Jonathan Jennings

Jonathan Jennings ( * 1784 in Readington, Hunterdon County, New Jersey; † July 26, 1834 in Charlestown, Indiana ) was an American politician ( Democratic- Republican) and from 1816 to 1822 the first governor of the state of Indiana.

Early years

The exact date of birth of Jennings is unknown, but the sources emanate from the 1784. He was the son of a Presbyterian pastor. 1790 the family moved to the Fayette County in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, he graduated from the primary school and a grammar school. 1806 moved to Jeffersonville Jonathan Jennings in the Indiana Territory, where he studied law. After a successful examination and his admission to the bar he practiced from 1807 in Vincennes in his new profession. However, its activity seems to have held as a lawyer within limits, because soon he was an employee at the territorial parliament. In 1808, Jennings worked for a short time in the newspaper industry. Finally he pulled 1809 in Clark County, where he settled in Charlestown.

Political rise

In 1809 he was appointed as representatives of the Indiana Territory to the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC selected. The election was highly competitive and dominated by the issue of slavery. Jennings was a opponent of this institution and made ​​the victory against Thomas Randolph, a protégé of William Henry Harrison, the former Territorial Governor. As a result, were both Randolph and Harrison staunch opponents of Jennings. Between November 27, 1809 and December 11, 1816, he represented the Indiana Territory as a delegate in Congress. There he championed the accession of Indiana to the United States, where he laid emphasis on the prohibition of slavery in the new state. In 1816 he was a member and President of the Constituent Assembly of Indiana prior to the now imminent accession to the Union. This Jennings was instrumental in the creation of the State of Indiana as a slave -free state and in its constitution.

Governor of Indiana

Jennings won the first election for governor against the last Territorial Governor Thomas Posey. After a successful re-election he remained until September 12, 1822 in office. During this time he continued fighting against slavery and tried to find free black fellow citizens with the help of the legal issues that legal certainty. He founded the banking system of the state and laid the foundation stone for the construction of an education system. In addition, the entire apparatus of government had to be rebuilt. In 1818, he joined with three Indian tribes peace treaties. The construction of infrastructure has also been tackled. That meant in those days, especially the development of roads and waterways. Since the tax revenue to finance appropriate measures are not sufficient, government bonds and state lands were sold. Another problem was the creation of a new capital. Jennings lived in Corydon, the capital of the Indiana Territory, but in his reign Indianapolis has been set as a future capital of the state. Towards the end of his term Indiana also was drawn into the vortex of an economic crisis, which has become known as the Panic of 1819 in the history of the United States.

Further CV

After Jennings was in 1822 again elected to Congress, he entered on September 12, 1822 from his post as governor back. Until 1831 he represented the interests of his state in Washington. This year, he missed the re-election, which some historians ascribe an increasingly stronger alcohol problem. In 1832 he was again entrusted with a mission of peace with the Indians in northern Indiana and Michigan. Otherwise, he retired to his farm in Charles Town, where he died in 1834. Jennings had many political opponents, one of whom even wanted to challenge him to a duel during his entire political career. Nevertheless, he was able to lay the foundation for the further development of the State of Indiana.

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