James Ross (July 12, 1762November 27, 1847) was a lawyer who represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate from 1794 to 1803. During his tenure, he served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate from March to December 1799.

Biography

Born near

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

, York County, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Joseph and Jane (Graham) Ross. At eighteen, after having received a classical education, he moved to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and taught at what would become

Washington and Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1784 focusing on land law. A Federalist, he was a member of the convention that drafted a new constitution for Pennsylvania in 1789–1790. In 1791 Ross was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

appointed him to negotiate with the rebels of the Whiskey Rebellion, successfully defusing the situation without violence. On April 1, 1794, the Pennsylvania legislature

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...

him to the United States Senate to replace

Albert Gallatin Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan– American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years ...

, who was removed by the legislature. There, he authored a new law for the public lands and fought President Thomas Jefferson's administration. He was elected to a second term in the Senate in

1797 Events January–March * January 3 – The Treaty of Tripoli, a peace treaty between the United States and Ottoman Tripolitania, is signed at Algiers (''see also'' 1796). * January 7 – The parliament of the Cisalpine Rep ...

. In 1800, with the 1800 Presidential Election on the horizon, Ross introduced a controversial bill whereby, after the electoral votes were counted in Congress, the ballots would be turned over to a committee chaired by the Chief Justice and consisting of twelve members, six from each house of Congress. The committee, acting behind closed doors, would be able to discard electoral votes deemed fraudulent after investigation. A group of horrified Republican Senators leaked the bill to arch-Republican Philadelphia printer William Duane, who published the contents in his ''Aurora'' on February 19, 1800. The Federalists quickly dropped the bill. On January 15, 1803, amidst the controversies over Spain's revocation of the American right of deposit at New Orleans and French acquisition of Louisiana, Ross moved to afford Jefferson the ability to raise 50,000 troops to seize New Orleans. Jefferson did not want to have to use these troops, but the motion gave United States Minister to France Robert R. Livingston leverage in his negotiations, which resulted in the Louisiana Purchase. He ran unsuccessfully for

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

1799 Events January–June * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January 1 ...

1802 Events January–March * January 5 – Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, begins removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, claiming they were at risk of destruction during the Ott ...

, and

1808 Events January–March * January 1 ** The importation of slaves into the United States is banned, as the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect; African slaves continue to be imported into Cuba, and until the island ab ...

.Sanford W. Higginbotham, ''The Keystone in the Democratic Arch: Pennsylvania Politics, 1800–1816'' (Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1952), pp. 155–75. During the late 1810s he is listed as the

Pittsburgh City Council The Pittsburgh City Council serves as the legislative body in the City of Pittsburgh. It consists of nine members. City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts. The city operates under a mayor-council sys ...

President. He died in Allegheny, which is now part of Pittsburgh. Ross Street in Downtown Pittsburgh (bordering the Pittsburgh City-County Building and the

Allegheny County Courthouse The Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is part of a complex (along with the old Allegheny County Jail) designed by H. H. Richardson. The buildings are considered among the finest examples of the Romanesque Reviva ...

), the Pittsburgh suburb of Ross Township, the Fox Chapel borough street James Ross Place, and Ross County, Ohio, are named in his honor.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, James 1762 births 1847 deaths People from York County, Pennsylvania People of colonial Pennsylvania Pro-Administration Party United States senators from Pennsylvania Federalist Party United States senators from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Federalists Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate Pennsylvania lawyers Washington & Jefferson College faculty Burials at Allegheny Cemetery 19th-century American lawyers