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Abraham Alfonse Albert GallatinUS representative in negotiations with Great Britain
Country:
 USA |
Content:
Biography of Abraham Alphonse Albert Gallatin
Abraham Alphonse Albert Gallatin was born into a family of Swiss aristocrats in Geneva in 1761. He graduated from the University of Geneva in 1779, receiving diplomas in mathematics, natural philosophy, and Latin translation. Gallatin's family held liberal views, which he fully shared. However, when he decided to emigrate to America, he faced resistance from his family and secretly left Geneva in April 1780.
Gallatin managed to secure a teaching position at Harvard as a French language instructor. Additionally, through his friend Savary de Valcoulon, he successfully traded land in Virginia.
Political Career
Starting in 1787, Gallatin developed an interest in politics. He was elected to the Constitutional Convention and later to the Pennsylvania legislature. In 1793, he was elected to the United States Senate, but his credentials were not confirmed because he had not been a citizen for ten years. Gallatin won re-election in subsequent elections held two years later. Throughout his Senate career, he participated in all major debates, with his primary focus being the activities of the Treasury Department.
When Thomas Jefferson became president, Gallatin was appointed Secretary of the Treasury and held this position continuously until 1813. His tenure as Secretary of the Treasury was extremely successful, and he soon earned a reputation as one of the greatest financiers of his time. Among his achievements was reducing the national debt by half.
After stepping down as Secretary, Gallatin traveled to Europe for negotiations on peace with England. He was among the American signatories of the peace treaty in 1814. In February 1815, Gallatin became Ambassador to France. In 1823, he returned to the United States but went back to Europe four years later, this time serving as Ambassador to Great Britain. In this role, he successfully conducted several negotiations with Britain regarding violations of the peace treaty and the convention on joint occupation of Oregon. A new convention was reached on the Oregon issue.
After his return to New York, Gallatin headed a city bank and engaged in historical and ethnological research. He authored brochures on all major domestic and international issues concerning the United States. He was a staunch opponent of the Mexican-American War and a strong advocate for the annexation of Oregon. From 1842 until his death in 1851, Gallatin served as President of the American Ethnological Society and the New York Historical Society.
