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Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin ( January 29 , 1761 – August 12 , 1849 ) was an Ethnologist , Linguist , American Politician , diplomat, and Secretary Of The Treasury . EARLY LIFE Gallatin was born in Geneva , Switzerland of a wealthy family, emigrating to Massachusetts in 1780. For a brief period, he attempted to set himself up in business, and for an even briefer time taught French at Harvard University , finally purchasing land in Fayette County, Pennsylvania and moving there in 1784. (His land was in Virginia when he bought it but became part of Pennsylvania soon afterward.) The Friendship Hill National Historic Site , his home overlooking the Monongahela River , is maintained by the National Park Service . POLITICAL CAREER Almost immediately, Gallatin became active in Pennsylvania politics; he was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1789, and was elected to the state legislature in 1790. He won election to the United States Senate in 1793. However, he was disqualified, because of the length of his citizenship, after he had already taken the Oath of Office. Entering the House Of Representatives in 1795, serving in the fourth through sixth Congresses, he went on to become majority leader. He was an important leader of the new Republican Party , and its chief spokesman on financial matters. He opposed the entire program of Alexander Hamilton , though when he came to power he found himself keeping all the main parts. As party leader, Gallatin put a great deal of pressure on Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott Jr. to maintain fiscal responsibility. He also helped found the House Committee on Finance (which would evolve into the Ways And Means Committee ) and often engineered withholding of finances by the House as a method of overriding executive actions to which he objected. Among these was the Quasi-War , of which he was a vociferous foe. His measures to withhold naval appropriations during this period were met with vehement animosity by the Federalist s, who accused him of being a French spy. It was the opinion of Thomas Jefferson that the Alien And Sedition Acts were passed largely as a way to rein in Gallatin. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY in Washington, D.C.]] When Jefferson became President, he appointed Gallatin Secretary of the Treasury. Gallatin served in that post for thirteen years, the longest term in history for that office. During the first part of his tenure, he made great progress in balancing the federal budget. The United States was able to make the Louisiana Purchase without a tax increase in large part due to Gallatin's efforts. Gallatin also involved himself in the planning of the Lewis And Clark Expedition , mapping out the area to be explored. In 1812, the United States was financially unprepared for war. For example, the Republicans allowed the First Bank Of The United States to expire in 1811, over Gallatin's objections. He had to ship $7 million to Europe to pay off its foreign stockholders just at a time money was needed for war. The heavy military expenditures for the War Of 1812 , and the decline in tariff revenue caused by the Embargo and the British blockade, sent the budget into the red. In 1813, the Treasury had expenditures of $39 million and revenue of only $15 million. Despite anger from Congress, Gallatin was forced to reintroduce the Federalist taxes he had denounced in 1798, such as the taxes on whiskey and salt, as well as a direct tax on land and slaves. He succeeded in funding the deficit of $69 million by bond issues, and thereby paid the direct cost of the war, which amounted to $87 million. He later helped charter the Second Bank in 1816. DIPLOMAT In 1813, President James Madison sent him as the U.S. representative to a Russia n-brokered peace talk, which Britain ultimately refused, preferring direct negotiations. Gallatin then resigned as Secretary of the Treasury to head the U.S. delegation for these negotiations in France and was instrumental in the securing of the Treaty Of Ghent , which brought the War of 1812 to a close. At war's end, Gallatin, preferring to remain in France, was appointed U.S. Minister to that country and remained in this post for another seven years. He returned to America in 1823 and was selected by the Democratic-Republican Party as its vice-presidential candidate, but was dissuaded by Martin Van Buren from accepting. Gallatin was alarmed at the possibility Andrew Jackson might win; he saw Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshippers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional. provisions, altogether unfit for the office." 599 He returned home to Pennsylvania where he lived until 1826. By 1826, there was much contention between the United States and Britain over claims to the Columbia River system on the Northwest coast. Gallatin put forward a claim in favor of American ownership, outlining what has been called the "principle of contiguity" in his statement called "The Land West of the Rockies." It states that lands adjacent to already settled territory can reasonably be claimed by the settled territory. This argument is an early version of the doctrine of America's " Manifest Destiny ". This principle became the legal premise by which the United States was able to claim the lands to the west. In 1826-7, he served as minister to the Court of St. James (i.e. Britain). LATER LIFE He then settled in New York City, where he helped found New York University in 1831, in order to offer university education to the lower and middle classes. He became president of the National Bank (which was later renamed Gallatin Bank). In 1849, Gallatin died in Astoria on Long Island ; he is interred at Trinity Churchyard in New York City. NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES Throughout his public service career, Gallatin pursued an interest in Native American language and culture. He drew upon government contacts in his research, gathering information through Lewis Cass , a Secretary of War, explorer William Clark and Thomas McKenney of the Bureau Of Indian Affairs . He developed a personal relationship with Cherokee tribal leader John Ridge , who provided him with information on the vocabulary and structure of the Cherokee language. Gallatin's research resulted in two published works: "''A Table of Indian Languages of the United States'' (1826)" and "''Synopsis of the Indian Tribes of North America'' (1836)". His research led him to conclude that the natives of North and South America were linguistically and culturally related, and that their common ancestors had migrated from Asia in prehistoric times. In 1842, Gallatin joined with John Russell Bartlett to found the American Ethnological Society. Later research efforts include examination of selected Pueblo societies, the Akimel O'odham ( Pima ) peoples, and the Maricopa of the Southwest. In politics, Gallatin stood for assimilation of Native Americans into European based American society, encouraging federal efforts in education leading to assimilation and denying annuities for Native Americans displaced by western expansion. HONORS
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