John Archibald Campbell (June 24, 1811 – March 12, 1889), was an American jurist. Image File history File links John_A._Campbell. ... Image File history File links John_A._Campbell. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... 1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... JURIST is an online legal news and research service hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, edited by Professor Bernard Hibbitts and a staff of more than 20 law students. ...

Campbell was born near Washington, Georgia, to Col. Duncan Greene Campbell (for whom Campbell County, Georgia, is named). Considered a child prodigy, he graduated from the University of Georgia in 1825 at the age of 14, and attended West Point Military Academy for three years, but withdrew upon the death of his father and returned home to Georgia. He read law with former Georgia governor John Clark, and was admitted to the bar in 1829, at the age of 18 (this required a special act of the Georgia legislature). Washington is a city located in Wilkes County, Georgia. ... Georgia legislature in 1828 on December 20th. ... Look up prodigy on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The University of Georgia, located 60 miles northeast of Atlanta in Athens, Georgia, was the first state-chartered university in the United States, making it the birthplace of the American system of public higher education. ... 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Alternate meanings: West Point (disambiguation). ... This article is about the fictional character in Tom Clancy novels. ... A bar association is a professional body of lawyers who, in some jurisdictions, are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession. ... 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Campbell later moved to Alabama, establishing a practice in Montgomery. There he married Anne Goldthwaite and, in 1836, was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives. In 1839 he moved to Mobile and resumed private practice, but was elected again to the state legislature in 1843. Campbell was twice offered appointment to the Alabama Supreme Court, but declined on both occasions. State nickname: Camellia State, The Heart of Dixie¹, Yellowhammer State Other U.S. States Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Governor Bob Riley (R) Senators Richard Shelby (R) Jeff Sessions (R) Official languages English Area 52,423 mi²/135,775 km² (30th)  - Land 50,750 mi²/131,442 km²  - Water 1... Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama. ... 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: The Azalea City Location in Alabama Founded Incorporated 1702 1814  County Mobile County Mayor Sam Jones Area  - Total  - Water 412. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1852 the death of John McKinley created a vacancy on the Supreme Court. President Millard Fillmore, a Whig, made three nominations to fill the vacancy, all of whom were denied confirmation by the Democratic-controlled Senate. After the election of Franklin Pierce, a Democrat, a group of sitting Supreme Court justices approached Pierce to recommend Campbell as a nominee; this is one of the few times sitting justices have made recommendations for new nominations. Pierce, who was hoping to stave off insurrection by appeasing the South, agreed to nominate the Alabaman Campbell, and he was approved by the Senate in March of 1853. 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... John McKinley (May 1, 1780-July 19, 1852) was a U.S. senator from the state of Alabama and an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the thirteenth President of the United States, serving from 1850 until 1853, and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the nations highest office. ... This article is about the British Whig party. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804 – October 8, 1869) was an American politician and the 14th President of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Campbell strongly opposed secession, and in early 1861 served as a mediator between William H. Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of War, and the three Confederate commissioners Martin Crawford, Andre Roman, and John Forsyth. Campbell had been instructed that the Lincoln administration's policy was for peace and reconciliation, not war, but during the meetings Campbell learned that the U.S. government was reinforcing Fort Sumter and had requested 75,000 volunteers, and Campbell decided that he had been lied to. 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. ... Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ... Motto: Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Anthem: God Save the South (unofficial) Dixie (popular) Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Danville, Virginia April 3–April 10, 1865 Largest city New Orleans February 4, 1861 until captured May... John Forsyth (October 22, 1780 – October 21, 1841) was a 19th century American politician from Georgia. ... Before the attack Map detailing the location of Fort Sumter 1861, inside the fort flying the Confederate Flag Fort Sumter under fire Fort Sumter, South Carolina, viewed from a sandbar in Charleston Harbor, 1865. ...

Facing this, Campbell resigned from the Court on April 30, 1861, and returned to Alabama. A year later he was named Assistant Secretary of War by Confederate president Jefferson Davis, a position he held through the end of the war. After the fall of Richmond in 1865, Campbell was arrested and imprisoned at Fort Pulaski, in Georgia, for six months. After his release, he was reconciled and resumed his law practice in New Orleans, Louisiana. In this private practice he argued a number of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining, as the last day in April. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American soldier and politician. ... The American Civil War (1861–1865) was fought in North America within the United States of America, between twenty-three mostly northern states of the Union and the Confederate States of America, a coalition of eleven southern states that declared their independence and claimed the right of secession from the... Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States of America. ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Fort Pulaski National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service located between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. ... New Orleans (local pronunciations: , , or ) (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans, pronounced in standard French accent) is a major U.S. port city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ...

Campbell served only eight years on the Supreme Court, though he remained in good health until his death in 1889 and could have served on the court for many years had the Civil War not intervened. He was regarded as a brilliant jurist, though he sided with the majority in Dred Scott v. Sandford. 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Holding Blacks, whether slaves or free, could not become United States citizens and the plaintiff therefore lacked the capacity to file a lawsuit. ...

References

• Data drawn in part from the Supreme Court Historical Society and Oyez.
• Justice John Campbell—Last of the Jacksonians, by Christine Jordan

The Taney Court
1853–1857:	J. McLean | J. M. Wayne | J. Catron | P. V. Daniel | S. Nelson | R. C. Grier | B. R. Curtis | J. A. Campbell
1858–1860:	J. McLean | J. M. Wayne | J. Catron | P. V. Daniel | S. Nelson | R. C. Grier | J. A. Campbell | N. Clifford
1860–1861:	J. McLean | J. M. Wayne | J. Catron | S. Nelson | R. C. Grier | J. A. Campbell | N. Clifford