GIDDINGS, JOSHUA REED, an American statesman, b. at Athens, Pa., Oct. 6, 1765; d. in Montreal, May 27, 1864. While he was yet an infant his parents removed to Can andaigua, N. Y., where they remained until he was 10 years old, when they went to Ashtabula co., Ohio, among the first emigrants to that region. As the age of 17 years he enlisted as a soldier in the war of 1812, joining the expedition sent to the peninsula n. of Sandusky bay, where he took part in several bloody conflicts with the Indians. After the war was over, he taught school for a time, and in 1817 began to fit himself for the liar, to which lie was admitted in 1820. He entered upon the practice of his profes sion at Jefferson, the capitol of Ashtabula co., where he met with great success. In 1826 he represented the county in the state legislature. In 1839 he was elected to con gress as the successor of Ellsha Whittiesey. The country was then deeply agitated upon . the subject of slavery, and Mr. Giddings at once became the advocate of the abolition of the system in the District of Columbia and the territories under the national jurisdiction, admitting at the same time that congress had no power to abolish it in the states. He seized upon every opportunity to agitate the subject and to aid in the formation of a public sentiment hostile to the system and to its further extension. He supported John Quincy Adams, at that time a member of congress, in his efforts to maintain the right of the people to petition that body upon the subject of slavery and to have their peti tions respectfully considered. In his course upon questions relating to slavery he exhibited great boldness and a most indomitable spirit of perseverance, keeping con gress in a constant state of excitement. Feb. 9, 1841, he delivered a powerful speech upon the Indian war in Florida, insisting that it was waged in the interest of slavery. Not long afterwards the ship Creole, while on her way from Norfolk to New Orleans with a cargo of slaves, was seized by them and taken to Nassau, a British port, where their right to liberty was recognized by the authorities. The advocates of slavery held that the slaves were mutineers or pirates, and that it was the duty of the British gov ermuent to surrender them to the United States. While the excitement caused by the event was at its height, Mr. Giddings introduced in the house of representatives a series of resolutions declaring that the'slaves, having simply asserted their indefeasible right to liberty, were guilty of no crime, and that the British authorities at Nassau had done right in permitting them to go free. The domestic traffic iu slaves, the resolutions
declared, was no less piratical in character than the foreign, and any attempt to ran slave the men of the Creole would be a violation of the constitution and incompatible with the national honor. The resolutions created a tumultuous excitement, and Mr. Giddings was censured by vote of the house for presenting them. He thereupon resigned his seat, but was re-elected by a very large majority. Ile was kept at his post by suc cessive re-elections until 1859, thus completing a continuous service of 20 years. Until 1848 he was a member of the Whig party, supporting its principal measures, but main taining his independence in all matters relating to slavery. He did much to develop those views of slavery in its relations to the national government which afterwards became the basis of the republican party. He took a prominent part in the struggle to prevent the extension of slavery to the territory wrested from Mexico by the war of 1846, and in resisting the adoption of the compromises of 1850, especially the fugitive slave law. He was also conspicuous in the debates which preceded the repeal of the Missouri compromise, and in the great struggle by which Kansas was made a free state.
His life was often threatened, twice he was assaulted upon the floor of the house armed men, and on one occasion set upon by a mob in the streets of Washington. the 8th of May, 1856, while addressing the house, he suddenly fell to the floor in a state. of unconsciousness. He soon revived, but his former strength was never fully restored. On Jan. 17, 1858, he fell again in the same way, and for a time was supposed to be dead. He again rallied, however, but was compelled for a time to leave his post. His disease • was an affection of the nervous system, involving the heart. In 1861 he was appointed. consul-general for the British North American provinces, with head-quarters in Mont real. He was a man of deep religious convictions, a forcible speaker, and an able writer. In 1843 he wrote a series of political essays signed " Pacificus," which attracted wide attention. A volume of his speeches was published in 1853. He also wrote The: Exiles of and The Rebellion, its Authors and Causes.