The backlash he received from his stubborn actions cost him his fame, power, and reputation. Benton was often chastised by Miller, the VP at the time, for being too "rude" or "rowdy" on the debate floor, and his career followed a slope of steady decline. However, Benton, a man of war, strength, and character, never strayed from his projected path. Benton stayed true to his beliefs that slavery would harbor Western Expansion and continued to defy the pro-slavery route expected of him by other Senators and supporters, fighting for his rights as well as those of minorities until his literal and political demise.
As John F. Kennedy once said, "There are risks and costs to action- but those risks are far less than the long range risk of comfortable action."
Those cowards voted me out of office in 1851! I prevailed and was reelected in 1853, but as soon as I began to set things in order again I was finally expelled from the Senate in 1855.
Benton lived by that mantra and continued to take the risks of defending his beliefs, never satisfied with taking the submissive stance on any topic, even though it cost him his career.
I WILL NOT CEASE! THE UNION NEVER CEASED AND NEITHER WILL I! MY PERSONAL SENTIMENTS ARE AGAINST THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY, AND AGAINST ITS INTRODUCTION INTO PLACES WHERE IT DOESN'T EXIST! IF THERE WAS NO SLAVERY IN MISSOURI TODAY, I SHOULD....
Even after his political career was over, Benton tirelessly campaigned and gave speeches to absent audiences with the same fiery passion he served on the Senate floor.
what is he talking about nobody is here
Benton fell sick in his old age and was unable to campaign, yet continued to send passionate letters to those in positions of power until the day he died.
Dear Senator Calhoun, your abhorrent actions in government have prompted me to....
Although Benton was criticized from his political beginning until the day he died, it was his courageous actions and fiery debates that preserved, protected, and progressed the new territory of the United States into the successfully integrated and advanced state that it currently resides in today. Without his relentlessly brave actions in the faces of adversity, the United States would not be the equal and accepting place it is now. Benton fearlessly defied societal and political norms in the spirit of One Man for All Men.
An unforgettable icon of bravery and perseverance for the common good on the battlefield, in society, and on the Senate floor, Thomas Hart Benton showed immense courage in all of his challenges and stands as one of the most passionate, progressive, intellectual, and outstanding senators this country has ever seen.