James Jackson (Georgia politician)

Jackson as an officer in the American Revolution

James Jackson (September 21, 1757–March 19,1806) was a politician in the Democratic Republican Party. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789 until 1791. He was also a U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1793 to 1795 then from 1801 until his death, and was Governor of Georgia from 1798 to 1801. Jackson was well known as a duelist. Jackson County, Georgia is named in his honor.

Jackson was born in Moreton-Hampstead, Devonshire, England. He immigrated to Savannah, Georgia in 1772. During the American Revolutionary War, he served in the Georgia militia at the defense of Savannah, the Battle of Cowpens, and the recapture of Augusta and Savannah. After the war, he built up his law practice in Savannah. He was elected to the first Georgia state legislature. In 1788, Jackson was elected governor of Georgia, but declined the position, citing his inexperience.

In 1789, Jackson was elected to the First United States Congress. As a Jeffersonian, he vigorously opposed Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton's financial plans for federal assumption of the states' debts from the Revolutionary War. He also was also a strongly opposed to efforts to curtail slavery. In the election of 1791, he was defeated for re-election to his seat by Anthony Wayne. Jackson was convinced that Wayne had not won his seat fairly, so he mounted a campaign against Wayne and his supporters, finally succeeding in removing Wayne from Congress.

Jackson was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1793. Meanwhile, the state of Georgia sold a large portion of its western lands, called Yazoo, to a group of investors. Jackson, believing that the sale was influenced by bribery of state legislatures, resigned his post in the Senate to run for a seat in the Georgia legislature in 1795. He won the election and began to lead a campaign to repeal the Yazoo land sale. In 1798, he won the election for governor of Georgia and proceeded to impliment the legislation repealing the Yazoo land sale. Jackson placed blame for the Yazoo land fruad on his political enemies, the Federalists. Jackson was re-elected to the Senate in 1801 and served until his death in 1806. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.

Jackson was the start of a political dynasty in Georgia. His son Jabez Young Jackson was a Representative from Georgia in the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth United States Congress. James Jackson's grandson, also named James Jackson, was a U.S. Representative from Georgia, a judge advocate on the staff of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and a trustee of the University of Georgia.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• Lamplugh, George. 2003. "James Jackson". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Counsel. [1]