Political Office
He became Attorney General of New Jersey in 1817, turned down an appointment to the New Jersey Supreme Court and became a United States Senator in 1829, serving in that capacity until 1835. He was Mayor of Newark, New Jersey from 1837 until 1838. He was a Whig vice-presidential candidate in 1844. He was the second President of New York University between 1839 and 1850 and seventh President of Rutgers College between 1850 and 1862.
As a Senator, he led the opposition to the Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act of 1830. His six-hour speech against the Removal Act was delivered over the course of three days, and warned of the dire consequences of the policy:
Let us beware how, by oppressive encroachments upon the sacred privileges of our Indian neighbors, we minister to the agonies of future remorse.
Frelinghuysen was chided for mixing his evangelical Christianity with politics, and the Removal Act was passed.1
He was President of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1841-c1857), President of the American Bible Society (1846–1862), President of the American Tract Society (1842–1846), Vice President of the American Sunday School Union (1826–1861), and Vice President of the American Colonization Society. He believed in temperance and actively opposed slavery. His moniker was the "Christian Statesman."
He died in New Brunswick, New Jersey on April 12, 1862 and he was buried there at the First Reformed Church Cemetery.
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