Judah P Benjamin the Jewish Confederate

Many consider Judah P. Benjamin "the Brains behind the Confederacy". The author, Eli N Evans also wanted to covey how the Jewish people interacted with their Southern neighbors. Charleston, SC was the first community in America to grant Jews the right to vote and to permit them to engage in any trade of their choosing. Judah P. Benjamin (1811-84) grew up in Charleston, attended Yale University for two years and was at the top of his class when he abrutly left. His leaving Yale under mysterious circumstances caused considerable speculation that haunted him in public life as a Senator from Louisiana and later as as the Treasurer and Secretary State of the Confederacy. Young, Judah P. Benjamin arrived in New Orleans in 1828 with five dollars in his pocket. New Orleans was permissive, raucous and a mystical place whose population grew from 50,000 to 100,000 between 1830 to 1840. Benjamin could not have picked a better place to begin his career. Benjamin worked odd jobs, as a teacher, processing accounts in a mercantile house, and finally as a law clerk. He constantly read all the law books he could get his hands on and soon mastered the complex Napoleonic Code which required mastery of French Language. A wealthy Creole official asked Benjamin to teach English to his daughter, Natalie. He agreed to this arrangement under the condition that she would teach him French while he taught her English. Benjamin was 21 and Natalie was 16. The tutoring lessons soon evolved into a courtship. Benjamin soon became one the best lawyers in New Orleans and one of its wealthiest citizens. In 1842 Benjamin was elected to the Louisian legislature as a Whig. Because of his knowledge of Spanish, the Federal government sent him to California to help settle land disputes after the United States got control of California following the Mexican War. Flash forward to January 1860, Benjamin delivered the following speech as the Senator from Lousiana. "What may be the fate of this horrible contest, no man can tell...but this much, I will say: the fortunes of war may be adverse to our arms, you may carry desolation into our peaceful land, and with torch and fire you may set our cities in flame...you may, under the protection of your advancing armies, give shelter to the furious fanatics who desire, and profess to desire, nothing more than to add all the horrors of a servile insurrection to the clamities of civil war; you may do all this--and more too, if more there be--but you never can subjugate us; you never convert the free sons of the soil into vassals, paying tribute to your power; and you never, never can degrade them to the level of an inferior and servile race. Never! Never! There were many slaves who were quite willing to serve in the Conferderate army. With General Robert E. Lee urging, Benjamin argued unsuccessfuly to let slaves join the army in exchange for their freedom. As Secretary of the Conferderate Treasury, Benjamin used his Jewish conn

Most every student of the Civil War has heard of Judah P. Benjamin but very few people know anything about him except that he served in three positions in the Confederate Cabinet. Most of these same people are also aware that Benjamin was Jewish and from Louisiana, but that is about it. This lack of knowledge about Benjamin may come from the fact that its generals often overshadow the Confederate government or it may come from Benjamin's own desire to sink into anonymity following the war. This desire on Benjamin's part has in great part made a study of him very difficult for he destroyed almost every document with his name on it, including personal correspondence. Eli Evans has taken on the difficult task though, and has turned out a fantastic biography of the elusive Benjamin.Benjamin's early life is dealt with in some detail, especially after he arrives in New Orleans looking for a fresh start. Through skill and hard work Judah became one of the most successful lawyers in New Orleans. He married into the Creole ruling class and gained in stature but also gained a wife who would be an embarrassment to him for the rest of his life. During this time he built a plantation and became an agricultural innovator and was remembered by his former slaves long after the war for his kindness. Benjamin was very much a progressive and this would show up later in his plans for a Confederate Emancipation Proclamation.Benjamin moved into politics and was in his second term in the U.S. Senate when Louisiana left the Union. He and Jefferson Davis had not gotten along very well in the Senate and Benjamin had once come to the point of challenging his Mississippi colleague to a duel. As the new Confederate President looked for a Cabinet however he wanted someone from each Confederate State and Benjamin was the obvious choice for Louisiana. From that point on a friendship blossomed that would end up making Benjamin Davis' closest advisor and confidant. This is the story Evans tells so well.Benjamin, for his country and his President was willing to serve as a scapegoat on several occasions for unpopular decisions Davis had to make. He also took the blame a few times for not sending needed supplies to certain points rather than hurt Confederate moral by admitting that they simply didn't have the supplies in question. Evans does a superb job of relating Benjamin's hard work and also the never-ending venom that was directed at him, especially by opponents of President Davis. The weak points of the book come when Evans leaves his subject and starts to write about things that he knows little about. He very quickly dispenses with battles but still often makes errors and naturally repeats the old fable about shoes at Gettysburg. He also has problems accepting that Tennessee did in fact leave the Union and while there were Tennessee men in the Union army there were many, many more in Confederate service. Tennessee was left out of Lincoln's proclamation simply b

Judah P. Benjamin is little remembered for his service to the United States of America, the Confederate States of America, and the United Kingdom. Born in the West Indies, he ended his life as Queen's Counsel in Great Britain. In between, he came to Charleston, South Carolina, studied law in New Orleans, became the first Jewish Senator--from antebellum Louisiana. Surprised? I was. Then, service as Attorney General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State of the Confederate States of America. Almost universally well-liked and respected, the "smiling lion" whose face adorns every Confederate $2 bill (you can check your collection); this was a most remarkable Victorian American, in all respects.Frequently the brunt of castigation in newspapers for problems with military supply and ordnance, probably trailing close behind Jefferson Davis (also a former U.S. Senator) himself, this book is a very intriguing and documented biography. Sadly now out of print, I still highly recommend it to any student of the Civil War, the Confederacy, the history of Jews in America, jurisprudence (he wrote a book on Contracts that is still important in the United Kingdom)...he should not be forgotten. Judah P. Benjamin was a spirited man who made the most of his talents (even marrying into Catholic New Orleans aristocracy) and yet is known by few, and probably understood by even fewer.He is as much a part of American history and identity as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Sam Houston. However, don't look for a film about him to come out from Hollywood anytime soon. You'll have to read the book!

Without question, Benjamin was a man of keen intellect and an imposing presence on Jefferson Davis and confederate foreign policy. Very little has ever been written about him, and even less about his Jewish heritage, The common thread has been to note that he exhibited no external trappings of his religious roots, and therefore must have done what he could to divorce himself from his ancestry. The author takes a completely different turn by suggesting that his life, personality, and accomplishments were a result of his acceptance of who he was as a Jew, and that that acceptance strongly influenced his course in life. I for one, have been fascinated by Benjamin for years and was thrilled to find a well documented and researched book on this most intriguing character. And even more thrilling was having a new insight as the author presents his own dynamic as a Jewish attorney studying the life of a predecessor; A Jewish attorney who lived in an alien environment, isolated yet surviving, prospering yet an outcast. The author finally gives us a glimpse of his personal life and helps us see not just an historical figure, but a man with desires, frustrations, happiness and sadness. We are given a whole man to view. I for one believe it is one of the finest biographies I have ever read. Steve Reutter ([email protected]), Carlisle, Pa

Gripping biography of the Confederate Secretary of State, Judah P.Benjamin, whose Judiasm may have been the reason for his exclusion from the PBS Civil War documentary. This key Confederate not only was a brilliant strategist, but, after fleeing the Confederate States of America, left for England, where he wrote "Benjamin on Contracts"...the CURRENT text on Contract Law taught in every law school today ! The importance of this book is that Mr. Benjamin was extremely thorough to destroy every Confederate document which bore his name and position as Secretary of State of the Confederacy.