Richard dobbs spaight sr biography

Richard dobbs spaight sr biography: Richard Dobbs Spaight (March

Representative for North Carolina's 10th congressional district from to Spaight was the eighth governor of North Carolina from to Congressman John Stanly campaigned against him as unworthy. Taking offense, Stanly challenged him to a duel on September 5,in which Stanly shot and mortally wounded Spaight, who died the following day.

Representative Richard Spaight Donnell. Orphaned at the age of eight, he was sent to live with his Dobbs relatives at Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland and later followed his cousin Richard Dobbs to the University of Glasgow. The North Carolina General Assembly elected Spaight a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation between and ; he then served in the North Carolina House of Commons from to and was named speaker of the House.

Inhe was a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the U. Constitution, and he signed the document when he was 29 years old. Under the North Carolina Constitution ofSpaight was nominated for governor in but was defeated by a majority in the General Assembly; he was nominated for the United States Senate in and was again defeated.

Inhe was a member of the state convention, which voted not to ratify the Constitution, although Spaight supported ratification. On March 24,he married Mary Leach, who had the distinction of being the first lady to dance with George Washington at a ball in Washington's honor at the Governor's Palace, New Bernin Spaight retired from politics for several years because of ill health; he returned to the state House of Representatives in Also, inhe was elected the first native-born governor of North Carolina [ 2 ] and was re-elected by the General Assembly for two further one-year terms.

During his term as governor, sites were chosen for the new state capital of Raleigh and the newly chartered University of North Carolina. Spaight was chair of the university's board of trustees during his term as governor. He stepped down as governor inhaving served the constitutional limit of three one-year terms. Spaight was elected to the United States House of Representatives infilling the unexpired term of Nathan Bryanwhom Spaight previously lost to in [ 3 ] ; he was elected to a two-year term inserving untiland though elected as a Federalist, his views on states rights led him to become associated with the Democratic-Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson.

He lost his bid for re-election to Congress but returned to state government, serving in the North Carolina Senate beginning in Spaight was part of the planter class and an extensive enslaver.

Richard dobbs spaight sr biography: Richard D. Spaight was born in

According to census records, he enslaved 71 people in and 83 people in At the time of his death inhe was enslaving 89 people. Spaight died on September 6,following injuries sustained in a duel with John Stanly, the Federalist congressman who had defeated him in the election of for the House of Representatives. Spaight Street in Madison, Wisconsinis named in his honor.

He served as an aide-de-camp to Major General Richard Caswell. Inhe participated in the Battle of Camden. InSpaight was elected to the state legislature. The General Assembly appointed Spaight to serve as a delegate to the Confederation Congress from to InNorth Carolina chose Spaight as one of its representatives at the Constitutional Convention.

He attended all of the sessions, but was not a frequent speaker. After unsuccessfully running for Governor of North Carolina and seeking election to the U. Senate, Spaight briefly retired from public life in Inhis bid for governor was successful, and he became the first native-born leader of the state.

Richard dobbs spaight sr biography: Richard Dobbs Spaight was an American

While Spaight was governor of North Carolina —the state settled various longstanding disputes. It also prepared for possible war with France. An American treaty with Great Britain the Jay Treaty of led to hostility from the French, who had just undergone their own revolution. Worried about escalating tensions between the young United States and France, Spaight supported neutrality and tried to avoid war.

During his three years as chief executive of the state, North Carolina settled its financial disputes with the national government, its border dispute with South Carolina, and dealt with threats from the Cherokee tribe in the west. In Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which gave the government power to expel foreigners and made it a crime to write maliciously about the government.

Opposed to these restrictions on freedom, Spaight started publicly endorsing Jefferson Republicanism. House of Representatives as a Democratic-Republican and remained in office until During this time, he advocated repeal of the Alien and Sedition Acts and voted for Jefferson in the contested election of The next year, Spaight was voted into the lower house of the North Carolina legislature; the following year, to the upper.

Only 44 years old inSpaight was struck down in a duel at New Bern with a political rival, Federalist John Stanly. So ended the promising career of one of the state's foremost leaders. He was buried in the family sepulcher at Clermont estate, near New Bern.