Joshua Reed Giddings - Facts

October 6, 1795 - May 27, 1864

Key facts about Joshua Giddings, a leader in the founding of the Republican Party and an outspoken opponent of the extension of slavery a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Portrait of Joshua Giddings

Throughout his Congressional career, Joshua Giddings was an outspoken opponent of the extension of slavery, voting against the annexation of Texas, the Mexican-American War, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. [Wikimedia Commons]

Full Name:

  • Joshua Reed Giddings

Birth Date:

  • October 6, 1795

Birth Location:

  • Tioga Point (later Athens) Pennsylvania

Parents:

  • Joshua and Elizabeth (Pease) Giddings

Education:

  • Little, if any, formal education

Occupation:

  • Lawyer

Career Summary:

  • U.S. Congressman
  • Consul-general to the British North American Provinces

Spouse:

  • Laura Waters (1819)

Place of Death:

  • Montreal, Canada

Date of Death:

  • May 27, 1864

Place of Burial:

  • Oakdale Cemetery, Jefferson, Ohio

Significance:

  • As an infant, Joshua Giddings moved with his parents to Canandaigua, N.Y., in 1795.
  • In 1806, Joshua Giddings’s family relocated to Ashtabula County, Ohio.
  • Joshua Giddings worked on his father’s farm and received little, if any, formal education during his youth.
  • Joshua Giddings served in a regiment commanded by Colonel Richard Hayes during the War of 1812.
  • At sixteen years of age, Joshua Giddings participated in a battle with American Indians on Marblehead Peninsula on September 29, 1812, during the War of 1812. Giddings later funded the erection of a monument on the site, honoring the six Americans who died.
  • Joshua Giddings taught school while studying law under the tutelage of Elisha Whittlesey.
  • In 1819, Joshua Giddings married Laura Waters, originally of Granby, Connecticut.
  • In February 1821, Joshua Giddings was admitted to the Ohio bar.
  • In 1822 Joshua Giddings opened a law practice in Jefferson, Ohio.
  • Joshua Giddings was elected to the Ohio General Assembly in 1826.
  • From 1831 to 1837 Joshua Giddings was in partnership with Benjamin F. Wade, future U.S. Senator and co-sponsor of the controversial Wade-Davis plan for Reconstruction.
  • Joshua Giddings was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1836 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of his former mentor, Elisha Whittlesey.
  • Joshua Giddings’s twenty-year career in Congress was briefly interrupted when he resigned on March 22, 1842 as a result of being censured for resolutions he presented regarding the Creole affair.
  • During his political career, Joshua Giddings was a member of the Whig, Free Soil, Opposition, and Republican parties.
  • Throughout his Congressional career, Joshua Giddings was an outspoken opponent of the extension of slavery, voting against the annexation of Texas, the Mexican-American War, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
  • Joshua Giddings was not re-nominated in the election of 1858, and his Congressional career ended when the new House was seated on March 4, 1859.
  • On March 25, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Giddings as consul-general to the British North American Provinces (Canada).
  • Joshua Giddings died in Montreal, Canada, on May 27, 1864.
  • Joshua Giddings was buried in Oakdale Cemetery, Jefferson, Ohio.
  • Reportedly, Joshua Giddings’s home in Jefferson was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
  • Joshua Giddings’s original law office in Jefferson, Ohio is now maintained as a historic site by the Ashtabula County Historical Society.

Citation Information

The following information is provided for citations.

  • Article Title Joshua Reed Giddings - Facts
  • Date October 6, 1795 - May 27, 1864
  • Author
  • Keywords joshua giddings
  • Website Name American History Central
  • Access Date September 21, 2023
  • Publisher R.Squared Communications, LLC
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update August 11, 2023

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