Gallatin, Albert

Born in Geneva in a rich family of Jean Gallaten and Sophie Albertina Rollaz ^[3] . The Gallaten family had a great influence in Switzerland, and many of its members occupied important posts in the magistracy and army. Gallatin's father, a prosperous merchant, died in 1765, and his mother - in April 1770. The orphaned Gallatin was taken into the care of Mademoiselle Pictet, a distant relative of the father of Gallatin. In January 1773 he was sent to boarding school ^[4] .

In 1779, Gallatin graduated from the University of Geneva with a degree in natural philosopher, mathematician and translator from Latin. Gallatin deeply studied the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Voltaire and the French physiocrats; he was unhappy with the traditionalism of Geneva. As a student of the Enlightenment , he believed in human nature and that when a person is free from social constraints, he would show noble qualities and great results both physically and morally ^[5] . The democratic spirit of the United States attracted him, and secretly from the Albert family, along with his classmate Henri Serre , left Geneva in April 1780 . In May, they sailed from France on an American ship. They arrived in Cape Ann on July 14, and the next day they were in Boston , traveling thirty miles on horseback ^[6] .

Tired of the monotonous Boston life, the men went to Machayas settlement, located on the northeastern tip of Maine . In Machayasa, Gallatin managed a barter enterprise. He liked the simple life and the surrounding nature ^[7] . In the winter of 1780-81 Gallatin even commanded a garrison in the state of Maine. ^[7] Gallatin and Serre returned to Boston in October 1781, abandoning their barter venture in Machayas. Gallatin began to give French lessons to keep afloat. Shortly thereafter, he sent a letter to Mademoiselle Pictet, in which he frankly wrote about the troubles he had experienced in America. Pictet decided to help Gallatin, and contacted Dr. Samuel Cooper, a distinguished Boston patriot whose grandson was a student in Geneva. With the assistance of Cooper, Gallatin was able in July 1782 to take a teaching position at Harvard College , where he began to teach French.

For the first money earned by teaching, Gallatin bought 370 acres of land in Fayette County, Pennsylvania , near Point Marion south of Pittsburgh (at the time of purchase, the land was part of Virginia ), which he thought was well suited for agriculture. Gallatin named the property of Frendship Hill. He moved there in 1784. In the spring of 1789, Gallatin fled with Sophia Allegre, an attractive daughter of the mistress of the house, who did not approve of their relationship. Unfortunately, Sophia died 5 months after their marriage. Possible causes of death could be postpartum complications or a cold. For several years of mourning, he was seriously thinking about returning to Geneva. However, on November 1, 1793, he married Hannah Nicholson, the daughter of influential fleet officer James Nicholson. The couple had two sons and four daughters.

In 1794, Gallatin learned about the mass migration of Europeans who had fled from the French Revolution . He had an idea to create a settlement for these immigrants. During the spring and summer of 1795, Gallatin searched and finally chose Port Wilson, a small river town located one mile north of his Frendship Hill. In collaboration with four other investors, three of whom were also Swiss, Gallatin created the Albert Gallatin & Company partnership. Together they acquired Port Wilson, Georgetown and empty sections across the river to Greensboro. The partners named their new settlement New Geneva. With a company store, a glass factory, an armory, a sawmill, a mill, a winery, a distillery and a boat workshop along George Creek, the partners began to wait for the settlers. However, the improved situation in Europe and the economic downturn in 1796–97 did not bring the expected wealth to the Gallatin partnership. The only successful idea Albert was a glass factory, which began production on January 18, 1798. On it was blown out the first glass to the west of the Alleghenies . Glass business initially brought a small profit. However, by 1800 the business began to grow. In 1807, the plant was moved to Greensboro due to the presence of coal in the area. Later in 1816, Gallatin called the glass factory his most “productive property.”

Another industry that appeared in New Geneva was the production of muskets. In 1797, an undeclared war broke out between the United States and France. Pennsylvania needed muskets, bayonets, and ammunition for the militia. The contract was granted to private producers. In January 1799, Gallatin signed a contract for the release of 2,000 muskets with bayonets. However, the lack of skilled labor and quality steel, as well as poor management, slowed down the process. By April 1801, only 600 muskets had been made. Realizing that he could not cope, Gallatin handed over all contractual obligations to Melchior Baker and Abraham Stewart.

