James Gunn (March 13, 1753 – July 30, 1801) was a delegate to the
Continental Congress and a
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and power ...
from
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Early life
Gunn was born in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
to Thomas and Sarah Gunn and became a lawyer. Gunn served in the 1st Continental Dragoons during the
Revolutionary War. He moved to Georgia after the war and became a significant political figure in his new home, establishing himself in short order as a planter, magistrate, state legislator, and militia officer, where he rose to
brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...
in the
1st Brigade of the Georgia militia in 1792. He owned slaves.
Political life
Between 1782 and 1789, Gunn unsuccessfully challenged retired
Gen. Nathanael Greene to a duel, assailed Georgia Revolutionary War hero
James Jackson in the press, and defeated
Gen. Anthony Wayne for one of Georgia's
First U.S. Senate seats in January 1789.
Gunn was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1787 but never attended sessions.
In his first term as senator, between mid-May and late June 1789, Gunn moved from opposing the establishment of
excise taxes
file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...
to supporting them. He also opposed giving the president the power to remove heads of cabinet departments without the advice and consent of the Senate. The administration negotiated the
Treaty of New York (1790)
The Treaty of New York was a treaty signed in 1790 between leaders of the Muscogee and U.S. Secretary of War Henry Knox, who served in the presidential administration of George Washington.
A failed 1789 attempt at a treaty between the United S ...
with the
Creek Indians
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands[Federalist
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of d ...]
, and Jackson was a
Jeffersonian.
Gunn supported the formation of the Georgia Company and the sale of the
Yazoo lands
The Yazoo lands were the central and western regions of the U.S. state of Georgia, when its western border stretched back to the Mississippi. The Yazoo lands were named for the Yazoo nation, that lived on the lower course of the Yazoo, in what ...
. In the aftermath of the Yazoo sale, Gunn acted quickly to complete the transaction and protect it in Washington, while Jackson tried to block the completion of the sale. On June 24, 1795, Gunn voted in favor of the
Jay Treaty
The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted ...
, one of only two southern senators to do so. James Jackson voted against it. Jackson resigned from the Senate and returned to Georgia to work against Gunn, who fell in public opinion due to the
Yazoo land fraud.
Gunn was re-elected in 1795 and served out his second term until March 1801.
Death and legacy
Gunn died in
Louisville, Georgia
Louisville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Georgia, United States, and also a former state capital of Georgia. It is located southwest of Augusta on the Ogeechee River, and its population was 2,493 at the 2010 census, do ...
and is buried in a Revolutionary War cemetery in Louisville, GA. A World War II
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. M ...
, the ''SS James Gunn, ATS-0044'' was built in 1942 and named for him.
See also
List of Liberty ships: G-Je
Notes
References
*Smith, Gordon Burns, ''History of the Georgia Militia, 1783-1861, Volume One, Campaigns and Generals'', Boyd Publishing, 2000.
External links
[Letter/nowiki>_1791_Jan._26,_Philadelphia_[to
.html" ;"title="etter">[Letter
/nowiki> 1791 Jan. 26, Philadelphia [to">etter">[Letter
/nowiki> 1791 Jan. 26, Philadelphia [to/nowiki> Edw[ar]d Telfair, Governor of Georgia / James Gunn]
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, James
1753 births
1801 deaths
People from Virginia
Virginia colonial people
Anti-Administration Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)
Federalist Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)
American slave owners
People from Louisville, Georgia
American militia generals
Georgia (U.S. state) militiamen in the American Revolution
United States senators who owned slaves