James Brown | |
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| 12thUnited States Minister to France | |
| In office April 13, 1824 – June 28, 1829 | |
| Appointed by | James Monroe |
| Preceded by | Albert Gallatin |
| Succeeded by | William Cabell Rives |
| United States Senator fromLouisiana | |
| In office February 5, 1813 – March 3, 1817 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Posey |
| Succeeded by | William C. C. Claiborne |
| In office March 4, 1819 – December 10, 1823 | |
| Preceded by | Eligius Fromentin |
| Succeeded by | Josiah S. Johnston |
| 1st Secretary of State of Kentucky | |
| In office June 5, 1792 – October 13, 1796 | |
| Governor | Isaac Shelby |
| Preceded by | New office |
| Succeeded by | Harry Toulmin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1766-09-11)September 11, 1766 |
| Died | April 7, 1835(1835-04-07) (aged 68) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US |
| Party | Democratic-Republican |
| Spouse | Ann "Nancy" Hart |
| Alma mater | Washington and Lee University College of William & Mary |
James Brown (September 11, 1766 – April 7, 1835) was an American lawyer, planter, diplomat and politician who served as a Secretary of State for the new state ofKentucky, and later asU.S. Senator fromLouisiana, andMinister to France (1823–1829) before his retirement and death in Philadelphia.
Born nearStaunton, Virginia, to John Brown and his wife, young James Brown had brothersJohn and Samuel Brown and sisters Mary and Elizabeth who either survived him or had children who survived him, unlike his brother Preston. His brotherJohn Brown became the U.S. Senator from Kentucky and active in its gaining statehood. Well-connected among the southern elite, they were also cousins ofJohn Breckinridge,James Breckinridge andFrancis Preston.
James Brown attended Washington College (laterWashington and Lee University) inLexington, Virginia, and theCollege of William & Mary inWilliamsburg. James Brownread law, was admitted to the Virginia bar, and commencedpractice inFrankfort, Kentucky, then still part of Virginia.
He married Ann "Nancy" Hart, one of seven children of Revolutionary War veteran and successful businessman Col. Thomas Hart, who moved from North Carolina to Maryland and finallyLexington, Kentucky. Her sister Lucretia marriedHenry Clay, who became U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Her brotherNathaniel G. S. Hart died in theWar of 1812. They did not have any children who survived them. James Brown was the uncle ofJames Brown Clay,Henry Clay, Jr.,John Morrison Clay, the great-uncle ofB. Gratz Brown, and the cousin-in-law ofThomas Hart Benton.
James Brown commanded a company of Virginia sharpshooters in an expedition against theIndians in 1789. He served as secretary toIsaac Shelby, the firstgovernor of Kentucky, in 1792. On June 5, 1792, Shelby nominated Brown asSecretary of State; he was confirmed by thestate senate and served until October 13, 1796.[1]
Soon after the United States made theLouisiana Purchase, Brown moved toNew Orleans, where he was appointed in 1804 as secretary of theTerritory of Orleans. He served from October 1 to December 11 of that year, when he was appointed as U.S.Attorney-General for the Territory.[2]
Brown became one of the wealthiest planters andslave owners on theGerman Coast. His extensiveplantation produced sugar through the use of slave labor.
In January 1811, some slaves from James Brown's plantations (some of them jointly owned by his nephew James Humphreys) joined in the1811 German Coast uprising. One was the African-born warrior Kook, who became one of the insurrection's leaders. It was the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history, but was soon suppressed. The insurgents killed only two white men, but between the one battle, subsequentsummary executions by militia members, and executions after tribunals of slaveowners, ninety-five black men died. Some of the men were fromSaint-Domingue, brought toSpanish Louisiana several years earlier by whiteFrench refugees, as well as by refugeegens de couleur (free people of colour), who fled the violence and expropriations of theHaitian Revolution. Others were slaves imported directly from Africa.
Brown was elected as a Democratic Republican to theUnited States Senate on December 1, 1812, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofJean Noël Destréhan, whose slaves were also involved in the quashed uprising. Brown served in the U.S. Senate from February 5, 1813, until March 3, 1817. The Louisiana legislature refused to reelect him, but in 1819 he was elected again to the U.S. Senate as a Democratic-Republican aligned with Southern Jeffersonians. During the Missouri Crisis, he favored the unrestricted expansion of slavery west of the Mississippi River. He served from March 4, 1819, until December 10, 1823, when he resigned. During his tenure, Brown was the chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations (Sixteenth Congress).
With the consent of the Senate, the President appointed Brown U.S. Minister toFrance, and he served 1823–1829. Returning to the U.S., he settled inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. He agreed to support aQuaker appeal for funds to aid an American free black settlement inOntario, Canada, known as theWilberforce Colony. It had been started by free blacks fromCincinnati, Ohio, who emigrated to Canada in reaction to discriminatory laws and especially a highly destructive riot against them in 1829.
Brown was elected a member of theAmerican Antiquarian Society[3] in 1814 and theAmerican Philosophical Society[4] in 1827.
Brown survived his wife Nancy, as well as a Philadelphia cholera outbreak in 1831, but died in Philadelphia in 1835. After a service at itsSt. Stephen's Church,[5] he was buried in the vault of nearbyChrist Church, Philadelphia.
Brown is remembered as one of the drafters of the firstLouisiana Civil Code of 1808, a work undertaken together withLouis Moreau-Lislet andEdward Livingston.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
| U.S. Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Louisiana 1813–1817 Served alongside:Allan B. Magruder,Eligius Fromentin | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Louisiana 1819–1823 Served alongside:Henry Johnson | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Minister to France 1824–1829 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by established | Secretary of State of Kentucky 1792–1796 | Succeeded by |
| Class 2 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| Envoys to France (1776–1779) |  | |
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| Ministers Plenipotentiary to France (1778–1815) | ||
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1816–1893) | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France (1893–present) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