Due to the economic panic of 1819, Gallatin was forced to sell his factory and his beloved Friend Hill to cover his debts.

In 1789 he was elected to the convention, convened to revise the constitution of the state of Pennsylvania . In 1793, as a result of elections, he passed to the US Senate . On December 2, 1793, when the 3rd Congress opened, he took the oath, but on the same day nineteen federalists from the state of Pennsylvania protested to the Senate that Gallatin did not have the minimum nine-year citizenship required for the senator. After long trials, it came to a vote in the Senate, where Gallatin was expelled from his ranks by 14 votes to 12. A short stay in the status of senator, however, did not prevent Gallatin from being noted for his skilful opposition to Hamilton’s financial policy ^[8] .

Returning home, he found that Western Pennsylvanians (mostly Scottish Irish) were not satisfied with the alcohol tax imposed in 1791 by Congress at the request of Alexander Hamilton to raise money to pay off government debt. Farmers suffered losses. The situation became even more explosive when Washington headed the army to suppress the insurgency . In this situation, Gallatin did not lose the mood; with courage and convincing oratorical art, he managed to convince all the discontented, and avoid armed clashes. Gallatin supported the farmers on the proposal to reduce the tax on whiskey. Congress accepted the proposal, and then abolished the tax altogether. As a reward for this, in 1795 he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he became one of the most influential leaders of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Gallatin was the main speaker of the Jefferson Party on Finance in the House of Representatives since 1795. In 1797, he replaced Madison , who had retired, as the party leader in the House of Representatives, which is now known as the leader of the majority in the House of Representatives. He strongly opposed the national programs of the Federalist Party, as well as the Jay Treaty of 1795, which, in his opinion, was beneficial only to the British. Also opposed to the law on foreigners and incitement to insurrection.

As party leader, Gallatin put a lot of pressure on Finance Minister Oliver Walcott . He also helped establish the House Finance Committee (which evolved into the Committee on Ways and Means). His measures to reduce naval appropriations during this period were met with vehement hostility from the federalists, who accused him of being a French spy.

Gallatin's skill in public finance, an ability rare among members of the Jefferson party, led to his automatic selection as Treasury Secretary Thomas Jefferson, despite opposition from the Federalists, who considered him a “foreigner” with a French accent. He was secretary from 1801 to May 1814 under the direction of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the longest tenure in this post in American history. Jefferson and Gallatin focused on public debt, which posed a threat to Republican values. They were shocked that Hamilton increased the national debt and used it to strengthen its federalist base.

Public debt was seen as an indicator of losses and corruption, and the Jeffersonians wanted it to pay off. They also wanted to buy Louisiana and fight the UK, and Gallatin was able to finance these ambitious goals, but he could not repay the debt at the same time. In 1801, the debt was 80 million dollars. Gallatin singled out three quarters of federal revenues to reduce it. Although he spent $ 15 million on Louisiana and lost the whiskey tax when it was canceled in 1802, Gallatin cut the debt to $ 45 million. The government saved money by leaving the fleet and the army small and poorly equipped. Gallatin reluctantly supported the Jefferson embargo of 1807-1808, which they tried to use for economic coercion to change British policy, but failed to achieve this ^[9] . The war of 1812 turned out to be expensive, and debt soared to $ 123 million, even with burdensome new taxes.

Gallatin helped plan the Lewis and Clark expedition , outlining the area to be explored. Finding the source of the Missouri River in the current Three Forks , Montana , captains Lewis and Clark named the eastern part of the three tributaries in honor of Gallatin; the other two were named after President Jefferson and James Madison, the Secretary of State (and the next President).

In 1808, Gallatin proposed an impressive $ 20 million internal improvement program, which included the construction of roads and canals along the Atlantic coast and through Appalachia , which will be funded by the federal government. It was something new, and many considered this program frankly unconstitutional. She was rejected by the “old republican” faction of his party, which absolutely did not trust the national government, and besides, there was no money to pay for it. Most of Gallatin's proposals were eventually implemented after years, but this was done not by the federal government, but by local authorities and private organizations. Gallatin also strongly objected to the creation of the Navy and approved the Jefferson plan to use small gunboats to protect major ports. The plan failed in the war of 1812, when the British landed unhindered near the harbors.

