George Troup
Encyclopedia
George Michael Troup was an American politician
from the U.S. state
of Georgia
. He served in the Georgia General Assembly
, U.S. House of Representatives, and Senate
before becoming the 32nd Governor of Georgia for two terms and then returning to the Senate. A believer in expansionist
Manifest Destiny
policies and a supporter of Indian removal
, Troupe was born to plantation
owners and supported slavery
throughout his career. Later in his life, he was known as "the Hercules
of states' rights
."
at McIntosh Bluff
, on the Tombigbee River
in what is now Alabama
(then a part of the Province 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 Chief Alexander McGillivray
and aunt of Creek Chief William McIntosh.)
Troup graduated from the College of New Jersey
(later Princeton University) in 1797. Two years later, he was admitted to the bar in Savannah, Georgia
. He was a strong opponent of the Yazoo claims
. A Democratic-Republican, Troup served one term as a state legislator (1803-1805) before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving until 1815. Along with fellow western Congressmen such as Henry Clay
of Kentucky
and John C. Calhoun
of South Carolina
, Troup was a part of the nationalistic War Hawk movement.
The state legislature elected Troup to the U.S. Senator, where he was supported by fellow wealthy plantation
owners., Troup served as chairman of the Senate Committee of Military Affairs
.
Troup was twice married and the father of six children. He primarily lived in Dublin
in Laurens County
. Troup's country estate, Val d'Osta, was named after the Valle d'Aosta alpine valley in Italy
. In turn, the town of Valdosta, Georgia
, (formerly called Troupville) was named for Troup's estate.
hand-picked Troup as his candidate for governor in 1819. However, Troup twice lost to Crawford's bitter rival, John Clark
, who was supported by frontier
settlers. In 1823, Troup ran again, as Clark was no longer eligible, and won. He advocated the removal of the Creek Indians from western Georgia. Troup wanted to move them to the Western Territory
of the Louisiana Purchase
, an idea first proposed by Thomas Jefferson
in 1803. In 1825, in Georgia's first popular election, Troup won by a razor-thin margin. He negotiated the controversial Treaty of Indian Springs
with his first cousin William McIntosh, a mixed-blood Creek chief. 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 challenged President
John Quincy Adams
, who conceded and allowed Troup to seize the remaining Creek land in Georgia.
During Troup's tenure as governor, he supported public education
and the construction of new roads and canal
s. Troup County
was created from former Lower Creek land in 1826 and named for him. Upon the expiration of his second term, Troup returned to the Senate as a Jacksonian Democrat, where he served on the Committee on Indian Affairs. He was a nominee for the Presidency
at the States Rights Convention in January 1852 in Jackson, Mississippi
.
in Montgomery County, Georgia
(now Treutlen County
). He was buried on the Rosemont plantation.
During the American Civil War
, an Athens, Georgia
battery
was named the "Troup Artillery" in his memory.
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
from the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. He served in the Georgia General Assembly
Georgia General Assembly
The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, being composed of the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate....
, U.S. House of Representatives, and Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
before becoming the 32nd Governor of Georgia for two terms and then returning to the Senate. A believer in expansionist
Expansionism
In general, expansionism consists of expansionist policies of governments and states. While some have linked the term to promoting economic growth , more commonly expansionism refers to the doctrine of a state expanding its territorial base usually, though not necessarily, by means of military...
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
policies and a supporter of Indian removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
, Troupe was born to plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
owners and supported slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
throughout his career. Later in his life, he was known as "the Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
of states' rights
States' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
."
Early life and career
Troup was born during the American RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
at McIntosh Bluff
McIntosh Bluff
McIntosh Bluff was one of the earliest white settlements in Alabama, USA. Although it is now in Mobile County, it was the first county seat of Baldwin County...
, on the Tombigbee River
Tombigbee River
The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. It is one of two major rivers, along with the Alabama River, that unite to form the short Mobile River before it empties into Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico...
in what is now Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
(then a part of the Province of Georgia
Province of Georgia
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States...
). 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 Chief Alexander McGillivray
Alexander McGillivray
Alexander McGillivray, also known as Hoboi-Hili-Miko , was a principal chief of the Upper Creek towns from 1782. Before that he had created an alliance between the Creek and the British during the American Revolution...
and aunt of Creek Chief William McIntosh.)
