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John Bingham

This article is about the 19th-century American Congressman and ambassador. For other people, seeJohn Bingham (disambiguation).

John Armor Bingham(January 21, 1815 – March 19, 1900) was an American politician who served as aRepublicanrepresentative fromOhioand as theUnited States ambassador to Japan.In his time as a congressman, Bingham served as both assistantJudge Advocate Generalin the trial of theAbraham Lincoln assassinationand aHouse manager(prosecutor) in theimpeachment trialofU.S. PresidentAndrew Johnson.He was also the principal framer of theFourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[1]

John Armor Bingham
7thUnited States Ambassador toJapan
In office
October 7, 1873 – July 2, 1885
PresidentUlysses Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Preceded byCharles E. DeLong
Succeeded byRichard B. Hubbard
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
fromOhio
In office
March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1873
Preceded byJoseph Worthington White
Succeeded byLorenzo Danford
Constituency16th district
In office
March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1863
Preceded byAndrew Stuart
Succeeded byDistrict abolished until 1883
Constituency21st district
Personal details
Born(1815-01-21)January 21, 1815
Mercer, Pennsylvania,U.S.
DiedMarch 19, 1900(1900-03-19)(aged 85)
Cadiz, Ohio,U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAmanda Bingham
ProfessionPolitician, lawyer, judge
Signature

Early life and education

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Born inMercer County, Pennsylvania,where his carpenter and bricklayer father Hugh had moved after service in theWar of 1812,Bingham attended local public schools. After his mother's death in 1827, his father remarried. John moved west toOhioto live with his merchant uncle Thomas after clashing with his new stepmother. Heapprenticedas a printer for two years, helping to publish theLuminary,an anti-Masonicnewspaper.[2]He then returned to Pennsylvania to study at Mercer College and then studied law atFranklin CollegeinNew Athens,Harrison County, Ohio.There, Bingham befriended former slave Titus Basfield, who became the firstAfrican-Americanto graduate college in Ohio. They continued to correspond for many years.[3]

Hugh and Thomas Bingham were longtime abolitionists who were both active in local politics. They initially allied with theAnti-Masonic Party,led in Pennsylvania by GovernorJoseph Ritnerand state representativeThaddeus Stevens.Hugh became clerk of the Mercer County court and later a perennialWhigcandidate in the county known for opposing war with Mexico.[4]Matthew Simpson,Bingham's longtime friend since childhood, became a bishop in theMethodist Episcopal Churchand urgedPresident Lincolnto issue theEmancipation Proclamation.Following Lincoln's assassination, Simpson delivered a prayer at the White House and a funeral oration at the interment ceremony inSpringfield, Illinois.[5]

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After graduation, Bingham returned toMercer, Pennsylvania,to read law withJohn James PearsonandWilliam Stewart,and he was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar on March 25, 1840, and the Ohio bar by year's end. Bingham then returned toCadiz, Ohio,to begin his legal and political career. An activeWhig,Bingham campaigned for PresidentWilliam Henry Harrison.His uncle, Thomas, a prominent Presbyterian in the area, had served as associate judge in the Harrison County Court of Common Pleas from 1825 to 1839. The young lawyer's practice extended toTuscarawas County, Ohio,and its seat,New Philadelphia.In 1846, Bingham won his first election as district attorney for Tuscarawas County, serving from 1846 to 1849.[6]

Early political career

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Bingham's political activity continued despite the Whig Party's decline. Campaigning as candidate of theOpposition Party,he was elected to the34th Congress,representing the 21st congressional district. InWashington, D.C.,he roomed at the same boarding house as did fellow Ohio representativeJoshua Giddings,a prominent abolitionist whom Bingham admired.[7]Voters reelected Bingham to the35th,36thand37th Congressesas aRepublican.However, the district was one of two Ohio districts eliminated in the redistricting following thecensus of 1860.Bingham thus ran for reelection in what became the 16th district. Known for his abolitionist views, he lost to Democratic peace candidateJoseph W. White,and thus failed to return for the38th Congress,in part because Union soldiers (mostly Republican-leaning) who were away from home fighting in the war were not allowed to vote by mail in Ohio. Nonetheless, theHouse of Representativesappointed Bingham as one of the managers of impeachment proceedings againstWest Hughes Humphreys.[8]

During theCivil War,Bingham strongly supported theUnionand became known as aRadical Republican.PresidentAbraham Lincolnappointed himJudge Advocateof theUnion Armywith the rank ofmajorduring his hiatus from Congress, and Bingham briefly became solicitor of theUnited States Court of Claimsin 1865. Bingham's judge advocate service was exceptional in the sense that he was a prosecutor or appellate reviewer in three significant military trials. He oversaw critical aspects of the trials ofGeneral Fitz John Porterin 1863,Surgeon GeneralWilliam Hammond in 1864 and the military commission trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators in 1864.[9]

United States House of Representatives

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Bingham defeated incumbent congressmanJoseph Worthington Whitein the next congressional election. For this election, Ohio had changed its law and now allowed soldiers away from home to vote by mail. Bingham returned to serve in the39th Congress,which first met on March 4, 1865.

