Amasa Walker (May 4, 1799 – October 29, 1875) was an American economist and

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. He was the father of Francis Amasa Walker.

Biography

He moved with his parents to North Brookfield, Massachusetts, and attended the district school. In 1814 he entered commercial life, and in 1820 formed a partnership with Allen Newell in North Brookfield, but three years later withdrew to become the agent of the Methuen Manufacturing Company. In 1825 he formed the firm of Carleton and Walker, of Boston, with Charles G. Carleton, but in 1827 he went into business independently. He was the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee for

mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a m ...

in the 1837 Boston mayoral election. He was a delegate to the 1836

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

. In 1839, he became president of the Boston Temperance Society, the first total abstinence association in that city, and in 1839 he advocated a continuous railway between Boston and the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. In 1840 he retired from commercial life and went into academia. In 1842–1848, he lectured on

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

. In 1853–1860, he was an examiner on political economy at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, and in 1859–1869 lecturer on political economy at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

. The degree of

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

was conferred on him by Amherst in 1867. He was a frequent contributor to periodical literature, especially on financial subjects. His principal work, ''Science of Wealth, a Manual of Political Economy'', was published in 1866. Other works were ''Nature and Uses of Money and Mixed Currency'' (Boston, 1857) and, with William B. Calhoun and Charles L. Flint, ''Transactions of the Agricultural Societies of Massachusetts'' (7 vols., 1848–1854). In 1857, he began the publication of a series of articles on political economy in ''Hunt's Merchant's Magazine''. He was active in the anti-slavery movement, and in 1848 he was one of the founders of the

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party, also called the Free Democratic Party or the Free Democracy, was a political party in the United States from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. The party was focused o ...

. Walker served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

in 1849 and 1860, in the Massachusetts State Senate in 1850, as

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth The secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Originally appointed under authority of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Eng ...

1851–1853, and in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

1862–1863, where he was elected as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Goldsmith Bailey. In 1853, he was chosen as a member of the convention for revising the state constitution, becoming the chairman of the committee on suffrage. In 1860, he was chosen as a member of the

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

of Massachusetts and cast his ballot for

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. Walker was a delegate to the first International Peace Congress in London of 1843, and he served at the Paris Congress in 1849.

Books

*''The Science of Wealth: A Manual of Political Economy. Embracing the Laws of Trade, Currency, and Finance'', Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown & Co. (1866).

References

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Amasa Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts state senators Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts Jacksonians Massachusetts Libertyites Massachusetts Free Soilers Harvard University staff Oberlin College faculty American economics writers American male non-fiction writers People from Woodstock, Connecticut People from North Brookfield, Massachusetts 1799 births 1875 deaths Massachusetts Democrats Abolitionists from Boston American temperance activists Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives