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George Sewall Boutwell (January 28, 1818 – February 27, 1905) was an American statesman who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S. Grant, the 20th Governor of Massachusetts, a Senator and Representative from Massachusetts and the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue under President Abraham Lincoln. Boutwell, an abolitionist, is primarily known for his leadership in the formation of the Republican Party, and his championship of African American citizenship and suffrage rights during Reconstruction. Boutwell, as U.S. Representative, was instrumental in the passage and construction of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Secretary of Treasury Boutwell made much needed reforms in the Treasury Department after the chaos of the American Civil War and the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson.〔 Secretary Boutwell controversially reduced the national debt by selling Treasury gold and using greenbacks to buy up Treasury bonds.〔Ackerman (2011), ''The Gold Ring'', pp. 90-91〕 This process created a shortage of much needed cash for farmers in the Western states and territories.〔Ackerman (2011), ''The Gold Ring'', p. 91〕 Secretary Boutwell and President Grant thwarted an attempt to corner the gold market in September 1869 by releasing $4,000,000 of gold into the economy. Boutwell, as U.S. Senator, successfully sponsored the Civil Rights Act of 1875, signed into law by President Grant. In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Boutwell commissioner to codify the ''Revised Statutes of the United States'' and in 1880 to serve as United States counsel before the French and American Claims Commission. As the national industrial interests desired reconciliation with the South, Boutwell's advocacy of equality for African Americans declined within the Republican Party. Boutwell fell out of favor with the Republicans when he advocated in 1880 that Congress needed to take effective measures that would destroy the Solid South. At the turn of the 19th century in 1900, Boutwell himself abandoned the Republican Party, opposed the acquisition of the Philippines, and supported William J. Bryan for President. ==Early life== On January 28, 1818, George S. Boutwell was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, near Boston.〔Boutwell (1902), vol. 1, p. 1〕〔Appletons (1900)〕 According to his autobiographical memoir, Boutwell was raised on his family's farm in Lunenburg and attended public school until the age of seventeen.〔Boutwell (1902), pp. 2, 7, 19〕 During the summer months he worked barefooted, tending oxen and picking chestnuts.〔Boutwell (1902), vol. 1, p. 7〕 Boutwell was educated in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and Latin grammar.〔Boutwell (1902), vol. 1, pp. 18-19〕 From 1830 to 1835, Boutwell worked as an apprentice and clerk for Simeon Heywood, who owned a palm leaf hat store.〔Boutwell (1902), vol. 1, p. 20〕 While completing his education, Boutwell worked briefly as a teacher in Pound Hill.〔Boutwell, vol. 1, pp. 31-32〕 Boutwell graduated public school in February 1835. From 1835 to 1838, Boutwell worked as a clerk and shopkeeper in Groton, Massachusetts.〔〔Boutwell, vol. 1, p. 33〕 In 1836 he began to study law under attorney Bradford Russell, whose office was above the store where he clerked. Boutwell did not take the bar exam or enter into active practice until many years later.〔〔Boutwell (1902), vol. 1, p. 40〕 Having finished his clerkship, Boutwell became a partner in the shop, from 1838 to 1841.〔Boutwell (1902), p. 47〕 While Boutwell ran the store, he began a personal regimen of reading and writing in an effort to make up for having chosen not to attend college.〔〔Boutwell (1902), p. 48〕 Boutwell made his public career debut when he served as a pension agent for widows of the Revolutionary War that had ended in 1783.〔Chadwick (June 7, 1902), ''George S. Boutwell. Recollections of the Former Cabinet Minister Extending Over Sixty Years.'', New York Times〕 He traveled to Washington D.C. and was impressed after seeing Daniel Webster.〔 After talking with a black slave woman whose youngest child had been sold to Louisiana, Boutwell became dedicated to the anti-slavery cause.〔 Boutwell married Sarah Adelia Thayer on July 8, 1841.〔Boutwell (1902), vol. 1, p. xxiii〕 Sarah was the daughter of Nathan Hayler from Hollis, New Hampshire.〔 Their marriage produced two children: Georgianna (May 18, 1843) and Francis (February 26, 1847).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George S. Boutwell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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