William Jackson (March 9, 1759 – December 17, 1828) was a figure in the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution is the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America at first rejected the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and later the British monarchy itself, to become the sovereign United States of...
, most noteworthy as the
secretaryA secretary is an administrative assistant in business office administration.The executive secretary has a myriad of administrative duties. Traditionally, these duties were mostly related to correspondence, such as the typing out of letters...
to the United States
Constitutional ConventionThe Philadelphia Convention took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of...
. He also served with distinction in the
Continental ArmyThe American Continental Army was an army formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen...
during the
Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
. After the war he served as one of President
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the first President of the United States of America...
's personal secretaries.
Early life and military career
Born in the county of
CumberlandCumberland was a historic county of north west England, on the border with Scotland, from the twelfth century to 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Jackson was sent to
CharlestonCharleston is a city in Charleston County, South Carolina in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the largest city and county seat of Charleston County. The city was founded as Charlestown or Charles Towne, Carolina in 1670, and moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of...
in
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
after the death of his parents. He was raised by a family friend and prominent merchant, Owen Roberts, who also
militiaThe role of militia, also known as military service and duty, in the United States is complex and has transformed over time.
[Spitzer, Robert J.: The Politics of Gun Control, Page 36. Chatham House Publishers, Inc., 1995. "] The term militia can be used to describe any...
battalion. After the war broke out in 1775, Roberts joined the
PatriotPatriots was the name the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution called themselves. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
side, and the teenaged Jackson followed; Roberts probably helped Jackson to obtain a position as a
cadetOfficer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. The term Officer Trainee is used interchangeably in some countries...
in the
1st South Carolina Regiment-Summary:The 1st South Carolina Regiment was raised on June 6, 1775 at Charleston, South Carolina for service with the Continental Army. The regiment saw action at the Siege of Savannah and the Siege of Charleston. The regiment was captured at Charleston on May 12, 1780 together with the rest of...
. In May 1776 Jackson was
commissionedAn officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
as a
second lieutenantSecond Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.In British English the rank is pronounced second /lɛf'tɛnənt/ , while in American English it is pronounced second /lu'tɛnənt/ ....
.
Jackson first saw action near Charleston in June 1776, when his regiment fought off General Sir
Henry ClintonGeneral Sir Henry Clinton KB was a British army officer and politician who is best known for his service as a general during the Revolutionary War, during most of which he was the British Commander-in-Chief in North America...
's attempted attack on Fort Sullivan. The unit then spent a long period garrisoning the city of Charleston, during which
Charles Cotesworth PinckneyCharles Cotesworth Pinckney , was an early American statesman of South Carolina, Revolutionary War veteran, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was twice nominated by the Federalist Party as their presidential candidate, but he did not win either election.-Early life and...
assumed command of the 1st South Carolina. Late in 1777, Jackson was part of the detachment that made an ill-conceived and worse conducted expedition against
St. AugustineSt. Augustine is the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, in the United States. Founded in 1565, it is the oldest continuously occupied European established city, and the oldest port, in the continental United States. St. Augustine lies in a region of Florida known as The First Coast, which...
in British
East FloridaEast Florida was originally a part of Spanish Florida. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris , which ended the Seven Years' War, Spain ceded all of its territory east and southeast of the Mississippi River to the Kingdom of Great Britain....
under Major-General
Robert HoweRobert Howe was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.-Early life:His great-grandfather was James Moore, colonial governor of South Carolina...
. The expedition was a colossal failure, and the American force was struck down by disease. Jackson survived, and returned to South Carolina in 1778.
After the return from Florida, the Southern regiments were placed under the command of Major-General
Benjamin LincolnBenjamin Lincoln was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War...
, from
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
. Pinckney convinced Lincoln that as a Northerner, he needed an aide to assist him in relating to his Southern troops. Jackson was chosen for this position and was temporarily promoted to the rank of
majorIn many European languages, the term Major is a military rank, implying seniority at one of usually various levels of rank. For example:*"General-Major" or "Major-General", denoting a senior ranking general officer....
. As Lincoln's aide he saw action in the
Battle of Stono FerryThe Battle of Stono Ferry was an American Revolutionary War battle, fought on June 20, 1779, near Charleston, South Carolina. The rear guard from a British expedition retreating from an aborted attempt on Charleston held off an assault by poorly-trained militia forces under American General...
and the
Siege of SavannahThe Siege of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake...
in 1779. In 1780 General Lincoln surrendered his troops after the lengthy
Siege of CharlestonThe Siege of Charleston was one of the major battles which took place towards the end of the American Revolutionary War, after the British began to shift their strategic focus towards the Southern Colonies...
. As a captured officer, Jackson was shipped to
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
, then held by the British. After a few months he was returned to the Continental Army in an exchange of prisoners.
A skilled staff officer, Jackson was then assigned to General Washington's staff, serving as secretary to the general's aide
John LaurensJohn Laurens was an American soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the Revolutionary War.-Early life:...
