Andrew Jackson Hamilton - Political Career

Political Career

In 1849 Hamilton was appointed as the acting state attorney general by Texas Governor Peter H. Bell.

In 1850 he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives representing Travis County as a Democrat. He would only serve one term, leaving office in 1853. During this time he joined the "Opposition Clique", a faction of southern politicians in the Democratic Party who opposed secession and the reopening of the slave trade.

In 1858, Hamilton was elected to the United States House of Representatives as an Independent Democrat representing the western district of Texas. During this time he served on a House committee formed late in 1860 to solve the growing sectional feud between the North and South. He chose not to run for re-election in 1860, but, on his return to Texas in 1861, won a special election to the State Senate. Hamilton was later forced to resign this post after threats to his life for his pro-Union statements. He fled to Mexico in July 1862.

During the American Civil War, Hamilton sided with the Union. After fleeing to Mexico, he went on a tour of the Northeast, giving speeches in New York, Boston, and other northern cities. He spoke out in favor of the Union and criticized the "slave power" of the South. Because of this Hamilton was regarded as a hero by the North, though he was generally viewed as a traitor at home. In late 1862 President Abraham Lincoln named Hamilton the Military Governor of Texas. He spent the rest of the war holding this empty position in New Orleans, after a Union attempt to capture South Texas failed in 1863.