James Gunn (March 13, 1753 – July 30, 1801) was a delegate to theContinental Congress and aUnited States Senator fromGeorgia.

Gunn was born inVirginia to John and Sarah Gunn and became a lawyer. Gunn served in the 1st Continental Dragoons during theRevolutionary War.^[1][2] He moved to Georgia after the war and became a significant political figure in his new home, establishing himself in short order as a planter, magistrate, state legislator, and militia officer, where he rose tobrigadier general in the1st Brigade of the Georgia militia in 1792.^[3] He owned slaves.^[4]

Between 1782 and 1789, Gunn unsuccessfully challenged retiredGen. Nathanael Greene to a duel,^[5] assailed Georgia Revolutionary War heroJames Jackson in the press, and defeatedGen. Anthony Wayne for one of Georgia'sFirst U.S. Senate seats in January 1789.^[6] Gunn was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1787 but never attended sessions.

In his first term as senator, between mid-May and late June 1789, Gunn moved from opposing the establishment ofexcise taxes to supporting them. He also opposed giving the president the power to remove heads of cabinet departments without the advice and consent of the Senate. The administration negotiated theTreaty of New York (1790) with theCreek Indians, which greatly angered many in Georgia. Gunn voted against the treaty. Like no other senator, Gunn impacted the internal processes in the Senate and the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of the newly formed government during his first term in office.^[7]

In August 1789, Gunn set precedence, when he effectively became the first Senator to invokeSenatorial courtesy, when he convinced the other senators to go along with his objection of PresidentGeorge Washington's nomination ofBenjamin Fishbourn to a federal position in the Port ofSavannah, Georgia.^[7] He refused to provide Washington with any reason for the rejection and precedent was set that Senators could reject Presidential nominations without reason and also the precedence of senatorial courtesy was set, which is still in practice today.^[7]

Gunn's rivalry with James Jackson, which had originated in Georgia in the period between the end of the Revolution and the launching of the new federal government, heated up in the early 1790s. Gunn was aFederalist, and Jackson was aJeffersonian.^[8] Gunn supported the formation of the Georgia Company and the sale of theYazoo lands. In the aftermath of the Yazoo sale, Gunn acted quickly to complete the transaction and protect it in Washington, while Jackson tried to block the completion of the sale. On June 24, 1795, Gunn voted in favor of theJay Treaty, one of only two southern senators to do so. James Jackson voted against it. Jackson resigned from the Senate and returned to Georgia to work against Gunn, who fell in public opinion due to theYazoo land fraud.

Gunn was re-elected in 1795 and served out his second term until March 1801.

Gunn died inLouisville, Georgia, and is buried in a Revolutionary War cemetery in Louisville. A World War IILiberty ship, theSS James Gunn, ATS-0044 was built in 1942 and named for him.

List of Liberty ships: G-Je

• Smith, Gordon Burns,History of the Georgia Militia, 1783-1861, Volume One, Campaigns and Generals, Boyd Publishing, 2000.
• Hannings, Bud,American Revolutionary War Leaders A Biographical Dictionary, McFarland & Company, 2009.

• ^[permanent dead link] [Letter] 1791 Jan. 26, Philadelphia [to] Edw[ar]d Telfair, Governor of Georgia / James Gunn
•  This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.

• United States Congress."James Gunn (id: G000526)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• 1753 births
• 1801 deaths
• People from Virginia
• 18th-century people from Virginia
• Anti-Administration Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Federalist Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)
• People from Louisville, Georgia
• American militia generals
• Georgia (U.S. state) militiamen in the American Revolution
• United States senators who owned slaves
• 18th-century United States senators

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