Editing George M. Dallas (section)

==Family and early life==
Dallas was born in [[Philadelphia]] on July 10, 1792, to [[Alexander J. Dallas (statesman)|Alexander James Dallas]] and Arabella Maria Smith Dallas.<ref name=USSBio/> His father, of Scottish descent,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0LAOkIqQH0C&dq=george+M.+Dallas+scotland&pg=PA710 | isbn=978-1-61640-070-5 | title=The Universal Dictionary of Biography and Mythology: Clu-hys | date=January 2010 | publisher=Cosimo }}</ref> born in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], Jamaica, to Dr. Robert Dallas and educated in [[Edinburgh]], was the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] under [[United States President]] [[James Madison]], and was also briefly the [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]].<ref name=USSBio>{{cite web  | title = George Mifflin Dallas, 11th Vice President (1845–1849) | url = https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_George_Dallas.htm}}</ref> Dr Dallas left Jamaica in 1764, having mortgaged his estate, Dallas Castle, and put it in a trust. This property included 900 acres and 91 slaves.<ref>Ashcroft, Michael (1975). "Robert Charles Dalles identified as the author of an anonymous book about Jamaica". ''Jamaica Journal''. 9 (1): 94–101.</ref><ref>University College London, ''Legacies of British Slave-Ownership'' https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146651101 Retrieved 10 November 2020.</ref> George Dallas was given his middle name after [[Thomas Mifflin]], another politician who was good friends with his father.<ref name=Belohlavek109>Belohlavek. "George Mifflin Dallas", p. 109.</ref> 
His mother, Arabella Smith, was English, born in [[England]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E7zOEAAAQBAJ&q=Arabella%20 | isbn=978-1-56750-813-0 | title=Biographical Dictionary of the United States Secretaries of the Treasury, 1789-1995 | date=9 December 1996 | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA }}</ref>

Dallas was the second of six children,<ref name=USSBio/> another of whom, [[Alexander J. Dallas (United States Navy officer)|Alexander]], would become the commander of [[Pensacola Navy Yard]]. During Dallas' childhood, the family lived in a mansion on Fourth Street, with a second home in the countryside, situated on the [[Schuylkill River]]. He was educated privately at Quaker-run [[University-preparatory school|preparatory schools]], before studying at the College of New Jersey (now [[Princeton University]]), from which he graduated with highest honors in 1810.<ref name=Belohlavek109/> While at College, he participated in several activities, including the [[American Whig–Cliosophic Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=Princetonian19750725-01.2.174&srpos=7&e=-------en-20--1--txt-IN-dallas----# |title=Daily Princetonian – Special Class of 1979 Issue 25 July 1975 — Princeton Periodicals |publisher=Theprince.princeton.edu |date=1975-07-25 |access-date=2013-04-19}}</ref> Afterwards, he [[reading law|studied law]] in his father's office, and he was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in 1813.<ref name=USSBio/>