page_title: William Upham
section_title: United States Senator
hierarchical_section_title: William Upham / United States Senator
caption_attribution_description: English: William Upham (US Senator from Vermont)
context_page_description: William Upham was an American attorney and politician from Montpelier, Vermont. He was most notable for his service as a United States Senator from Vermont.
  A native of Leicester, Massachusetts, Upham was raised in Leicester and Montpelier, where his family moved in 1802. he was educated locally and worked on the family farm until he lost his right hand in an accident when he was fifteen. He then completed an academic course at Montpelier Academy and with local tutors in preparation to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1811 and practiced in Montpelier. Upham was an advocate for reform causes including temperance and the abolition of slavery, and changed his party affiliation several times as the anti-slavery movement grew and coalesced, going from the National Republicans to the Anti-Masonic Party to the Whigs in the 1830s. He was a leader of both the Anti-Masons and the Whigs, represented Montpelier in the Vermont House of Representatives twice, and served a term as State's Attorney of Washington County.
  In 1842, Upham was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was reelected in 1848 and served from March 4, 1843 until his death.
context_section_description: In 1842 Samuel Prentiss resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate in order to accept appointment as judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.  Samuel C. Crafts was appointed to fill the vacancy, and served until the end of the term to which Prentiss had been elected, April 23, 1842 to March 3, 1843.  Crafts was not a candidate for a full term, and Upham was the successful Whig candidate for the seat.  He was reelected in 1848 and served from March 4, 1843 until his death.  While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture (28th Congress) and the Committee on Pensions (29th Congress).
  As an opponent of slavery, Upham argued against U.S. involvement in the Mexican-American War, and introduced resolutions calling for immediate withdrawal from Mexico or a quick conclusion to the war.  He was an opponent of allowing slavery to extend beyond where it already existed, and voted against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and other details related to the Compromise of 1850.  He was also a proponent of the Wilmot Proviso, which would have prevented the U.S. from extending slavery into any territory acquired as a result of the Mexican War.
caption: Illustration of Upham circa 1850, based on contemporary photo
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