Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton was best known as the U.S. Senator from Missouri, a prominent figure in westward expansion and the first Senator to serve five terms. Born in North Carolina to a prominent southern family, Benton studied law at the University of North Carolina. As a young man, Benton migrated west with his family and settled on 40,000 acres of land just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It was here in Tennessee that Benton met another famous Tennessean, Andrew Jackson.
This friendship resulted in Benton becoming Jackson's aide-de-camp during the War of 1812. Soon thereafter, however, a dispute found the young Benton and Jackson firing shots at one another in the middle of downtown Nashville. Jackson was seriously injured with a shot to the shoulder. Benton and his family soon left for Missouri, and it was years later that Jackson and Benton reconciled.
Benton and Jackson found a new partnership as political allies and over the years supported one another greatly, Benton as Senator from Missouri and Jackson as President of the United States. Their political union also blossomed once more in a lifelong friendship. Benton was Jackson's "right-hand man" and continued this role for Martin Van Buren as well.
One of Benton's greatest concerns was territorial expansion, which was personified in the term "Manifest Destiny." He never lost sight of his vision of an America filled with the opportunities and dreams of what the West could hold for Americans.
Thomas Hart Benton Quotes
"Nobody opposes Benton, sir, nobody but a few black-jack prairie lawyers. These are the only opponents of Benton. Benton and the people, Benton and Democracy are one and the same sire, synonymous terms, sir, synonymous terms."
"I never quarrel, sir, but I do fight, sir, and when I fight, sir, a funeral follows, sir."
"General Jackson was a very great man. I shot him, sir."
"When Andrew Jackson starts talking about hanging, men begin looking for ropes."
