Nathaniel Johnson

Nathaniel Johnson

Nathaniel Johnson (born April 7, 1644 near Kibbelsworth, in County Durham , England , † July 1, 1712 on the Silk Hope Plantation in Berkeley County , in the later US state of South Carolina ) was an English or British Politician and colonial governor.

Life

Johnson was a son of William Johnson and his wife Margaret Sherwood. He initially worked as a trader in the Baltic Sea trade. In the meantime he also served in the English army. Between 1680 and 1689 he was a member of the House of Commons , where he represented the district of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Since 1686 he was also the colonial governor of the Antilles . In 1689 he gave up his mandate in the course of the Glorious Revolution and the change of throne in England and moved to the English colony of Province of Carolina , where he managed the Silk Hope Plantation . At first he wanted to grow silk, which explains the name of the plantation. This attempt failed and he switched to growing rice, which led to greater success. There were rumors at the time that he had intrigued against the new government in London in those years in favor of the deposed King James II . But nothing could be proven. In 1702 he took the oath of allegiance to the new Queen Anne .

In the Province of Carolina he became a member of the politically strong group of Goose Creek Men . After a failed campaign against the Spanish colony of Florida , the then governor of the colony, James Moore , had to resign in March 1703. Nathaniel Johnson was then appointed as his successor. He held this office until November 26, 1709. This period was overshadowed by the events of the so-called Queen Anne's Wars . In 1704, an English attack on western Florida led by Johnson's predecessor Moore. 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. In 1706, Governor Johnson led the successful defense of South Carolina against Franco-Spanish attacks. Inside the colony, Johnson reformed the administrative system, among other things, and campaigned for the Church of England , whose members should in future be exclusively entitled to be elected to the colonial parliament. Supporters of other religious groups could no longer be elected under the new regulations. These and other measures sparked a storm of protest that led to internal unrest. In the end, parts of the controversial laws were passed. They then remained in force until the end of the British colonial era. In 1709 he resigned from the office of governor. He then lived on his plantation, where he died on July 1, 1712. His son Robert would later become colonial governor of the colony of South Carolina, and his daughter Ann married Thomas Broughton, a future colonial governor of South Carolina.

Web links

• Johnson in the South Carolina Encyclopedia
• Johnson at Carolana.com

• Nathaniel Johnson in the database of Find a Grave (English)