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480:. In April 1864, at a meeting of the revived East Tennessee Convention, Nelson led a faction which called for a return to the Union, but still rejected the abolition of slavery. This brought him into conflict with Brownlow and Maynard, who both supported Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. Nelson supported
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In 1859, Nelson ran against Haynes for
Tennessee's 1st Congressional District seat. After a fierce campaign that saw the candidates debate one another several dozen times, Nelson edged Haynes by a narrow margin. On December 7 of that year, in response to a series of pro-secession speeches by Southern
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on Gay Street in
Knoxville. Nelson convinced his son to surrender, and posted his $ 25,000 bond (which was signed by Brownlow, who was now a senator). Nelson resigned his position on the state supreme court to focus on his son's trial. On May 30, 1873, David Nelson was acquitted of the charge of
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On May 30, Nelson was named president of the East
Tennessee Convention, which met to discuss forming a separate state in East Tennessee. At the convention's June meeting, Nelson proposed a resolution that would create such a state, and violently resist Confederate occupation, if necessary. Other
394:"If I mistake not, it is the common sentiment of the secessionists of the South, that they talk about the Constitution, but say nothing about the Union. When I talk about the Union, what do I talk about? I talk about that thing which is the result of the American Constitution."
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In 1851, Nelson was appointed commissioner to China, but again declined the appointment due to inadequate salary. Later that year, East
Tennessee representatives in the state legislature made a vigorous push to have Nelson appointed to the U.S. Senate, but the legislature chose
414:(of London) called Nelson's speech "the highest product of American oratory." The secession issue dominated the remainder of Nelson's congressional term. He spoke against both abolitionism and secession, and was a member of the House Committee of 33 on reconciliation.
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former
Confederates. Brownlow blasted most of the petition's signers, but remained cordial in his disagreements with Nelson. In 1870, Nelson was elected to the Tennessee Supreme Court, and helped overturn many of the decisions of his Radical Republican predecessors.
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canvassed East
Tennessee, delivering hundreds of speeches and encouraging the region's residents to reject secession. While Tennessee voted to secede on June 8, most counties in East Tennessee remained solidly pro-Union.
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policies of his long-time friend
Brownlow, who was now governor, and aligned himself with Johnson, now president. After the House voted to impeach Johnson in 1868, Johnson asked Nelson to join his defense team at
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before the House of
Representatives earlier that day, Nelson delivered a powerful pro-Union speech that provoked "loud applause" from the House floor and gallery. Responding to Nelson, Virginia congressman
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Nelson was reelected to
Congress in 1861, and attempted to travel to Washington, D.C., to take his seat. While passing through Kentucky, however, he was captured by Confederate authorities, and jailed in
426:'s election in November 1860, Nelson campaigned vigorously to keep Tennessee in the Union. On April 27, 1861, pro-Union and pro-Confederate factions held simultaneous rallies at opposite ends of
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1st
Congressional District in the 36th U.S. Congress (1859–1861), where he gained a reputation as a staunch pro-Union southerner. He was elected to a second term in 1861 on the eve of the
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In Elizabethton, Nelson took an active role in the promotion of Whig ideals. He was appointed acting district attorney in 1833, and campaigned on behalf of Whig presidential candidate
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ordered Nelson released, however, after Nelson agreed not to oppose the Confederate government, and Nelson returned to his home in Jonesborough. He published an article in the
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364:. Whig officials consistently encouraged Nelson to run for office, but Nelson always declined, stating that officeholders' salaries were inadequate to support his family.
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in Knoxville on October 1, 1872, and spent his last years advising local politicians and teaching Sunday school at Knoxville's Second Presbyterian Church. He contracted
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in 1836. Around 1839, Nelson met William G. "Parson" Brownlow, and encouraged him to start a pro-Whig newspaper. In subsequent decades, this newspaper, commonly called
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campaigner, but due to family considerations, he did not run for office until 1859. In December of that year, Nelson gained international renown for an explosive anti-
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in April of that year. For nearly two days, Nelson gave a point-by-point refutation of the impeachment charges, and the Senate voted to acquit Johnson on May 16.
