James Jackson (21 September 1757 – 19 March 1806) was a member of the US House of Representatives from Georgia's 1st district from 4 March 1789 to 3 March 1791, preceding Anthony Wayne; as Governor of Georgia from 12 January 1798 to 3 March 1801, succeeding Jared Irwin and preceding David Emanuel; and as a US Senator from 4 March 1793 to 3 March 1795 (succeeding William Few and preceding George Walton) and from 4 March 1801 to 19 March 1806 (succeeding Walton and preceding John Milledge). He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party.
Biography[]
James Jackson was born in Morehamptonstead, Devon, England in 1757, and he immigrated to Savannah, Georgia at the age of 15. He became well known as a duelist with a fiery temper, and he served in the Georgia militia during the American Revolutionary War and in the expansionist drive against the Creeks. In 1786, he became a Brigadier-General, and he became a Major-General in 1792. Jackson served in the US House of Representatives from 1789 to 1791, in the US Senate from 1793 to 1795, as Governor from 1798 to 1801, and again as Senator from 1801 to 1806. Jackson vigorously opposed Alexander Hamilton's plans for federal assumption of the states' debts, and he also opposed efforts to curtail slavery. In 1791, he was defeated for re-election in the House by his former army commander Anthony Wayne due to irregularities committed by Wayne's supporters. Jackson died during his second Senate term in 1806.