Lincoln assassination trial

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Main article:Abraham Lincoln assassination
John Bingham(left),along withJoseph Holt(center)andHenry Burnett(right),were the three prosecutors in charge of theLincoln assassination trial.

The following month, the capital fell into chaos asJohn Wilkes Boothassassinated PresidentAbraham Lincoln,and Booth's co-conspiratorLewis Powellseverely injuredSecretary of StateWilliam H. Sewardon the night of April 14, 1865. Booth died on April 26, 1865, from a gunshot wound. When the trials for the conspirators were ready to start, Bingham's old friend fromCadiz,Edwin Stanton,appointed him to serve as AssistantJudge Advocate Generalalong with GeneralHenry Burnett,another Assistant Judge Advocate General, andJoseph Holt,theJudge Advocate General.

The accused conspirators wereGeorge Atzerodt,David Herold,Lewis Powell(Paine),Samuel Arnold,Michael O'Laughlen,Edman Spangler,Samuel MuddandMary Surratt.The trial began on May 10, 1865. On June 29, 1865, the eight were found guilty for their involvement in the conspiracy to kill the president. Spangler was sentenced to six years in prison, Arnold, O'Laughlen and Mudd were sentenced to life in prison and Atzerodt, Herold, Powell and Surratt were sentenced to hang. They were executed July 7, 1865. Surratt was the first woman in American history to be executed by theFederal government of the United States.O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867. Arnold, Spangler and Mudd were pardoned by PresidentAndrew Johnsonin early 1869.

Fourteenth Amendment

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In 1866, during the39th Congress,Bingham was appointed to a subcommittee of theJoint Committee on Reconstructiontasked with consideringsuffrageproposals. Bingham submitted several versions of an amendment to the Constitution to apply theBill of Rightsto the states. His final submission, which was accepted by the committee on April 28, 1866, read, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The committee recommended that the language becomeSection 1of theFourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.It was introduced in the spring of 1866, passing both houses by June 1866.[10]

In the closing debate in the House, Bingham stated:

[M]any instances of State injustice and oppression have already occurred in the State legislation of this Union, of flagrant violations of the guarantied privileges of citizens of the United States, for which the national Government furnished and could furnish by law no remedy whatever. Contrary to the express letter of your Constitution, 'cruel and unusual punishments' have been inflicted under State laws within this Union upon citizens, not only for crimes committed, but for sacred duty done, for which and against which the Government of the United States had provided no remedy and could provide none. It was an opprobrium to the Republic that for fidelity to the United States they could not by national law be protected against the degrading punishment inflicted on slaves and felons by State law. That great want of the citizen and stranger, protection by national law from unconstitutional State enactments, is supplied by the first section of this amendment.[11]

Except for the addition of the first sentence of Section 1, which defined citizenship, the amendment weathered the Senate debate without substantial change. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868.

Despite Bingham's likely intention for the Fourteenth Amendment to apply the first eight amendments of the Bill of Rights to the states, theU.S. Supreme Courtdeclined to interpret it that way in theSlaughter-House Casesand inUnited States v. Cruikshank.In the 1947 case ofAdamson v. California,Supreme Court justiceHugo Blackargued in his dissent that the framers' intent should control the court's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, and he attached a lengthy appendix that quoted extensively from Bingham's congressional testimony.[12]Though the Adamson Court declined to adopt Black's interpretation, the court over the next 25 years used a doctrine ofselective incorporationto extend to application against the states the protections in the Bill of Rights as well as other unenumerated rights.

