James Hamilton Jr.
James Hamilton Jr. | |
---|---|
Robert W. Barnwell | |
25th Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina | |
In office 1821–1822 | |
Preceded by | Elias Horry |
Succeeded by | John Geddes |
Member of the South Carolina Senate from St. Philip's and St. Michael's Parish | |
In office November 28, 1836 – November 26, 1838 | |
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from St. Philip's and St. Michael's Parish | |
In office November 27, 1820 – November 25, 1822 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | May 8, 1786
Died | November 15, 1857 Gulf of Mexico | (aged 71)
Political party | States' Rights Democrat |
Other political affiliations | Nullifier Party |
James Hamilton Jr. (May 8, 1786 – November 15, 1857) was an
Hamilton organized a city militia in June 1822 to arrest suspects, including the purported free black leader Denmark Vesey, 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.
His parents sent him to preparatory schools in New England; he studied in
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
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.[2]
The court proceedings were controversial, criticized by
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,[3] 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.[5] 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.[3][5] He ordered the congregation of the AME Church to be dispersed, and the building destroyed.[5] The minister Morris Brown thanked Hamilton for helping him escape the state; historian Robert L. Paquette credits Hamilton with helping contain white vigilantism.[4]
When South Carolina Congressman
Hamilton was elected by the state legislature as Governor of South Carolina in 1830, and built up the
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
Hamilton moved with his family to Texas in 1855, nearly ten years after the republic had been annexed and made a
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 the Citadelwas completed in the city in 1829.
- Hamilton was the first governor of South Carolina to have his photograph taken.
- Hamilton County, Texas is named in his honor.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d Sean R. Busick, "Hamilton, James Jr. (1786–1857)" Archived 2014-11-10 at the Wayback Machine, The South Carolina Encyclopædia, ed. Walter Edgar; Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2006
- ^ Wade, Richard C. “The Vesey Plot: A Reconsideration”, Journal of Southern History, XXX (May 1964), l43-161 (subscription required)
- ^ a b c Lacy Ford, "An Interpretation of the Denmark Vesey Insurrection Scare", The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association, 2012, pp. 16-18
- ^ a b c d Robert L. Paquette "Review: 'James Hamilton of South Carolina' by Robert Tinkler," The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 107, No. 4, Oct., 2006 (subscription required)
- ^ a b c William H. Freehling, The Road to Disunion: Secessionists at Bay 1776-1854, Oxford University Press, 1990, pp. 253-270
- ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 148.
Further reading
- Johnson, Michael P. “Denmark Vesey and his Co-Conspirators”, William and Mary Quarterly, LVIII, No. 4. (October 2001), 915-976 (subscription required).
- Johnson, Michael P., Douglas R. Egerton, Edward A. Pearson, David Robertson, Winthrop Jordan, et al. in "Forum: The Making of a Slave Conspiracy, Part 2", William and Mary Quarterly, LViV, No. 1, (January 2002)(subscription required)
- Tinkler, Robert, James Hamilton of South Carolina. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004.
External links
- SCIway Biography of James Hamilton Jr.
- NGA Biography of James Hamilton Jr.
- United States Congress Biography of James Hamilton Jr.
- James Hamilton from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Busick, Sean R. "Hamilton, James Jr. South Carolina Encyclopedia.