Benjamin Gwinn Harris (December 13, 1805 – April 4, 1895) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Born near Leonardtown,

St. Mary's County, Maryland St. Mary's County, established in 1637, is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 113,777. Its county seat is Leonardtown. The name is in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus. St. Mary's Count ...

, Harris attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in the late 1820s, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

from 1829 to 1830. He served as member of the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...

in 1833 and 1836, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. Harris was removed from Yale after taking part in a student protest against the poor quality of the food in the campus housing. While serving in the Maryland State House of Delegates, he opposed the Know-Nothing Party and championed religious freedom. But as the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

loomed, he also sought to enforce slavery, including the re-enslavement of Maryland's freedmen. Harris was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1867). During the Civil War, he voted against every war appropriations measure brought to the House of Representatives. His vote on the Thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery is recorded as nay. In his defense of Congressman Alexander Long, Harris openly prayed for a southern victory on the floor of the House. He was therefore censured by the House of Representatives on April 9, 1864, for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

able utterances. In addition, he was tried by a military court in Washington, D.C. in May 1865 for harboring two paroled

Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

, and sentenced to three years imprisonment and forever disqualified from holding any office under the United States Government. U.S. President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

pardoned Harris several weeks later. He died on his estate, "Ellenborough," near

Leonardtown, Maryland Leonardtown is a town in and the county seat of St. Mary's County, Maryland, St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,563 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Historic Leonardtown includes both a Leonardtown Hig ...

, April 4, 1895, where he was interred in the family burying ground on his estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Benjamin G. 1805 births 1895 deaths Copperheads (politics) Censured or reprimanded members of the United States House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland Maryland politicians convicted of crimes Harvard Law School alumni People from Leonardtown, Maryland Yale College alumni Civilians who were court-martialed People convicted of treason against the United States Prisoners and detainees of the United States military People pardoned by Andrew Johnson 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

See also

References