Ohio ratified the Fourteenth Amendment on January 4, 1867, but Bingham continued to explain its extension of citizenship during the fall election season.[13]The Fourteenth Amendment has vastly expandedcivil rightsprotections and has come to be cited in more litigation than any other amendment to the Constitution.[14]In retrospect TheNational Constitution Centerdescribed John Bingham in tretrospect as "a leading Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives duringReconstructionand the primary author of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment. This key provision wrote theDeclaration of Independence’s promise of freedom and equality into the Constitution. Because of Bingham’s crucial role in framing this constitutional text, JusticeHugo Blackwould later describe him as the 14th Amendment’sJames Madison."[15]It hailed him as "SecondFounderwho most worked to realize the universal promise ofMadison’sBillandJefferson’sDeclaration."[16]

Later congressional career

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Bingham andThaddeus Stevensappearing before theSenateto inform the Senate of theHouse's vote toimpeachPresidentAndrew Johnson

Bingham continued his career as a representative and was reelected to the40th,41stand42nd Congresses.He served as chairman of theCommittee on Claimsfrom 1867 to 1869 and a member of theCommittee on the Judiciaryfrom 1869 to 1873.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

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Bingham played a prominent role in combatting a number ofearly effortsbyRadical RepublicanstoimpeachPresidentAndrew Johnson.[17]

On March 7, 1867, during House debate on a proposed amendment to a resolution renewing thefirst impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson,Wilson was questioned byBenjamin Butleras to whether or not he supported impeaching President Johnson. Bingham responded by declaring that, unlike some individuals, he was opposed to impeaching before havingtestimony.[18]After the inquiry recommended that the House impeach Johnson, on December 7, 1867, Bingham was in the sizable majority of House members present that voted against impeaching Johnson.[19]

On February 24, 1868, Bingham voted to impeach Johnson whenthe House voted to do so[20]after Johnson having moved to oust Secretary of WarEdwin M. Stantonin apparent disregard for theTenure of Office Act.Bingham was voted to serve as one of theHouse managers(prosecutors) in the subsequentimpeachment trial of President Johnson.

Failure to be reelected in 1872

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Bingham was implicated in theCrédit Mobilier scandaland in 1872, he lost the election. Three local Republican political Boss es made a deal to cut Bingham out, instead selectingLorenzo Danfordas the party's candidate. Thus, Danford came to represent the 16th district in the43rd Congressand was reelected several times, but with a hiatus.

Minister to Japan

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PresidentUlysses Grantthen appointed his ally Bingham asUnited States Ministerto Japan, which involved a salary increase but also economic responsibilities with respect to the small legation. (The legation was upgraded to embassy status and the title of minister was upgraded to ambassador in the early 20th century.) Initially, Bingham tried to switch appointments withJohn Watson Fosterof Indiana, whom Grant had appointed minister to Mexico, but Foster declined. Bingham thus sailed with his wife and two of his three daughters to Japan.[21]Bingham served longer than any other minister to Japan, with his appointment spanning the terms of four Republican presidents from May 31, 1873, to July 2, 1885. His successor was appointed in 1885 by newly elected Democratic presidentGrover Cleveland.

Bingham moved the embassy from an unsuitable location and replaced a problematic interpreter with a Presbyterian missionary from Ohio. He then managed to curtail the imperialistic ambitions of fellow Union veteranCharles Le Gendre.[22]Bingham came to greatly respect Japanese culture, but he also presciently expressed his fear that Japan's military culture would hurt the country's development.[23][24]

Bingham most prominently distinguished himself from other Western diplomats by fighting against the unequal treaties imposed upon Japan by Britain, particularly provisions for extraterritoriality and tariff control by Westerners.[25]Initially, Bingham supported Japan's right to restrict hunting by foreigners to certain times and places and later its right to regulate incoming ships via quarantines to restrict the spread ofcholera.Bingham later negotiated return of theShimonosekiindemnity in 1877 as well as a revision of Japan's treaty with the United States in 1879, which restored some tariff autonomy to Japan, conditioned upon other treaties with Westerners.[26]

Later life and death

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Bingham was a delegate to the1888 Republican National Convention.[27]In his later years, he was frequently interviewed by journalists on topics ranging from current events in Japan to his 1857 appointment ofGeorge Armstrong Custerto theUnited States Military Academy.[28][29]He died in Cadiz on March 19, 1900, nine years after his wife Amanda had died. He was interred next to her in the Old Cadiz (Union) Cemetery in Cadiz.

