Antebellum Political Characters: John Slidell

John Slidell was born in New York City probably in 1793 to a wealthy Scottish family. In 1810 Slidell graduated from what is now Columbia University. His family lost much of their wealth in the Panic of 1819 and he relocated to New Orleans, as many others did to take advantage of business opportunities in this major port.

In New Orleans Slidell practiced law and married into a Creole family. He did well and for several decades dominated the Louisiana Democratic party and had the ear of several U.S. presidents. He is credited with providing presidential candidate James K. Polk with enough votes for him to win Louisiana and, thereby, the 1844 national election, which was very close.

In 1844, Slidell was serving as a Democrat in Congress. In 1845, the president appointed Slidell to be a special U.S. envoy to Mexico to adjust the Texas boundary and to negotiate the purchase of California and New Mexico. Mexico had broken off diplomatic relations with the United States and refused to see him.

In 1853 Slidell returned to Washington, D.C., as a U.S. senator. He resigned from the Senate on February 4, 1861, and later that year was appointed the Confederate commissioner to France.

Slidell and the Confederate commissioner to Great Britain, James Murray Mason, set sail for Europe on the British mail ship Trent. The Trent was stopped by a U.S. warship commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes. The Confederate commissioners were detained and confined to a Boston jail. Britain threatened war against the United States and the U.S. released the two prisoners allowing them to again sail for Europe. Slidell's mission was to convince Napoleon to recognize the Confederacy. Napoleon did not do so.

Slidell lived the rest of his life in France. He passed away in 1871. His daughter married a French count.

Sources for this article

Notes from lectures given by Dr. Philip Cook of the Louisiana Tech history department to the History 360, Louisiana History, class on October 10, 2001.

Louisiana: A History by Bennett H. Wall, Light Townsend Cummons, Judith Kelleher, Edward F. Haas and Michael L. Kurtz.

John Slidell, biographical page from the Library of Congress.

Slidell, John, an Encarta Encyclopedia article

Slidell, John, an Encyclopedia.com article.

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