James Moore (Governor)

James Moore (* around 1650 in Drogheda , County Louth , Ireland ; † November 6, 1706 in Charleston ) was an Irish colonial politician and governor of the Province of Carolina .

Life

Nothing is known about James Moore's youth and education. In 1776 he married Lady Margaret Berringer, a stepdaughter of John Yeamans , a former colonial governor of the Province of Carolina. The couple had ten children. Including the son James Moore II , who was colonial governor for South Carolina between 1719 and 1721. In 1675 he came from Barbados to the southern half of the Province of Carolina, later South Carolina. In his new home he traded with the natives. In addition, he received around 970 hectares of land from the so-called Proprietors . He named his property Boochowee . Part of this property is now known as the Liberty Hall Plantation . Moore also began a political career. He became a member of the powerful political group known as the Goose Creek Men . He later became a member of the colonial council. There he supported the so-called Westo War in 1680 . This war resulted in his party gaining control of the Indian trade. He led the opposition to a planned amendment to the colony's statutes ( Fundamental Constitutions ). In 1690 he led an expedition to the west of the colony to explore and develop further trading regions. James Moore has sat in the colonial parliament since 1698. The following year he was appointed Chief Justice, which he held until he took office as governor.

After the death of Colonial Governor John Blake , James Moore was appointed as his successor against some opposition. He held this office between September 11, 1700 and March 1703. During his tenure, the first serious efforts to divide the Province of Carolina into a northern half (North Carolina) and a southern half (South Carolina) fell. The governor used the outbreak of the Queen Anne's Wars for military attacks on the neighboring Spanish Florida . For this purpose he allied himself with the Indians of the Yamasee . They managed to take the city of St. Augustine . The Castillo de San Marcos , the Spanish fortification, could not be taken despite a two-month siege. A Spanish fleet called in from Cuba to relieve the fortress was able to break the siege. The English under Moore's leadership had to sink their ships to prevent them from falling into Spanish hands. When they withdrew, they set the city of St. Augustine on fire, which burned to the ground, and fled overland back to the Province of Carolina. Therefore Moore's campaign was considered a failure. As a result, he had to vacate his post as governor in March 1703 and make room for Nathaniel Johnson , who succeeded him in this office. James Moore remained politically and, above all, militarily active. In 1704 he led an English invasion force with some allied Indian tribes against western Florida. In this context, the so-called Apalachee massacre occurred , in which English troops attacked the Apalachee tribe , who were allied with the Spaniards, and the monks located there. Some of the Apalachees were killed, others were captured and sold into slavery. Others managed to flee to the West temporarily. The Apalachees tribe were practically driven from the region by this attack. In England and Carolina this event was celebrated as a great victory. In addition, this strengthened the relationship between the remaining Indian tribes, especially the Cherokee and the Creek to the English colonies. In the long term, this strengthened the general Anglo-British position in the south of the American east coast against the Spanish and French, who were robbed of their Indian allies. James Moore died on November 6, 1706 in Charleston, probably of yellow fever.

Web links

• Moore in the South Carolina Encyclopedia