Stephens, Alexander Hamilton

stee'venz, Alexander Hamilton (1812-1883), an American statesman. He was born in Georgia. He died at Atlanta. He was educated for the Presbyterian ministry in the University of Georgia. He taught school and practiced law. He represented Georgia in both houses of Congress, and for years he was the leading figure in Georgia politics. His particular friends were Robert Toombs of his own state and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. He supported the annexation of Texas in 1845, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854. In the election of 1860 he supported Douglas and opposed secession. In the Georgia Convention of 1861, he again opposed secession, yet agreed to the decision of the majority. Later he accepted the vice-presidency of the Confederate States. During the war he was at outs with Jefferson Davis, alleging that the latter was disposed to trample on the rights of the states. In February, 1865, he was at the head of a peace commission that met President Lincoln to no avail in Hampton Roads. After the war he wrote a Constitutional View of the War Between the States, as well as other works. He opposed negro suffrage and carpet-bag government. In 1882 he was elected governor of Georgia, a position which he held at the time of his death. In person, Mr. Stephens was slight, never weighing over ninety pounds. He was kindly, courteous, and cheerful. His ideas were those of the patriarchal slaveholder. He upheld slavery and believed that its evils could be eradicated and the institution retained to the advantage of both white and negro. In point of character, ability, and service, Stephens ranks with John C. Calhoun as an eminent son of Georgia.