Troup graduated from the College of New Jersey
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(later Princeton University) in 1797. Two years later, he was admitted to the bar in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
. He was a strong opponent of the Yazoo claims
Yazoo land scandal
The Yazoo land scandal, Yazoo fraud, Yazoo land fraud, or Yazoo land controversy was a massive fraud perpetrated from 1794 to 1803 by several Georgia governors and the state legislature. They sold large tracts of land in what is now the state of Mississippi to political insiders at very low prices...
. A Democratic-Republican, Troup served one term as a state legislator (1803-1805) before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving until 1815. Along with fellow western Congressmen such as Henry Clay
Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Troup was a part of the nationalistic War Hawk movement.
The state legislature elected Troup to the U.S. Senator, where he was supported by fellow wealthy plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
owners., Troup served as chairman of the Senate Committee of Military Affairs
United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
The Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
.
Troup was twice married and the father of six children. He primarily lived in Dublin
Dublin, Georgia
Dublin is a city in Laurens County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 16,201. The city is the county seat of Laurens County.-History:The original settlement was named after the city Dublin, Ireland....
in Laurens County
Laurens County, Georgia
Laurens County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 10, 1807. As of 2000, the population was 44,874. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 47,520...
. Troup's country estate, Val d'Osta, was named after the Valle d'Aosta alpine valley in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In turn, the town of Valdosta, Georgia
Valdosta, Georgia
Valdosta is the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 54,518. The Valdosta metropolitan area, according to the 2010 estimate, has a population of 139,588...
, (formerly called Troupville) was named for Troup's estate.
Governorship
Georgia political force William H. CrawfordWilliam H. Crawford
William Harris Crawford was an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as United States Secretary of War from 1815 to 1816 and United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1816 to 1825, and was a candidate for President of the United States in 1824.-Political...
hand-picked Troup as his candidate for governor in 1819. However, Troup twice lost to Crawford's bitter rival, John Clark
John Clark (Georgia governor)
John Clark was an American politician.-Career:Clark served in the Georgia House of Representatives prior to being elected to consecutive two-year terms as the 31st Governor from 1820 to 1824.Clark also served in the Georgia Militia during the American Revolution and achieved the rank of Major...
, who was supported by frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
settlers. In 1823, Troup ran again, as Clark was no longer eligible, and won. He advocated the removal of the Creek Indians from western Georgia. Troup wanted to move them to the Western Territory
Unassigned Lands
Unassigned Lands, or Oklahoma, were in the center of the lands ceded to the United States by the Creek and Seminole Indians following the Civil War and on which no other tribes had been settled...
of the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
, an idea first proposed by Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
in 1803. In 1825, in Georgia's first popular election, Troup won by a razor-thin margin. He negotiated the controversial Treaty of Indian Springs
Treaty of Indian Springs
There are two Treaties of Indian Springs with the Creek Indians. The first treaty was signed January 8, 1821. In it, the Lower Creek ceded land to the state of Georgia in return for cash payments totaling $200,000 over a period of 14 years...
with his first cousin William McIntosh, a mixed-blood Creek chief. 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 challenged President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
, who conceded and allowed Troup to seize the remaining Creek land in Georgia.
During Troup's tenure as governor, he supported public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
and the construction of new roads and canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s. Troup County
Troup County, Georgia
Troup County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2010, the population was 67,044. The county seat is LaGrange.-History:...
was created from former Lower Creek land in 1826 and named for him. Upon the expiration of his second term, Troup returned to the Senate as a Jacksonian Democrat, where he served on the Committee on Indian Affairs. He was a nominee for the Presidency
Presidency
The word presidency is often used to describe the administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation...
at the States Rights Convention in January 1852 in Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
.
Death and memorialization
Troup died while visiting one of his plantations near the Oconee RiverOconee River
The Oconee River is a river which has its origin in Hall County, Georgia, and terminates where it joins the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha River near Lumber City at the borders of Montgomery County, Wheeler County, and Jeff Davis County. South of Athens, two forks, known as the North Oconee...
in Montgomery County, Georgia
Montgomery County, Georgia
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 8,270. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 9,060...
(now Treutlen County
Treutlen County, Georgia
Treutlen County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 6,854. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 6,938. The county seat is Soperton...
). He was buried on the Rosemont plantation.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, an Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
battery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
was named the "Troup Artillery" in his memory.