Legacy

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In 1901, Harrison County erected a bronze statue honoring Bingham in Cadiz.[30]

Bingham's house now serves as Mercer County's Republican headquarters.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^Bingham, John Armor; Miscellaneous Pamphlet Collection (Library of Congress) DLC [from old catalog] (1866)."One country, one Constitution, and one people. Speech of Hon. John A. Bingham, of Ohio, in the House of representatives, February 28, 1866, in support of the proposed amendment to enforce the bill of rights".[Washington, Printed at the Congressional globe office – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^"John Armor Bingham (1815–1900)".
  3. ^Erving T. Beauregard, Ohio's First Black College Graduate, available athttp:// harrisonhistory.org/Notables/Entries/2010/12/2_Ohios_First_Black_College_Graduate_from_Queen_City_Heritage_45_By_Erving_E._BeauregardUsed_with_permission_from_Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_Terminal_files/ohi-019.pdfArchived2016-03-04 at theWayback Machine
  4. ^Richard L. Aynes, The Continuing Importance of Congressman John A. Bingham and the Fourteenth Amendment, at pp. 592-593, available athttps:// uakron.edu/dotAsset/727357.pdf
  5. ^John Gilmary Shea, ed.The Lincoln Memorial: A Record of the Life, Assassination, and Obsequies of the Martyred President,New York: Bunce & Huntington, 1865, pp. 117-119 (Text of Washington prayer), pp. 229-239 (Text of Springfield funeral oration).
  6. ^"John A. Bingham".10 August 2021.
  7. ^Aynes, p. 600
  8. ^"THE IMPEACHMENT MANAGERS".impeach-andrewjohnson.Harper's Weekly. March 21, 1868.Retrieved18 November2021.
  9. ^Joshua E. Kastenberg, Law in War, Law as War: Brigadier General Joseph Holt and the Judge Advocate General’s Department in the Civil War and Early Reconstruction, 1861-1865 (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2011), 130, 188-89, and 363-370
  10. ^Adamson v. California,332 U.S. 46, 103-104 (1947)
  11. ^Adamson v. California,332 U.S. 46, 107 (1947)
  12. ^Adamson v. California,332 U.S. 46, 92-118 (1947)
  13. ^Aynes p. 615
  14. ^"14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents in American History".Library of Congress. Archived fromthe originalon May 3, 2024.RetrievedMay 3,2024.
  15. ^"12.5 Primary Source: John Bingham, One Country, One Constitution, One People (1866)".National Constitution Center.Archived fromthe originalon May 3, 2024.RetrievedMay 3,2024.
  16. ^Tom Donnelly (July 9, 2018)."John Bingham: One of America's forgotten" Second Founders "".National Constitution Center.Archived fromthe originalon May 3, 2024.RetrievedMay 3,2024.
  17. ^Benedict, Michael Les (1998)."From Our Archives: A New Look at the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson"(PDF).Political Science Quarterly.113(3): 493–511.doi:10.2307/2658078.ISSN0032-3195.JSTOR2658078.
  18. ^"1st Edition".Newspapers.Chicago Evening Post. March 7, 1867.Retrieved26 July2022.
  19. ^"TO PASS THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT RESOLUTION. -- House Vote #119 -- Dec 7, 1867".GovTrack.us.
  20. ^"Journal of the United States House of Representatives (40th Congress, Second Session) pages 392 and 393".voteview.United States House of Representatives.
  21. ^Leonard Hammersmith, Spoilsmen in a "flowery Fairyland": The Development of the U.S. Legation in Japan (Kent State University Press) p. 108
  22. ^Hammersmith, pp. 112-113.
  23. ^Hammersmith, p. 117 et seq.
  24. ^"John Bingham on Japan (1895)".concurringopinions.
  25. ^Philip Dare,John A. Bingham and Treaty Revision with Japan 1871–1885(University of Kentucky PhD thesis 1975).
  26. ^Erving E. Beauregard, John A. Bingham, First American Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan (1873–1885).Journal of Asian History,Vol. 22, No. 2 (1988), pp. 101–130.
  27. ^"Hon. John A. Bingham and Hon. Robt. Sherrard Delegates to Chicago Convention".Belmont Chronicle.Belmont, OH. May 17, 1888. p. 3 – viaChronicling America.
  28. ^"Rich Mine the Issue: Japan and China Really Battling for a Corean Golconda".Chicago Tribune.Chicago, IL. October 8, 1894. p. 5 – viaNewspapers.
  29. ^"His Brave Boy: What John A. Bingham Says of General George A. Custer".The Daily Register.Red Bank, NJ. April 14, 1897. p. 9 – viaNewspapers.
  30. ^"John Armor Bingham," Ohio Civil War Central, 2015, Ohio Civil War Central. 23 Jan 2015 <http:// ohiocivilwarcentral /entry.php?rec=1015>

Sources

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  • Gerard N. Magliocca,American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the Fourteenth Amendment.New York: New York University Press, 2013.
  • Sam Kidder,Of One Blood All Nations: John Bingham: Ohio Congressman's Diplomatic Career in Meiji Japan (1873–1885).Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Piscataqua Press. 2020.
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