biography
| name: |
Pinchback, Pinckney (Benton Stewart)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1837–1921)
|
| biography:
| US politician and Union army officer, born in Macon, Georgia, USA. The son of a white planter and a slave mother, as a child he was released from bondage by his father, and subsequently worked on river steamboats. He later served as a Union officer in the American Civil War, but encountered prejudice and resigned his commission. After the War he returned South, entered politics, and was elected as a Republican to the state Senate (1868). Although he played a leading role in Louisiana politics during the Reconstruction period (1865–77), and received strong electoral support, his attempts to gain seats in Congress and the US Senate were unsuccessful. In later life he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practised in Washington, DC. |
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