In 1812, the United States was not financially ready for war. Democratic Republicans allowed the First Bank of the United States to stop their work in 1811 despite the objections of Gallatin. He had to send 7 million dollars to Europe to pay off foreign shareholders, just at the time when money was needed for the war. Heavy military spending on the war of 1812 and the reduction of tariff revenues caused by the embargo and the British blockade cut off legitimate trade (there was a lot of smuggling).

In 1813, the Treasury had expenditures of $ 39 million, and income was only 15 million. Despite the wrath of Congress, Gallatin was forced to reintroduce Federalist taxes, which he condemned in 1798, such as taxes on whiskey and salt, as well as a direct tax on land and slaves. In the absence of a national bank and the refusal of New England's financiers to give money for the conduct of hostilities, Gallatin resorted to innovative methods of financing the war. In March 1813, he initiated government loans. Thus managed to get 16 million dollars. He managed to finance a deficit of $ 69 million in bond loans and thereby pay the direct costs of the war, which amounted to $ 87 million. They also decided to create a national bank , which he helped establish in 1816.

When Russia offered its mediation between the United States and Great Britain in 1813 , Gallatin was appointed ambassador extraordinary to St. Petersburg , and then, as a result of Britain’s need to negotiate directly with the United States government, he resigned as minister of finance and went to Gent where he signed a peace treaty. His patience and ability to communicate not only with the British, but also with his colleagues from the American Commission, including Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams , made the Treaty "a special and peculiar triumph of Mr. Gallatin" ^[10] .

In 1815, Gallatin negotiated a trade agreement with England. Rejecting a new appointment as finance minister, in 1816-1823, Gallatin was the US ambassador to Paris , trying his best to improve relations with the Bourbon government.

Gallatin returned to America in 1823 and was promoted to vice president of the Democratic-Republican Party, which elected William Crawford as its presidential candidate in the 1824 election. Gallatin did not want to participate in the election campaign and was humiliated when he was forced out of the race because he lacked popular support ^[11] . However, Gallatin was alarmed by the possibility that Andrew Jackson , “a man of military habits, disregarding laws and constitutional provisions, totally unsuitable for fasting” ^[12] , could become president.

Gallatin returned home to Pennsylvania, where he lived until 1826. In 1825, Gallatin refused to return to the post of Minister of Finance when he was offered the post of President John Quincy Adams.

Gallatin opposed American domination on the North American continent, fearing that this would lead to the creation of an empire, which, in his opinion, would be harmful for the republican institutions of the country.

By 1826, there was much controversy between the United States and Great Britain around the Columbia River Basin on the northwest coast. Gallatin made a statement in favor of the American side, stating what was called the "principle of contiguity" ( English principle of contiguity ) in his statement titled " The Land West of the Rockies ". It said that the land adjacent to the already settled territory, can be reasonably declared sedentary territory. This argument was an early version of the doctrine of the " explicit predestination of America." This principle became the legal prerequisite by which the United States could lay claim to land in the west. In 1826 and 1827, he was ambassador to Britain and worked on several useful agreements, such as a ten-year extension of the joint occupation of the state of Oregon .

Then Gallatin settled in New York, where in 1831 he founded the University of New York , which in 1896 was renamed New York ; it is now one of the largest private universities in the United States. An adherent of free trade, Gallatin took an active part in the Philadelphia Convention on this issue.

His last great thing was the creation of the American Ethnological Society (AES). Studying the languages ​​of Native Americans, he was called the "father of American ethnology" ^[13] .