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Thomas Alexander, "Strange Bedfellows: The Interlocking Careers of T.A.R. Nelson, Andrew Johnson, and W.G. (Parson) Brownlow," East Tennessee Historical Society
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mocked the fact that Nelson mentioned only the Union and not the Constitution, as though he adored the former more than the latter. Nelson shot back:
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in Knoxville, and Nelson spoke alongside Andrew Johnson at the pro-Union rally. In subsequent weeks, Nelson, Johnson, Brownlow and
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in Washington County, where he would remain for two decades. On October 29, 1840, he debated rising Democratic politician
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After further debate, Pryor was visibly stumped, and Nelson was hailed as a hero by the House's pro-Union faction. The
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236:(March 19, 1812 – August 24, 1873) was an American attorney, politician, and judge, active primarily in
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While in Knoxville, Nelson wrote several poems about his wartime experiences, one of which was published as
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Back in Tennessee, Nelson signed a petition calling on the state's judges to ignore Brownlow's attempts to
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reported that Nelson's speech "fell like a thunderbolt on the House," while the pro-Democrat
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Some sources spell Nelson's second name "Amis" (Rothrock, pp. 392-393; Alexander, p. 1).
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After the war, Nelson opposed the radical initiatives of his long-time friend, Governor
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in late August 1873, and died on August 24. He is interred in an unmarked grave in
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On September 27, 1871, Nelson's son, David, shot and killed Alabama attorney
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603:(Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1972), pp. 462-463.
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Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves
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As early as the 1830s, Nelson had gained a reputation as an effective
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The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee
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warned that the Fire-Eaters may have awakened "the wrong passenger."
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Members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
722:(Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1976), p. 464.
619:(Nashville: Tennessee Historical Commission, 1956), pp. 1, 18, 142.
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696:(New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 71, 82, 194, 203.
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Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War
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As the secession debate reached a fevered pitch in the wake of
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East Tennessee Historical Society, Lucile Deaderick (ed.),
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Nelson delivered the dedicatory address at the opening of
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speech he delivered before Congress. As president of the
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East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.),
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Secession, Or Prose in Rhyme and East Tennessee, A Poem
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charge in a well-publicized trial prosecuted by future
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Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee
678:(New York: The Cosmopolitan Press, 1912), pp. 142-143.
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Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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492:In the late-1860s, Nelson continued to oppose the
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344:to a draw as the two campaigned for
1257:People from Elizabethton, Tennessee
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1147:Impeachment managers investigation
738:"Thomas A. R. Nelson (id: N000042)"
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282:in 1868, and was elected to the
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376:Congressional term, 1859 - 1861
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783:March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861
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641:, Vol. 28 (1956), pp. 102-127.
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676:Notable Men of Tennessee
455:. Confederate president
939:Swing Around the Circle
906:Articles of impeachment
308:University of Tennessee
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284:Tennessee Supreme Court
132:Roane County, Tennessee
789:Nathaniel Green Taylor
764:Albert Galiton Watkins
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104:Nathaniel Green Taylor
92:Albert Galiton Watkins
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1026:William S. Groesbeck
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917:Tenure of Office Act
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331:Landon Carter Haynes
149:Knoxville, Tennessee
1217:Tennessee Democrats
1212:Tennessee Unionists
1157:Profiles in Courage
1115:Frederick W. Seward
1058:William E. Chandler
1031:Thomas A. R. Nelson
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482:George B. McClellan
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272:William G. Brownlow
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1021:Benjamin R. Curtis
979:George S. Boutwell
707:Thomas A.R. Nelson
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832:impeachment trial
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672:Mary Boyce Temple
530:Old Gray Cemetery
400:Baltimore Patriot
323:Hugh Lawson White
318:to practice law.
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1152:Vinnie Ream
944:John Covode
898:Impeachment
828:Impeachment
705:Alexander,
388:Roger Pryor
383:Fire-Eaters
358:Confederate
250:Confederate
242:Tennessee's
193:Anne Stuart
87:Preceded by
1176:Categories
536:References
488:Later life
428:Gay Street
290:Early life
257:Whig Party
220:Profession
209:Alma mater
195:Mary Jones
172:Whig Party
125:1812-03-19
862:Inquiries
418:Civil War
411:The Times
372:instead.
304:Knoxville
286:in 1870.
261:secession
246:Civil War
190:Spouse(s)
75:In office
62:Tennessee
852:Timeline
517:murder.
453:Richmond
200:Children
68:district
526:cholera
278:during
775:from
360:judge
151:, U.S.
134:, U.S.
1141:Other
354:libel
60:from
830:and
443:and
348:and
139:Died
119:Born
834:of
312:bar
66:1st
64:'s
1178::
740:.
683:^
670:,
658:^
608:^
590:^
544:^
532:.
203:11
820:e
813:t
806:v
746:.
127:)
123:(
20:)
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