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George Michael Troup | |
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 | |
| United States Senator fromGeorgia | |
| In office March 4, 1829 – November 8, 1833 | |
| Preceded by | Oliver H. Prince |
| Succeeded by | John P. King |
| In office November 13, 1816 – September 23, 1818 | |
| Preceded by | William W. Bibb |
| Succeeded by | John Forsyth |
| 32ndGovernor of Georgia | |
| In office November 7, 1823 – November 7, 1827 | |
| Preceded by | John Clark |
| Succeeded by | John Forsyth |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia'sat-large district | |
| In office March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1815 | |
| Preceded by | David Meriwether |
| Succeeded by | Wilson Lumpkin |
| Member of theGeorgia General Assembly | |
| In office 1803-1805 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1780-09-08)September 8, 1780 |
| Died | April 26, 1856(1856-04-26) (aged 75) |
| Party | Democratic-Republican Democratic Southern Rights (1852) |
| Spouse(s) | Anne St. Clair McCormick Anne Carter |
| Alma mater | College of New Jersey |
George Michael Troup (September 8, 1780 – April 26, 1856) was anAmerican politician from theU.S. state ofGeorgia. He served in theGeorgia General Assembly,U.S. House of Representatives, and U.S.Senate before becoming the32nd Governor of Georgia for two terms and then returning to the U.S. Senate. A believer inexpansionistManifest Destiny policies and a supporter of nativeIndian removal, Troup was born toplanters and supportedslavery throughout his career. Later in his life, he was known as "theHercules ofstates' rights."
Troup was born during theAmerican Revolution atMcIntosh Bluff, on theTombigbee River in what is nowAlabama (then a part of theProvince of Georgia). He was the son of George Troup and Catherine McIntosh, the Georgia-born daughter of Captain John McIntosh, a British military officer and the chief of the McIntosh clan. (Catherine McIntosh was of the Chiefs of the MacGillivary clan lineage—she was a first cousin to Creek ChiefAlexander McGillivray and aunt of Creek ChiefWilliam McIntosh.)
Troup was twice married and the father of six children. He primarily lived inDublin inLaurens County. Troup'splantation, Valdosta (sometimes spelled Val d'Osta), was named after theValle d'Aosta alpine valley inItaly. In turn, the town ofValdosta, Georgia was named for Troup's plantation.Troupville, Georgia was also named for him.
Troup graduated from theCollege of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1797. He read the law with an established firm and two years later was admitted to the bar inSavannah, Georgia.
Troup entered politics, where he became a strong opponent of theYazoo land scandal. ADemocratic-Republican, Troup served one term as a state legislator (1803–1805). In 1806 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was re-elected three times and served from 1807 to 1815. Along with other members of Congress, includingHenry Clay ofKentucky andJohn C. Calhoun ofSouth Carolina, Troup was a part of the nationalistic movement which originated the termWar Hawks—members who supported the United States' entry into theWar of 1812.[1] Troup defended Calhoun on the House floor when Rep.John Randolph of Virginia attacked Calhoun, saying it was "the great mass of the House ... against the solitary gentleman from Virginia."[2]
Troup was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he was supported by fellow wealthy plantation owners and served as chairman of theSenate Committee of Military Affairs.
Georgia political forceWilliam H. Crawford hand-picked Troup as his candidate for governor in 1819. However, Troup twice lost to Crawford's bitter rival,John Clark, who was supported byfrontier settlers. In 1823, Troup ran again, as Clark was no longer eligible, and won. He advocated the removal of theCreek Indians from western Georgia. Troup wanted to move them to theWestern Territory of theLouisiana Purchase, an idea first proposed byThomas Jefferson in 1803. In 1825, in Georgia's first popular election, Troup won by a razor-thin margin. He negotiated the controversialTreaty of Indian Springs on February 12, 1825,[3] with his first cousinWilliam McIntosh, a mixed-blood Creek chief.[4] McIntosh and 49 other tribal leaders (predominantly from the Lower Creeks) ceded a large portion of Georgia, although they did not have the backing of the majority of the Creek Confederacy. He threatened an attack on Federal troops if they interfered with the treaty and challengedPresidentJohn Quincy Adams,[5] who conceded and allowed Troup to seize the remaining Creek land in Georgia.[6] During Troup's tenure as governor, he also supportedpublic education and the construction of new roads andcanals. Despite the recentness of the War of 1812, Troup maintained that the United States should pursue a positive relationship withGreat Britain. Troup always referred to the British in familial terms ("our cousins", "fraternal relations with England" our "sister nation") and believed that since Britain and America shared common roots, the two countries would "ultimately reunite in some form" although he believed the United States would and should "remain forever independent from, though no less loving towards, England."[7] The European country remained most hostile to was France, Troup was very critical of both the French revolution, particularly theReign of Terror as well as the subsequentBourbon restoration government.[8]
Upon the expiration of his second term as governor, Troup returned to the Senate in 1829 as aJacksonian Democrat, where he served on the Committee on Indian Affairs. He was a nominee forPresident of the United States on theSouthern Rights Party during the1852 United States presidential election.
Troup died while visiting one of his plantations near theOconee River inMontgomery County, Georgia (nowTreutlen County).[9] He was buried on the Rosemont plantation.[10]
Troup County was created from former Lower Creek land in 1826 and named for him.
During theAmerican Civil War, anAthens, Georgiabattery was named the "Troup Artillery" in his memory.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's at-large congressional district March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1815 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Georgia November 13, 1816 – September 23, 1818 Served alongside:Charles Tait | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Georgia March 4, 1829 – November 8, 1833 Served alongside:John M. Berrien,John Forsyth | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Georgia 1823–1827 | Succeeded by |
| Class 2 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs | ||
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| Full Committee (1820–1947) | | |
| Select Committee (1977–1993) | ||
| Full Committee (1993–) | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services | ||
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| Military Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee (1947–present) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
