Nicholas Davis Jr. (January 14, 1825 – November 3, 1875) was an American politician who served as a Deputy from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

to the

Provisional Congress of the Confederate States The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, fully the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a unicameral congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing ...

from April 1861 to February 1862.

Biography

Nicholas Davis Jr. was born in

Limestone County, Alabama Limestone County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 103,570. Its county seat is Athens. The county is named after Limestone Creek. Limestone County is included in the Huntsville, AL ...

, and served in the legislature in 1851. He was elected to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States to replace David P. Lewis and served in that capacity from April 1861 to February 1862. He was unsuccessful in organizing his regiment during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and served as lieutenant colonel of the 19th Regiment Alabama Infantry instead. Davis was a proponent and supporter of slavery in Alabama. In 1827, he was one of several signatories of "1827-01-08 Alabama Resolution Denouncing Emancipation of Slaves" that contended that slavery was a state's right's issue, and that the federal government did not have the authority to abolish the practice. An excerpt from the letter states: ″The select Committee ignatories..on the subject of the abolition and general emancipation of persons of colour heled in solitude in the United States; having had the same under consideration, respectfully submit the following Report: They conceive that the subject is one in which the States (where the evil complained of exists) are alone interested; that the frequent interference of the non-slave holding states in a matter so purely internal and domestic, is alike impolitic and incompatible with the rights and interest of the slave-holding states; and that the dictates of policy forbid the too frequent agitation of a question, which by the Constitution of the United States and of the several slave-holding states, is beyond the exercise of legislative control.″ The letter further states that the signatories disapprove with the ″entire emancipation of slaves″. A historical marker in Limestone County commemorates Davis' life and political engagement, but makes no mention of his support of slavery.

References

External links

Nicholas Davis Jr.
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Nicholas 1825 births 1875 deaths Alabama Secession Delegates of 1861 American proslavery activists Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States Members of the Alabama House of Representatives Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Alabama