John Rhea

John Rhea

John Rhea (born 1753 in County Londonderry , Northern Ireland , †  May 27, 1832 in Blountville , Tennessee ) was an American politician . Between 1803 and 1823 he represented the state of Tennessee twice in the US House of Representatives .

Career

In 1769, John Rhea and his parents came to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, which was still British at the time . In 1778 the family came to the easternmost part of what would later become the state of Tennessee via Piney Creek in Maryland. Rhea studied at Princeton College until 1780 . During the final stages of the War of Independence , he took part in the Battle of Kings Mountain in October 1780 . He later became a bailiff in Sullivan County , which was first part of the short-lived State of Franklin and then North Carolina . In 1796, this area finally fell to the newly created state of Tennessee. Rhea held the office of bailiff between 1785 and 1790. During this time he was also a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives . In 1789 he was a member of the delegation that ratified the United States Constitution for North Carolina. After studying law, Rhea was admitted to the bar that same year. In 1796 he was a member of the Tennessee Constituent Assembly. In the same year he became a district attorney in Greene County . Between 1796 and 1797, Rhea also served as an MP in the Tennessee House of Representatives .

Politically, he joined the movement around Thomas Jefferson and became a member of the Democratic Republican Party founded by him . In the state-wide held congressional election of 1802 , Rhea was elected for the then newly created third seat of Tennessee in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he took up his new mandate on March 4, 1803. After five re-elections, he was able to complete six legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1815 . During this time, the Louisiana Purchase , which significantly enlarged the US territory, and the British-American War of 1812 fell . In 1804 the 12th Amendment to the Constitution was passed. From 1807 to 1815 John Rhea was chairman of the Postal Committee. He was also a member of the committee that dealt with severance payments and compensation from the revolutionary era.

After his provisional resignation from the US House of Representatives, Rhea was a negotiator in negotiations with the Choctaw Indians in 1816 . In the congressional elections of 1816 he was re-elected to Congress in the fifth district of his state, where he replaced Isaac Thomas on March 4, 1817 . After two re-elections, he was able to spend three more terms in the House of Representatives until March 3, 1823. During this time he again chaired the committee on severance payments and compensation from the revolutionary era. At that time he also campaigned for an improvement in the education system in Tennessee. He became one of the founders of Blount College , which later became the University of Tennessee .

After his final departure from Congress, John Rhea retired, which he spent on his plantation near Blountville. He died there on May 27, 1832. The Rhea County , Tennessee is named after him.

Web links

• John Rhea in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John Rhea in the database of Find a Grave (English)