American political and intellectual leader from Boston, Massachusetts
1726 CE
to 1790 CE
James Bowdoin II (August 7, 1726 – November 6, 1790) is an American political and intellectual leader from Boston, Massachusetts, during the American Revolution and the following decade.
He initially gains fame and influence as a wealthy merchant.
He serves in both branches of the Massachusetts General Court from the 1750s to the 1770s.
Although he is initially supportive of the royal governors, he opposess British colonial policy and eventually becomes an influential advocate of independence.
He authores a highly political report on the 1770 Boston Massacre that has been described by historian Francis Walett as one of the most influential pieces of writing that shaped public opinion in the colonies.
From 1775 to 1777 he serves as president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress' executive council, the de facto head of the Massachusetts government.
He is elected president of the constitutional convention that drafts the state's constitution in 1779, and rusn unsuccessfully for governor in 1780, losing to John Hancock.
In 1785, following Hancock's resignation, he is elected governor.
Due to the large debts of Massachusetts, incurred from the Revolutionary War, Bowdoin runs on a platform of fiscal responsibility.
During his two years in office the combination of poor economic conditions and his harsh fiscal policy laid down by his government led to the uprising known as Shays' Rebellion.
Bowdoin personally funds militia forces that are instrumental in putting down the uprising.
His high-handed treatment of the rebels may have contributed to his loss of the 1787 election, in which the populist Hancock is returned to office.
In addition to his political activities, Bowdoin is active in scientific pursuits, collaborating with Benjamin Franklin in his pioneering research on electricity.
Heis elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and is a founder and first president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, to whom he bequeaths his library.
Bowdoin College in Maine is named in his honor after a bequest by his son James III.
