James Hamilton Jr. (May 8, 1786 – November 15, 1857) was an American lawyer and politician. He represented

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

(1822–1829) and served as its 53rd

governor 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 ...

(1830–1832). Prior to that he achieved widespread recognition and public approval for his actions as Intendant (mayor) of the city of Charleston, South Carolina in 1822, during the period when plans for a slave rising were revealed. As governor, he led the state during the Nullification Crisis of 1832, at the peak of his power. Hamilton organized a city militia in June 1822 to arrest suspects, including the purported free black leader

Denmark Vesey Denmark Vesey (also Telemaque) ( July 2, 1822) was an early 19th century free Black and community leader in Charleston, South Carolina, who was accused and convicted of planning a major slave revolt in 1822. Although the alleged plot was di ...

, supported the City Council in commissioning a Court of Magistrates and Freeholders, and defended their actions, including ordering the execution of Vesey and 34 other blacks, and deporting of tens of others. He helped shape the public perception of the Court proceedings and the reasons for the revolt, as well as gaining legislation in 1822 for more controls on slaves and free people of color. Because of problems with crippling debt after 1839, Hamilton's reputation suffered.

Early life and career

James Hamilton was born on May 8, 1786, in Charleston, South Carolina, to James and Elizabeth (Lynch) Hamilton, both of the Lowcountry planter elite; his mother was the daughter of Congressman Thomas Lynch and sister of

Thomas Lynch Jr. Thomas Lynch Jr. (August 5, 1749 – December 17, 1779) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina and a Founding Father of the United States. His father was a member of the Continent ...

His parents sent him to preparatory schools in New England; he studied in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, and Dedham, Massachusetts, before returning to Charleston. In the city he read law under prominent attorneys Daniel Huger and William Drayton. Hamilton passed the bar and went into practice in Drayton's office; he later was in partnership with James L. Petigru.Sean R. Busick, "Hamilton, James Jr. (1786–1857)"
, ''The South Carolina Encyclopædia,'' ed. Walter Edgar; Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2006

Marriage and family

On November 15, 1813, Hamilton married Elizabeth Mathews Heyward, daughter of wealthy low country South Carolina planter Daniel Heyward and Ann SarahTrezevant; her paternal grandfather was Thomas Heyward Jr., a South Carolinian who served in the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. She brought three plantations and approximately 200 slaves to the marriage. The couple had eleven children, ten males and one female.

Political career

Hamilton entered politics in the state. He was elected in 1818 to the South Carolina state House of Representatives, serving from 1819 until early 1822. That year Hamilton was elected as Intendant, or mayor, of the city of Charleston. He was serving when plans were revealed in the spring to white officials of a slave "rising," reportedly led by

, a free black carpenter and former slave, who was a leader of the large

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African-American Church. Hamilton quickly organized a

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

to defend the city and round up and arrest slave suspects. Its forces roamed the city and its environs for weeks. With Hamilton's leadership, the City Council commissioned a Court of Magistrates and Freeholders to review the cases, hear testimony, and determine guilt and punishment. They conducted their proceedings in secret, beginning in the middle of June. Suspects were arrested throughout the city. On July 1, the court published its initial findings related to the first 30 suspects: declaring Denmark Vesey and five slaves guilty of conspiracy and condemning them to death. They were executed on July 2 by hanging. In total, most during the next weeks, the courts examined a total of 131 men, convicted a total of 67 men of conspiracy and hanged 35 (including Vesey and others of the first group), through July 1822. A total of 31 men were transported, 27 reviewed and acquitted, and 38 questioned and released.Wade, Richard C. “The Vesey Plot: A Reconsideration”
''Journal of Southern History'', XXX (May 1964), l43-161 The court proceedings were controversial, criticized by

