Benjamin Harvey Hill
United States Senator fromGeorgia
In office March 4, 1877 – August 16, 1882
Preceded by	Thomas M. Norwood
Succeeded by	Middleton P. Barrow
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's9th district
In office May 5, 1875 – March 3, 1877
Preceded by	Hiram Parks Bell
Succeeded by	Hiram Parks Bell
Confederate States Senator fromGeorgia
In office February 18, 1862 – May 10, 1865
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Deputy to theC.S. Congress fromGeorgia
In office February 8, 1861 – February 17, 1862
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1823-09-14)September 14, 1823 Jasper County, Georgia, U.S.
Died	August 16, 1882(1882-08-16) (aged 58) Gurley, Alabama, U.S.
Nationality	American
Party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Whig (Before 1855) American (1855–1859) Constitutional Union (1859–1861)
Alma mater	University of Georgia
Signature

Benjamin Harvey Hill (September 14, 1823 – August 16, 1882) was a politician whose "flamboyant opposition" toCongressional Reconstruction is credited with helping inaugurate Georgia'sKu Klux Klan. His famous "brush arbor speech" in Atlanta on July 23, 1868, called for the use of violence against the governor, the legislature, and freed people.^[1][2] His career spanned state and national politics, and the Civil War. He served in the Georgia legislature in both houses. Although he initially opposed secession and was elected as a Unionist in 1860, he nonetheless voted to secede in that year, and represented Georgia as aConfederate senator during the conflict.^[3]

After the war and near the end of theReconstruction era, Hill was elected in 1874 to theUnited States House of Representatives, and in 1877 as aU.S. senator from Georgia. He served in the Senate until his death in 1882.

Hill was born September 14, 1823, inHillsboro, Georgia, inJasper County. He was ofWelsh andIrish American ancestry.^[4] He attended theUniversity of Georgia inAthens, Georgia, where he was a member of theDemosthenian Literary Society. He graduated in 1844 with first honors. He was admitted to the Georgia bar later in 1844. He married Caroline E. Holt inAthens, Georgia in 1845.

As a politician, Hill was affiliated with a number of parties, reflecting the volatile politics before and after theAmerican Civil War. He was elected to the state legislature of Georgia in 1851 as a member of theWhig Party. He supportedMillard Fillmore running on theKnow-Nothing ticket in 1856, and was an elector for that party in theElectoral College. In 1857, he ran for governor of Georgia unsuccessfully against theDemocratic nomineeJoseph E. Brown. In 1859, he was elected to the state senate as aUnionist. In 1860, he was again an elector, this time forJohn Bell and theUnionist party.

Hill was known as"the peerless orator" for his skill in delivering speeches,^[5] and he was the only non-Democratic member of theGeorgia secession convention on January 16, 1861. He spoke publicly against the dissolution of theUnion, along withAlexander Stephens, a former opponent. Following Stephens' highly regarded argument, based on a conservative reading of the Constitution, Hill struck a more pragmatic tone.

His arguments related to the conservative belief that disunion would ultimately lead to the abolition ofslavery and the downfall of Southern society. He quotedHenry Ward Beecher, a Northernabolitionist, who enthusiastically supported the dissolution of the Union as a means to end slavery, and described the anti-slaveryRepublican Party as a "disunionist" party, in contrast to the "Union men and Southern men" participating in the convention. Acknowledging the need to respond to the threat of Lincoln's election, Hill argued that his fellow Georgians should continue to resist Lincoln democratically within the bounds of the Constitution. He compared this course toGeorge Washington, "so cool, so brave, and so thoughtful." He argued that the Northern states would eventually follow the British course of rising abolitionist thought, followed by acceptance again of slavery due to economic necessity. But he allowed that the South should prepare for secession and war if it should become necessary.^[6]

Hill was elected as a Unionist,^[7] but voted for secession in 1860, becoming a political ally of Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis. When theConfederate government was formed, Hill joined theConfederate Provisional Congress. He was subsequently elected by the Georgia legislature to theConfederate States Senate, a term which he held throughout its existence.

In 1863, a debate between Hill and SenatorWilliam Lowndes Yancey of Alabama, a Davis critic, over a bill intended to create the Confederate Supreme Court erupted into physical violence when Hill struck Yancey in the head with a glass inkstand, knocking Yancey over a desk and onto the floor of the Senate. The attack was kept secret for months, and in the ensuing investigation it was Yancey, not Hill, who was censured.^[8][9] Yancey left Congress before adjournment to recover from the injury, and his health deteriorated rapidly over the next months before he died on July 27, 1863, of kidney disease.^[9][10]

At the end of theCivil War, Hill was arrested as a Confederate official by the Union and confined inFort Lafayette from May until July 1865.

In 1867, Hill wrote a series of attacks on Reconstruction in theAugusta Chronicle that he called "Notes on the Situation" that his son Ben Hill Jr. later noted were filled with "severe and bitter invective"^[4] against Congressional Reconstruction and the presence of Black voters in particular. On July 31, 1871, after Black legislators were ejected from the Georgia House of Delegates, the Klan had frightened away most Black voters in Georgia, and Georgia was readmitted to the Union, Hill became a spokesman for what he called a "New South." In 1874, Hill was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, serving from May 5, 1875 - March 3, 1877. He was later elected by the Georgia legislature to the U.S. Senate on January 26, 1877. He served in the U.S. Senate from March 4, 1877, until his death on August 16, 1882. His obituary was featured on the front page of theAtlanta Constitution on August 17, 1882.^[11]

Hill is buried in historicOakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.

• A life-sizestatue of Benjamin Harvey Hill looking down from atop a similarly sized plinth was installed inside theGeorgia State Capitol inAtlanta, Georgia.
• A larger than life portrait of Hill hangs in the Capitol Rotunda.
• Ben Hill County, Georgia, founded in 1906, was named in his honor.^[12]

• List of signers of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession
• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBenjamin Harvey Hill.

Wikiquote has quotations related toBenjamin Harvey Hill.

• United States Congress."Benjamin Harvey Hill (id: H000587)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Morgan, Chad (December 9, 2013)."Benjamin Hill".New Georgia Encyclopedia. RetrievedJanuary 13, 2022.
• Birthplace of Benjamin Harvey Hill historical marker

• 1823 births
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• Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)
• Confederate States of America senators
• Democratic Party United States representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Democratic Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States
• Georgia (U.S. state) Know Nothings
• Georgia (U.S. state) state senators
• Georgia (U.S. state) Whigs
• Members of the Georgia House of Representatives
• People from Jasper County, Georgia
• People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War
• Signatories of the Constitution of the Confederate States
• Signatories of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States
• Signatories of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession
• University of Georgia alumni
• United States senators who owned slaves
• United States representatives who owned slaves
• 19th-century United States representatives
• 19th-century United States senators
• 19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly
• Neo-Confederates

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