View source for James Gunn (Georgia politician)

{{Short description|American politician (1753–1801)}}
{{redirect|Senator Gunn}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name                =James Gunn
| image               = 
| office              = 1st [[Dean of the United States Senate]]
| alongside           = [[John Langdon (politician)|John Langdon]]
| term_start          = March 4, 1789
| term_end            = March 3, 1801
| predecessor         = ''Position established''
| successor           = [[Theodore Foster]]
|jr/sr1               = United States Senator
|state1               = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
|term_start1          = March 4, 1789
|term_end1            = March 3, 1801
|predecessor1         = ''Position established''
|successor1           =[[James Jackson (Georgia politician)|James Jackson]]
|birth_date           = March 13, 1753
|birth_place          = [[Virginia Colony|Virginia]], British America
|death_date           = {{death date and age|mf=y|1801|07|30|1753|03|13}}
|death_place          =[[Louisville, Georgia]], U.S.
|allegiance           = United States
|branch               = [[Georgia Militia]]
|unit                 = 1st Continental Dragoons
|rank                 = [[Brigadier general]]
|battles              =[[American Revolutionary War]]
|serviceyears         = 1775-1783, 1792–1801
}}
'''James Gunn''' (March 13, 1753 &ndash; July 30, 1801) was a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] and a [[U.S. Senator|United States Senator]] from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].

==Early life==
Gunn was born in [[Virginia]] to John and Sarah Gunn and became a lawyer. Gunn served in the 1st Continental Dragoons during the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary War]].<ref>Smith, p. 297</ref><ref>Hannings, p. 150</ref> 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 to [[brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] in the [[1st Brigade Georgia Militia|1st Brigade of the Georgia militia]] in 1792.<ref>Smith, p. 297</ref> He owned slaves.<ref name="Congress slaveowners">{{Citation|title=Congress slaveowners|date=2022-01-13|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2022-07-03}}</ref>

==Political life==

Between 1782 and 1789, Gunn unsuccessfully challenged retired [[Nathanael Greene|Gen. Nathanael Greene]] to a duel,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Siry|first1=Steven E.|title=Greene : Revolutionary General|date=2006|publisher=Potomac Books|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=9781574889123|page=95|edition=1st}}</ref> assailed Georgia Revolutionary War hero [[James Jackson (Georgia politician)|James Jackson]] in the press, and defeated [[Anthony Wayne|Gen. Anthony Wayne]] for one of Georgia's [[First United States Congress|First U.S. Senate seats]] in January 1789.<ref name="Lamplugh">{{cite journal|last1=Lamplugh|first1=George R.|title=James Gunn: Georgia Federalist, 1789-1801|journal=The Georgia Historical Quarterly|date=2010|volume=94|issue=3|page=313|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.20788990&site=eds-live&scope=site|access-date=21 October 2016}}</ref> 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 of [[excise 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 the [[Treaty of New York (1790)]] with the [[Creek 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.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last1=Sollenberger|first1=Mitchel A.|title=Georgia's Influence on the U.S. Senate: A Reassessment of the Rejection of Benjamin Fishbourn and the Origin of Senatorial Courtesy|journal=Georgia Historical Quarterly|date=2009|volume=93|issue=2|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aqh&AN=43374730&site=eds-live&scope=site|access-date=21 October 2016}}</ref>

In August 1789, Gunn set precedence, when he effectively became the first Senator to invoke [[Senatorial courtesy]], when he convinced the other senators to go along with his objection of President [[George Washington]]'s nomination of [[Benjamin Fishbourn]] to a federal position in the Port of [[Savannah, Georgia]].<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" />

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 a [[Federalist Party|Federalist]], and Jackson was a [[Jeffersonian Republicans|Jeffersonian]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lamplugh|first1=George R.|title=The Importance of Being Truculent: James Gunn, the Chatham Militia, and Georgia Politics, 1782-1789|journal=The Georgia Historical Quarterly|date=1996|volume=80|issue=2|page=229|jstor=40583434}}</ref> Gunn supported the formation of the Georgia Company and the sale of the [[Yazoo 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 the [[Jay 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 the [[Yazoo land fraud]].

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

==Death and legacy==
Gunn died in [[Louisville, Georgia]], and is buried in a Revolutionary War cemetery in Louisville. A World War II [[Liberty ship]], the ''SS James Gunn, ATS-0044'' was built in 1942 and named for him.

==See also==
[[List of Liberty ships: G-Je]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*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.

==External links==
*[http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/zlna/id:krc091{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [Letter<nowiki>]</nowiki> 1791 Jan. 26, Philadelphia [to<nowiki>]</nowiki> Edw[ar<nowiki>]</nowiki>d Telfair, Governor of Georgia / James Gunn]
*{{Bioguide}}
{{CongBio|name=James Gunn|G000526}}

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{{U.S. Senator box|class=3|state=Georgia| before = ''Office created'' | after = [[James Jackson (Georgia politician)|James Jackson]] | years =1789&ndash;1801| alongside=[[William Few]], [[James Jackson (Georgia politician)|James Jackson]], [[George Walton]], [[Josiah Tattnall (Senator)|Josiah Tattnall]], [[Abraham Baldwin]] }}
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{{US Senate Deans}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, James}}
[[Category:1753 births]]
[[Category:1801 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Virginia]]
[[Category:18th-century people from Virginia]]
[[Category:Anti-Administration Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Federalist Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:People from Louisville, Georgia]]
[[Category:American militia generals]]
[[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) militiamen in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:United States senators who owned slaves]]
[[Category:18th-century United States senators]]