Charles James McDonald

Charles McDonald

Charles James McDonald (born July 9, 1793 in Charleston , South Carolina , † December 16, 1860 in Marietta , Georgia ) was an American politician and Governor of Georgia.

Early years

Charles McDonald, born in Charleston, came from a family that immigrated from Scotland . When he was a child, his parents moved him to Hancock County , Georgia. After the usual elementary schools, young Charles studied law at South Carolina College . After his admission to the bar, he opened a flourishing legal practice. This enabled him to purchase his own plantation in Bibb County .

Political rise

In 1822 he joined the civil service as a Henry County attorney . Just three years later he became a judge in the same district. He gave up this office again in 1830. Now living in Macon, McDonald expanded its business base in the years that followed. In addition to his law firm and the plantation, he also participated in the railroad business and land speculation. At that time he was also a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for one year . He spent two more years in the State Senate . In addition, he was active in the militia as a brigadier general. After becoming both rich and famous, he decided to run for governor of Georgia in 1839. As a candidate for the Democratic Party , he managed a narrow election victory against his challenger Charles Dougherty of the Whig Party . His lead was less than 2000 votes.

Georgia Governor

McDonald's tenure lasted until 1843. In between there was a successful re-election in 1841. At the time of his inauguration, Georgia was still suffering from the aftermath of the economic crisis of 1837. The price of cotton, one of the country's main products, had fallen sharply and trade almost came to a standstill. The national debt was stifling at a million dollars and the public coffers were empty. The aim of the new governor was to improve these conditions as quickly as possible. In doing so, however, he encountered resistance from Parliament, which was ruled by the opposition party, the Whigs. Nevertheless, in the four years of his two legislative terms, he managed to restore at least public confidence in the government and its financial policy.

Old age and death

After leaving office, McDonald returned to his private business interests. He built a cotton mill in what is now Douglas County, with an attached housing estate that employed up to 60 workers. The factory and housing estate was burned down on the orders of General Sherman in 1864 , but the ruins remain a well-known tourist attraction in Sweetwater Creek State Park to this day . In the early 1850s, McDonald was a state rights advocate against the federal government in Washington. He rejected the compromise of 1850 . He advocated the secession of individual states from the Union. This topic was the subject of discussion at an extraordinary convention in 1851, which, however, both approved the compromise of 1850 and rejected the secession of Georgia from the Union. An attempt by McDonalds to be re-elected governor in 1851 failed. He then withdrew from politics. From 1855 to 1859 he was a judge on the Supreme Court of Georgia . He sold his old plantation and bought a larger one in Cobb County . At the time of his death, he had 53 slaves and a fortune of $ 127,800. This made him a classic representative of the southern aristocracy before the civil war. He died in December 1860, shortly before the outbreak of the American Civil War.

McDonald had been married to Anne Franklin since 1825. The couple had three daughters and two sons. After his wife's death in 1835, he married Elizabeth Roane Ruffin four years later.

literature

• James F. Cook: The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004. 3rd edition, Mercer University Press, Macon (Georgia) 2005.
• Henry R. Jackson: Eulogy upon the Life and Character of the Honorable Charles J. McDonald. Franklin Printing House, Atlanta 1861.

Web links

• The New Georgia Encyclopedia (English)
• Charles James McDonald in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Charles McDonald in the National Governors Association (English)