United States Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

William Johnson and South Carolina Governor Thomas Bennett Jr. for their secrecy and lack of due process, as defendants were not allowed to confront accusers and witnesses were promised secrecy. But, Hamilton captured the public opinion of the events, publishing a 46-page article in August, taking credit for the city's actions in preventing a huge uprising and bloodbath. He also shaped the Court's official Report of its proceedings, published in October. Historian Lacy K. Ford has said, "the balance of the evidence clearly points to the exaggeration of the plot and the misappropriation of its lessons by Hamilton, the Court, and their allies for their own political advantage."Lacy Ford, "An Interpretation of the Denmark Vesey Insurrection Scare"
''The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association,'' 2012, pp. 16-18 Robert Tinkler, biographer of Hamilton, thinks he was ruthless about pursuing suspects because he believed the plot was real. Hamilton built his political career on these events. In the fall, he lobbied the legislature to gain his agenda of increasing controls on slaves and free blacks in the state. He opposed the increasing paternalism in slave treatment which was based on Christian teachings. Hamilton was successful in gaining passage of state laws to achieve his goals, including the Seaman's Act of 1822, which required free black sailors to be imprisoned when their ships were in port in Charleston, to prevent their coming into contact with slaves in the city. As this violated international treaties, the law caused conflict with the federal government. Hamilton upheld the state's right to make such a law, but it was declared unconstitutional.William H. Freehling, ''The Road to Disunion: Secessionists at Bay 1776-1854,'' Oxford University Press, 1990, pp. 253-270 Hamilton gained increased restrictions on free blacks, with a state law that prohibited them from returning to the state to live if they left for any reason, and controls on slave worship and gatherings. He ordered the congregation of the AME Church to be dispersed, and the building destroyed. The minister Morris Brown thanked Hamilton for helping him escape the state; historian Robert L. Paquette credits Hamilton with helping contain white vigilantism. Robert L. Paquette
Review: 'James Hamilton of South Carolina' by Robert Tinkler
" ''The South Carolina Historical Magazine'', Vol. 107, No. 4, Oct., 2006 When South Carolina Congressman William Lowndes resigned from the U.S. Congress in May 1822, Hamilton was well known and had much public support. He was appointed to complete Lowndes' term, starting his congressional career on December 13, 1822, while still serving as mayor. He was elected to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 1824 to a full term, and re-elected in 1826 and 1828, serving until 1829. He had led opposition to the administration of

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

and opposed the Tariff Acts of 1824 and 1828. Increasingly at odds with the national government, Hamilton declined to be nominated for another term and returned to his home state to prepare for confrontation. Hamilton was elected by the state legislature as Governor of South Carolina in 1830, and built up the States' Rights and Free Trade Party. He led the state during the Nullification Crisis of 1832, when more than 80% of the state convention's 162 delegates voted to nullify the federal tariffs of 1828 and 1832. After

Robert Y. Hayne Robert Young Hayne (November 10, 1791 – September 24, 1839) was an American lawyer, planter and politician. He served in the United States Senate from 1823 to 1832, as Governor of South Carolina 1832–1834, and as Mayor of Charleston 1836– ...

was elected by the legislature to governor, he commissioned Hamilton as a brigadier general in the state's militia. Hamilton prepared for possibly defending the state against federal forces on nullification. Interested in supporting the expansion of slavery in western territories, Hamilton personally lent $216,000 to the young Republic of Texas in the 1830s. Subsequent to that, he made a number of poor business decisions, aggravated by the Panic of 1837, and leaving him deeply in debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars by 1839 – a condition often shared by other planters. Perhaps because his condition reminded them unpleasantly of their own, Hamilton's struggles with debt and poor decision-making caused a steep decline over the next twenty years in his reputation among the planter class in South Carolina. At the time of his death in 1857, he received no recognition from his home state. He was appointed as loan commissioner for Texas by President

Mirabeau Lamar Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (August 16, 1798 – December 25, 1859) was an attorney born in Georgia, who became a Texas politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier. He was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was elec ...

and traveled to Europe to try to secure much-needed credit for the new republic. He did succeed in negotiating some commercial treaties. He also gained diplomatic recognition for Texas from Great Britain and the Netherlands. After being replaced in 1842, Hamilton struggled over several years to try to obtain federal reimbursement for his personal loan to Texas. Hamilton moved with his family to Texas in 1855, nearly ten years after the republic had been annexed and made a

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

. In 1857, while Hamilton was returning by the steamboat ''Opelousas'' to Texas from Washington, D.C., his ship was hit by the ''Galveston'' and exploded on fire; it sank within half an hour off

Avery Island, Louisiana Avery Island (historically french: Île Petite Anse) is a salt dome best known as the source of Tabasco sauce. Located in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States, it is approximately inland from Vermilion Bay, which in turn opens onto the Gulf ...

, in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. Twenty people died from the ''Opelousas,'' including Hamilton after he gave up his seat in a lifeboat to a woman and her child.

Legacy

*Hamilton helped gain approval by the South Carolina legislature to authorize and appropriate $100,000 for an armory and defensive installation in Charleston against

slave revolts A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedo ...

; what became known as

the Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

was completed in the city in 1829. *Hamilton was the first governor of South Carolina to have his photograph taken. *

Hamilton County, Texas Hamilton County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,222. The county seat is Hamilton. The county was created in 1858. It is named for James Hamilton Jr., a former ...

is named in his honor.

References

External links