, son of
Henry LaurensHenry Laurens was an American merchant and rice planter from South Carolina who became a political leader during the Revolutionary War. A delegate to the Second Continental Congress Laurens succeeded John Hancock as President of the Second Continental Congress. Laurens ran the largest slave...
of South Carolina. When Laurens was sent to France in 1781 to buy supplies with money loaned by the French Government, he took Jackson along, and the job was handed over to Jackson when Laurens returned to Anerica after a short and undiplomatic stay in France; Jackson made extensive purchases, beyond his budget, and had a discussion with
Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, soldier, and diplomat...
after spending some of the money Franklin had reserved for unpaid bills.
Jackson himself returned to the United States in February 1782, and was assistant secretary of war to Benjamin Lincoln. The Confederation's Department of War, like the British, was a financial liaison with the Army; Jackson helped settle the
Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 was an anti-government protest by nearly 400 soldiers of the Continental Army in June 1783...
.
In October 1783, he resigned his office, and his commission, to become Robert Morris's agent in England; when he returned the next year, he studied law with the Philadelphia lawyer
William LewisWilliam Lewis was a Pennsylvania attorney and politician.Born in Edgemont, Pennsylvania, Lewis read law to enter the bar in 1773. He was in private practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from then until 1787, when he was elected as a representative to the Pennsylvania State Legislature...
.
Constitutional Convention
As an impoverished law student, in 1787, Jackson wrote to Washington applying for the post as secretary to the Philadelphia Convention. On the Convention's first day of business, May 25, 1787,
Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher...
nominated Jackson to the post, and the delegates chose him over
William Temple FranklinWilliam Temple Franklin was the illegitimate, only son of William Franklin and grandson of and secretary to Benjamin Franklin...
,
Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, soldier, and diplomat...
's grandson, despite the latter's experience serving as his grandfather's secretary during the
Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784 and by the King of Great Britain on April 9, 1784 , formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had...
negotiations.
As the Convention secretary, Jackson had a number of duties, including maintaining the secrecy of the Convention's proceedings, keeping official minutes, and destroying many of the proceedings' other records. He signed the document "Attest William Jackson Secretary" to attest to the delegates' signing. With his signature Jackson became the fortieth signer of the U.S. Constitution.
Jackson was sent to the
Congress of the ConfederationThe Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second Continental...
, assembled in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, with a copy of the Constitution, and was honored to read it out to the just days after the signing, on September 20, 1787.
Life after the Convention
Major Jackson was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1788, but in those days, he had to wait two years to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the most lucrative branch of the law; besides this, he was an (unpaid) volunteer in the Second Philadelphia Light Horse. He applied to be
secretary of the United States SenateThe Secretary of the Senate is an elected officer of the United States Senate. The Secretary supervises an extensive array of offices and services to expedite the day-to-day operations of that body...
, but
Samuel Allyne OtisSamuel A. Otis , a Delegate from Massachusetts; born in Barnstable, Barnstable County, Mass., November 24, 1740; was graduated from Harvard College in 1759; engaged in mercantile pursuits in Boston; member of the state house of representatives in 1776; member of the Board of War in 1776; collector...
was appointed. He then applied to be personal secretary to George Washington, now first
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
, writing that he had unpaid expenses as a Continental officer, and that business was "not congenial to [his] temper."
He resigned in 1791 to restart his law practice, and work as agent for
William BinghamWilliam Bingham was an American statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788 and served in the United States Senate from 1795 to 1801...
and
Henry KnoxHenry Knox was an American bookseller from Boston who became the chief artillery officer of the Continental Army and later the nation's first Secretary of War.-Early life and marriage:...
(then Secretary of War), who were selling off a large land grant in Maine first acquired by
William DuerWilliam Duer may refer to:*William Duer , New York speculator, Continental Congressman and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury....
, first Undersecretary of the Treasury and now bankrupt. Jackson's job was selling land on commission in England and France; among his potential customers was the Committee on Public Safety. They declined to invest their scanty funds in Maine land; but Jackson wrote a very favorable report on them back to the United States.
He returned to the United States in the summer of 1795, and married Elizabeth Willing, Mrs. Bingham's sister, in November 1795; they were the oldest daughters of
Thomas WillingThomas Willing was an American merchant and financier and a Delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania....
, a rich Philadelphia merchant, related to the Shippens. In January 1796 (during his last months in office), Washington, who had gone to the wedding, appointed Jackson Collector for the Port of Philadelphia; Jefferson, another wedding guest, dismissed him in 1801 for politicizing his office; Jackson then started a Federalist newspaper, the
Political and Commercial Register, in Philadelphia, and edited it until 1815.
He was, after his marriage, a leader of society, with Charleston manners, and his father-in-law's wealth;
John AdamsJohn Adams was an American politician and the second President of the United States , after being the first Vice President for two terms. He is regarded as one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States.Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution...
compared him to Sir Charles Grandison.
Cincinnati
Jackson succeeded Henry Knox as President of the Society of the Cincinnati, a group of former Continental Army officers, in 1799. As such, he headed an unsuccessful effort to lobby Congress to grant all veteran Revolutionary officers half-pay for life, in 1816. Congress was to pass such a bill in 1826, fifty years after independence, but Jackson was not associated with it; his last public appearance was welcoming the Marquis de Lafayette to Philadelphia in 1824. He remained titular president of the Cincinnati until his death, December 18, 1828, at the age of 69, in Philadelphia.