Peter Early

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Early

Peter Early (born June 20, 1773 in Madison , Colony of Virginia , †  August 15, 1817 in Scull Shoals , Georgia ) was an American politician ( Democratic Republican Party ) and governor of the state of Georgia.

Early years

The young Early enjoyed an excellent education. First he attended Liberty Hall University and then, until his first-class degree in 1792, the College of New Jersey , which later became Princeton University . After completing a law degree in Philadelphia , he settled in Georgia as a lawyer. His father Joel Early had moved there in the meantime. After a major purchase of land, he had become an up and coming planter . Early moved his law firm to Greene County in 1800 . There he also became head of the local bar association.

Political rise

In December 1802, he was at a special election to succeed John Milledge in the United States House of Representatives voted. Milledge had resigned after being elected governor of Georgia. In Congress, he was a member and temporarily chairman of the trade committee. There he voted for a trade ban against the rebellious Santo Domingo , but at the same time was against a trade embargo against Great Britain , which was being discussed in Congress at the time . He secured Georgia federal grants for militia militia securing the settlement boundary .

A current political issue at the time was the planned ban on the slave trade from Africa to America. Although this law did not affect slavery itself, it was largely opposed in the south by the plantation owners. Ultimately, Early, whose family was one of the largest plantation and slave owners, also joined the rejection. The law was passed by Congress in 1808, at a time when Early was no longer a member of parliament. He had waived re-election to Congress in 1806 and returned to his native Georgia. From 1807 to 1810 he was a judge in the newly established judicial district of Ocmulgee.

Georgia Governor

In 1813, Early was elected governor of Georgia. His first official act was to secure the western counties against Indian raids. He used the militia and had fortified log houses built. He also applied for $ 20,000 in support of an expedition to Indian territory sent by his predecessor, David Brydie Mitchell . The expedition had led to increased riots by the Creek Indians. These took place at the same time as a war between the USA and England ( war of 1812 ), which was not to end until 1815. The Indian rebellions were therefore very welcome to the British, as the Americans had to use strong military forces against the Indians, not only in Georgia, but also in other parts of the USA, which were not available to fight the English.

In Georgia, General and later President Andrew Jackson and federal troops succeeded in defeating the Indians in March 1814. These had to cede considerable areas to the whites. The governor used the militia in the area to ensure security. The sudden appearance of a British fleet off the coast of Georgia in January 1815 forced the militia to move some of the militia from the west in this direction. Similar to the Battle of New Orleans , to which Andrew Jackson owed his fame, both sides were not yet informed that the Peace of Ghent of December 24, 1812 had ended the war between the United States and Great Britain. However, there was no more battle in Georgia. The British sailed home again in February and Early was able to send his militia back to the Indian border. His career as governor ended after the end of his first and only term in 1815. He lost his re-election not least because of his veto against a parliamentary resolution to extend a six-year-old law on the legal deferral of debt collection in Georgia. The parliament overruled his veto and at the same time angrily prevented his re-election in 1815.

Old age and death

After retiring from governor's office, he was elected to the Georgia Senate. There he was a member of several committees, including the judiciary reform or the committee to build a penal institution in Milledgeville . At the same time he was a curator of the University of Georgia . He was associated with this university since 1797. He had been on the board of trustees several times with interruptions and was the acting director of the institution in the winter of 1816/1817 until the new director arrived in the spring of 1817. Not long after his arrival, Early fell ill and died in August of the same year.

Since 1797 he was married to Ann Adams, with whom he had six children. The Early County , Georgia is named after him.

literature

  • James F. Cook: The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004. 3rd edition, revised and expanded. Mercer University Press, Macon GA 2005, ISBN 0-86554-954-0 .
  • Hugh M. Thomason: Governor Peter Early and the Creek Indian Frontier, 1813–1815. In: Georgia Historical Quarterly. Vol. 45, No. 3, September 1961, ISSN  0016-8297 , pp. 223-237.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Early, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1773
PLACE OF BIRTH near Madison , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1817
Place of death at Scull Shoals , Georgia