Thomas Lee (politician, 1780)

Thomas Lee (born November 28, 1780 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , †  November 2, 1855 in Port Elizabeth , New Jersey ) was an American politician . Between 1833 and 1837 he represented the state of New Jersey in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Thomas Lee attended Chester Valley public schools . Around 1798 he moved to Leesburg , New Jersey and in 1805 to Port Elizabeth. Then he worked in trade and shipbuilding; he also became a landowner. From 1813 to 1815 he worked as an appeal judge. At the same time he began a political career. From 1813 to 1815 he was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly . From 1818 to 1833 Lee served as a postman in Port Elizabeth.

In the 1820s he joined the movement around Andrew Jackson and became a member of the Democratic Party founded by this in 1828 . In the 1832 congressional election , Lee was elected to New Jersey's third seat in the House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded James F. Randolph on March 4 . After re-election, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1837 . There has been heated debates there since President Jackson took office in 1829. It was about the controversial enforcement of the Indian Removal Act , the conflict with the state of South Carolina , which culminated in the nullification crisis , and the banking policy of the president. From 1835 Thomas Lee was chairman of the Committee on Accounts .

Between 1846 and 1849 he served again as a postman in Port Elizabeth. He was also the founder of the local public library and the Port Elizabeth Academy .

Web links

• Thomas Lee in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Thomas Lee in the database of Find a Grave (English)