James g birney biography

James Gillespie Birney (February 4, 1792 – November 18, 1857) was an.
James Gillespie Birney was a prominent opponent of slavery in the United States who was twice the presidential candidate of the abolitionist.
Birney was born in Danville in 1792 to a slaveholding family.

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Historical Marker #36 in Danville, Kentucky, notes the birthplace of abolitionist and nineteenth-century presidential candidate, James Gillespie Birney.

Birney was born in Danville in 1792 to a slaveholding family. As a young man he was educated at Princeton and studied law in Philadelphia. Upon his return to Kentucky in 1814, Birney began a law practice that, two years later, led him into politics and a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives. His stay in Kentucky politics proved to be short; in 1818, Birney moved his family to northern Alabama in order to pursue the life of a cotton planter and politician.

Beset by crop failures and gambling misfortunes, Birney proved to be an unsuccessful planter. Therefore, he sold his plantation and many of his slaves and opened a law office in Huntsville, Alabama. He soon became interested in colonizing slaves to Africa as an effort to eliminate the institution. He also lobbied the legislatures of Alabama and Kentucky for laws that limited slave importations. Birney advocated for emancipation and colonization, but with little

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James G. Birney

American politician (1792–1857)

James Gillespie Birney (February 4, 1792 – November 18, 1857)^[2] was an American abolitionist, politician, and attorney born in Danville, Kentucky. He changed from being a planter and slave owner to abolitionism, publishing the abolitionist weekly The Philanthropist. He twice served as the presidential nominee for the anti-slavery Liberty Party.

Birney pursued a legal career in Danville after graduating from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) and studying under Alexander J. Dallas. He volunteered for the campaigns of Henry Clay, served on the town council, and became a Freemason. In 1816, he won election to the Kentucky House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. In 1818, he established a cotton plantation in Madison County, Alabama, and he won election to the Alabama House of Representatives the following year. Birney eventually sold the plantation and established a legal practice in Huntsville, Alabama, becoming one of the most successful lawyers in the region.

During the

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Birney, James Gillespie

James Gillespie Birney was born in Danville, Kentucky, on February 4, 1792. A politician and reformer, Birney was one of the leading abolitionists in the United States, serving as corresponding secretary of the American AntiSlavery Society (AAS) and twice as the presidential candidate of the abolitionist Liberty Party.

The son of a southern slaveholder, Birney graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1810, and later he privately studied law. Upon returning home to Kentucky in 1814, he was elected to the town council of Danville, and then to the state legislature in 1816. In that same year, Birney acquired his first slaves. In 1818 Birney moved to Alabama Territory, where by 1821 he had a total of 43 slaves. Although not a delegate, he played an important behind-the-scenes role in the writing of Alabama’s first state constitution, and served in Alabama’s first state legislature in 1819.

However, Birney soon experienced a crisis that changed his life. Business reverses, crop failures, gambling debts, and extravagant spending