1862 | |
| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Christoph Gustav Memminger (1803-01-09)January 9, 1803 |
| Died | March 7, 1888(1888-03-07) (aged 85) |
| Resting place | St. John in the Wilderness, Flat Rock, North Carolina 35°16′56.8″N82°26′34.2″W / 35.282444°N 82.442833°W /35.282444; -82.442833 |
| Party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | South Carolina College |
| Signature |  |
Christopher Gustavus Memminger (German:Christoph Gustav Memminger; January 9, 1803 – March 7, 1888) was an American politician and a secessionist who participated in the formation of theConfederate States government. He was the principal author of theProvisional Constitution (1861), as well as the founder of the Confederate financial system. As the firstConfederate States Secretary of the Treasury, Memminger was the principal author of the economic policies ofJefferson Davis's administration.
Christopher Gustavus Memminger was born on January 9, 1803, in Vaihingen,Wuerttemberg (present-dayStuttgart-Vaihingen,Germany). His father, Gottfried Memminger, was a militaryofficer who died a month after his son's birth.[1] His mother, Eberhardina (née Kohler) Memminger, immigrated toCharleston, South Carolina, but died ofyellow fever in 1807. Christopher was placed in an orphanage.[2] His fortunes changed when, at the age of eleven, he was taken under the care ofThomas Bennett, a prominent lawyer and future Governor. He enteredSouth 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 theNullification Crisis. He publishedThe Book of Nullification (1832–33), which satirized the advocates of the doctrine in biblical style.[3] He entered state politics and served in theSouth Carolina state legislature from 1836 to 1852 and 1854 to 1860, where for nearly twenty years he was the head of the finance committee.[4] Memminger was a staunch advocate of education and helped give Charleston one of the most comprehensive public school systems in the country.[5] In 1859, afterJohn Brown's raid, he was commissioned bySouth Carolina to consult with other delegates inVirginia as to the best method of warding off attacks ofabolitionists.[6]
Memminger was considered a moderate on thesecession issue, but after the election ofAbraham Lincoln, he decided that secession was necessary. Memminger owned 12 slaves (six males), listed in his estate in the Charleston, South Carolina, census of 1850. His estate was in Henderson County, North Carolina, where he built his Connemara summer home[7]). When South Carolina seceded from the United States in 1860, Memminger was asked to write theSouth Carolina Declaration of Secession (officially: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 declared secession, he was selected as a South Carolina delegate to theProvisional Congress of the Confederate States. He was the chair of the committee which drafted the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States. The twelve-man committee produced a provisional constitution in only four days.
WhenJefferson Davis formed his first cabinet, Memminger was appointed Secretary of the Treasury on February 21, 1861. It was a difficult task in view of the Confederacy's financial challenges. He attempted to finance the government initially by bonds and tariffs (and the confiscation of gold from theUnited States Mint inNew Orleans). Still, he soon found himself forced to more extreme measures such asincome taxes andfiat currency. He had been a supporter ofhard currency before the war but found himself issuing increasingly-devalued paper money, which had become worth less than 2% of its face value in gold by the end of the war.
Memminger resigned as Secretary of the Treasury on July 1, 1864, and was replaced by fellow South CarolinianGeorge Trenholm. He returned to his summer residence inFlat Rock, North Carolina. In the post-war years, he 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. Memminger died on March 7, 1888, at age 85, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Christopher Memminger was featured on the Confederate$5.00 bill.[8]
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