Throughout his career, Gallatin was interested in Indian language and culture. He turned to government contacts in his research, collecting information through Lewis Casse, researcher William Clark and Thomas McKenny from the Bureau of Indian Affairs . Gallatin established a personal relationship with Cherokee tribe leader John Ridge, who provided him with information about the vocabulary and structure of the Cherokee language. The Gallatin study led to two published works: The Table of Indian Languages ​​of the United States ( English A Table of Indian Languages ​​of the United States ; 1826) and Synopsis of the Indian Tribes of North America ( English Synopsis of the Indian Tribes of North America ; 1836). His research led him to conclude that the peoples of the Americas were linguistically and culturally related, and that their common ancestors had migrated from Asia to prehistoric times.

In 1842, Gallatin joined John Russell Bartlett to establish AES. In politics, Gallatin advocated the assimilation of Native Americans into European American society, encouraging federal educational efforts leading to assimilation and denial of annuities for Native Americans displaced by Western expansion. Since 1848, Gallatin was president of AES. ^[14]

Gallatin died on August 12, 1849 in Gallatin in Astoria, now in Queens, New York at the age of 88. Before his death, Gallatin was the last living member of the Jefferson Cabinet and the last living senator of the 18th century.

Gallatin's historical research on the living conditions of Indians in North and Central America was relatively famous: "The second volume of the works of the Society of American Antiquities " and collections of the American antiquarian Society, Worcester, 1836), and Semi-civilized nations of Mexico, Yukatan and Central America, with semi-civilization in America; (in the Transactions of the New York Ethnological society , t 1 -.. 3, 1845-52), he published a brochure «Memoir on the North-Eastern Boundary » ( New York, 1843) on the controversial issue of the Oregon blasts (Gallatin was for joining it to the US) and a brochure about the war with Mexico , where he spoke out against the war, which sold in the amount of 150 thousand copies, had a significant influence on public opinion on the issue.

The merits of Gallatin before the country as Minister of Finance were immortalized when in 1805 Lewis named Meriweather one of the three sources of the Missouri river by the name of Gallatin.

• Adams, Henry. Life of Albert Gallatin. - 1879. online edition , the standard biography despite its age
• Burrows. Edwin G. "Gallatin, Albert" in American National Biography Online (2000)
• Cachia-Riedl, Markus Claudius. Albert Gallatin and the Politics of the New Nation. - 1998.
• Dungan, Nicholas. Gallatin: America's Swiss Founding Father . - New York University Press, 2010. - ISBN 0814721117 .
• Goodrich, Carter. The Gallatin Plan after the One Hundred and Fifty Years (Eng.) // Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society : journal. - 1958. - Vol. 102 , no. 5 P. 436-441 .
• Hickey, Donald R. American Trade Restrictions during the War of 1812 (Eng.) // Journal of American History : journal. - 1981. - Vol. 68 , no. 3 - p . 517-538 .
• Kuppenheimer, LB Albert Gallatin's Vision of Democratic Stability: An Interpretive Profile. - 1996.
• McCraw, Thomas K. The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Others Forged a New Economy (2012)
• Mannix, Richard. Gallatin, Jefferson, and the Embargo of 1808. - 1979. - Vol. 3. - P. 151–172. - DOI : 10.1111 / j.1467-7709.1979.tb00307.x .
• Nelson, John Robert. Hamilton and Gallatin: Political Economy and Policy-Making in the New Nation, 1789–1812. - 1979.
• Nettels, Curtis. The Emergence of a National Economy, 1775–1815. - 1962.
• Muzzey, David Saville. Gallatin, Abraham Alfonse Albert // Dictionary of American Biography. - 1931. - Vol. four.
• Rothman, Rozann. Political Method in the Federal System: Albert Gallatin's Contribution (Eng.) // Publius: journal. - 1972. - Vol. 1 , no. 2 - P. 123-1141 .
• Stevens, John Austin. Albert Gallatin . 1883.
• Walters, Raymond, Jr. Albert Gallatin: Jeffersonian Financier and Diplomat. - 1957. The standard scholarly biography online edition

• Gallatan, Albert // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extras). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Abraham Alfons Albert Gallatin on all-state.ru
• Walters, Raymond, Jr. Albert Gallatin: Jeffersonian Financier and Diplomat. - 1957.
• Gallatin, Albert in the Biographical Directory of the US Congress (eng.)
• Works by Albert Gallatin in the Gutenberg Project