John Peter Richardson II (April 14, 1801January 24, 1864) was the 59th Governor of South Carolina from 1840 to 1842.

Early life and career

Richardson was a son of John Peter Richardson and Floride Bonneau Peyre, and a grandson of General Richard Richardson of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. He was born on Hickory Hill Plantation in St. James Santee Parish in Clarendon County. Richardson was educated at Moses Waddel's School in Willington. He graduated from

South Carolina College The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Carolina System and th ...

in 1819 and practiced law upon passing the bar. At the age of 24, Richardson was elected to the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

in 1825 and was known as a Unionist during the Nullification Crisis of the early 1830s. He was elevated to the

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at ...

in 1834 and won a seat in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

as a Jacksonian for the 8th district after the death of

Richard Irvine Manning I Richard Irvine Manning I (May 1, 1789May 1, 1836) was the 50th Governor of South Carolina, Governor of South Carolina from 1824 to 1826 and was later a United States House of Representatives, Representative in the United States Congress. Early ...

in 1836. Running as a Democrat, Richardson won re-election for a full term to the Twenty-fifth Congress.

As Governor

By the late 1830s, South Carolina's political leaders grew increasingly anxious about the prospects of the Whigs taking control of the federal government and enacting high tariffs. The only option that they felt available to them was the reconciliation of the factions in South Carolina and to put up a united opposition through the Democratic Party.

John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Born in South Carolina, he adamantly defended American s ...

Robert Rhett Robert Barnwell Rhett (born Robert Barnwell Smith; December 21, 1800September 14, 1876) was an American politician who served as a deputy from South Carolina to the Provisional Confederate States Congress from 1861 to 1862, a member of the US H ...

and

Franklin H. Elmore Franklin Harper Elmore (October 15, 1799May 29, 1850) was a United States representative and United States Senate, Senator from South Carolina. Biography Born in Laurens County, South Carolina, Laurens District, the son of John Archer Elmore, ...

led the effort to unite the Unionists and the Secessionists and one measure undertaken to reunite the factions was the election of Richardson as Governor of South Carolina in 1840. Nonetheless, extreme secessionists opposed a Unionist being governor and

James Henry Hammond James Henry Hammond (November 15, 1807 – November 13, 1864) was an American attorney, politician, and Planter (American South), planter. He served as a United States representative from 1835 to 1836, the 60th Governor of South Carolina from 1842 ...

entered the gubernatorial race to oppose Richardson. The

South Carolina General Assembly The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and ...

followed the lead of Calhoun to end the infighting and Richardson was elected governor. Richardson's term as governor was marked by the Bank of South Carolina refusing to adopt new banking regulations and the enactment of the

Tariff of 1842 The Tariff of 1842, or Black Tariff as it became known, was a protectionist tariff schedule adopted in the United States. It reversed the effects of the Compromise Tariff of 1833, which contained a provision that successively lowered the tariff ...

by the federal government. He promoted the establishment of the

South Carolina Military Academy The South Carolina Military Academy was a predecessor, two-campus institution to The Citadel. It was established in 1842 by the South Carolina Legislature and classes began at the Arsenal (Columbia) in 1843. South Carolina had constructed a series ...

in Charleston because he felt that the militia of the state should be well educated and trained.

Later life

Upon leaving the governorship in 1842, Richardson remained active in politics by participating at the Southern Convention of 1850, the Southern Rights Convention of 1852 and he signed the

Ordinance of Secession An Ordinance of Secession was the name given to multiple resolutions drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of the American Civil War, by which each seceding slave-holding Southern state or territory formally Secession in ...

at the Secession Convention of 1860. He died in Fulton, South Carolina on January 24, 1864 (about a year before the dissolution of the

Confederate States The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States from 1861 to 1865. It comprised eleven U.S. states th ...

), and was buried at the Richardson Cemetery on Hickory Hill Plantation.

External links

SCIway Biography of John Peter Richardson IINGA Biography of John Peter Richardson IIUnited States Congress Biography of John Peter Richardson IIFind a Grave General Richard Richardson

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson II, John Peter 1801 births 1864 deaths 19th-century American lawyers University of South Carolina alumni South Carolina lawyers Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives South Carolina state senators Governors of South Carolina University of South Carolina trustees Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Democratic Party governors of South Carolina People from Clarendon County, South Carolina 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly