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For other persons named William Hooper, see William Hooper (disambiguation). William Hooper may refer to William Hooper (1742–-1790 an American political leader from North Carolina who signed the United States Declaration of Independence


William Hooper
William Hooper
Hooper's signature
Hooper's signature

William Hooper (June 17, 1742–October 14, 1790)[1], was an American lawyer, politician, and a member of the Continental Congress representing North Carolina from 1774 through 1777. Events 1462 - Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II ( The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat Year 1742 ( MDCCXLII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill seven miles from Hastings, the forces Year 1790 ( MDCCXC) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States Hooper was also a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4 1776 announcing that the thirteen American colonies then

Contents

Early life

Hooper was the first child of five, born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 17, 1742. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Events 1462 - Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II ( The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat Year 1742 ( MDCCXLII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a His father, William Hooper, was a minister who studied at the University of Edinburgh prior to immigrating to Boston, and his mother, Mary Dennie, was the daughter of John Dennie, a well-respected merchant from Massachusetts. The University of Edinburgh (Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann founded in 1582 is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Hooper’s father had hoped that Hooper would follow in his footsteps as an Episcopalian minister,[2] and at the age of seven placed Hooper in Boston Latin School headed by Mr. The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts, making it the John Lovell, a highly distinguished educator in Massachusetts. In 1757, at the age of fifteen, Hooper entered Harvard University where he was considered an industrious student and was highly regarded. [3] In 1760 Hooper graduated from Harvard with honors, obtaining a bachelors of arts. However, after graduating Hooper did not wish to pursue a career in the clergy as his father had hoped. Instead, Hooper decided on a career in law, studying under James Otis, a popular attorney in Boston who was regarded as a radical. James Otis Jr (February 5 1725 &ndash May 23 1783 was a lawyer in colonial Massachusetts who was an early advocate of the political views that led to the American Hooper studied under Otis until 1764, and once completing his bar exam decided to leave Massachusetts in part due to the abundance of lawyers in Boston.

Life in North Carolina

In 1764 Hooper moved temporarily to Wilminton, North Carolina, where he began to practice law and became the circuit court lawyer for Cape Fear. Wilmington is a city in and the County seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States Circuit court is the name of court systems in several Common law jurisdictions See also Geography of North Carolina Hooper began to build a highly respected reputation in North Carolina among the wealthy farmers as well as fellow lawyers. Hooper increased his influence by representing the colonial government in several court cases. In 1767 Hooper married Anne Clark, the daughter of a wealthy early settler to the region and sheriff of New Hanover County. New Hanover County is a County located in the US state of North Carolina. [4] The two had a son, William, in 1768, followed by a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1770 and then another son, Thomas, in 1772. [5] Hooper quickly was able to move up the ranks, first in 1769 when he was appointed as Deputy Attorney of Salisbury district, and then in 1770 when he was appointed Deputy Attorney General of North Carolina. Salisbury is a city in Rowan County in North Carolina, a state of the United States of America. Deputy Attorney General (DAG is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law in various governments of the world

Initially Hooper supported the British colonial government in North Carolina. As Deputy Attorney General in 1768 Hooper worked with Colonial Governor William Tryon to suppress a rebellious group known as the Regulators who participated in the War of the Regulation. William Tryon ( June 8, 1729 – January 27, 1788) was colonial Governor of the Province of North Carolina (1765-1771 and The War of the Regulation (or the Regulator Movement was a North Carolina uprising lasting from approximately 1764 to 1771, where mostly lower class citizens The Regulators had been operating in North Carolina for some time, and in 1770 it was reported that the group dragged Hooper through the streets in Hillsborough during a riot. Hillsborough is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States. Hooper advised that Governor Tryon use as much force as was necessary to stamp out the rebels, and even accompanied the troops at the Battle of Alamance in 1771. The Battle of Alamance ended the so-called War of the Regulation, a rebellion in colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control [6]

American Revolution involvement

Hooper’s support of the colonial governments began to erode, causing problems for him due to his past support of Governor Tryon. Hooper had been labeled a Loyalist, and therefore he was not immediately accepted by Patriots. This article concerns Loyalists in the American Revolution. For information on the role of those Loyalists in Canadian history after their emigration see United Empire This article concerns Patriots in the American Revolution. For other uses see Patriot (disambiguation. Hooper eventually was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1773, where he became an opponent to colonial attempts to pass laws that would regulate the provincial courts. The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U This in turn helped to sour his reputation among Loyalists. Hooper recognized that independence was likely to occur, and mentioned this in a letter to his friend James Iredell, saying that the colonies were “striding fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire upon the ruins o Great Britain. This article is about James Iredell the United States Supreme Court justice ”[7]

During his time in the assembly Hooper slowly became a supporter of the American Revolution and independence. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" After the governor disbanded the assembly, Hooper helped to organize a new colonial assembly. Hooper was also appointed to the Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry. The committees of correspondence were bodies organized by the local governments of the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution for the purposes of coordinating In 1774 Hooper was appointed a delegate to the First Continental Congress, where he served on numerous committees. The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen British North American colonies that met on September 5 1774 in Hooper was again elected to the Second Continental Congress, but much of his time was split between the congress and work in North Carolina, where he was assisting in forming a new government. The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that met beginning in May 10 1775 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Due to private matters Hooper missed the vote approving the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, 1776; however, he arrived in time to sign it on August 2, 1776. The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4 1776 announcing that the thirteen American colonies then In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July (or the Fourth) is a Federal holiday commemorating the adoption Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1776 ( MDCCLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a [8]

In 1777, due to continued financial concerns, Hooper resigned from Congress, and returned to North Carolina to resume his law career. Throughout the Revolution the British attempted to capture Hooper, and with his country home in Finian vulnerable to British attacks, Hooper moved his family to Wilmington. In 1781 the British captured Wilmington, to where Cornwallis and his forces fell back after the Battle of Guilford Court House,[9] and Hooper found himself separated from his family. Charles Cornwallis 1st Marquess Cornwallis ( 31 December 1738 &ndash 5 October 1805) was a British military commander and colonial Prelude Following the Battle of Cowpens, Cornwallis was determined to destroy Greene's army In addition, the British burned his estates in both Finian and Wilmington, so Hooper was forced to rely on friends for food and shelter during this time, as well as nursing him back to health when he contracted malaria. Malaria is a vector -borne Infectious disease caused by Protozoan Parasites It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions including Finally, after nearly a year of separation, Hooper was reunited with his family and they settled in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where Hooper continued to work for the North Carolina assembly until 1783. Hillsborough is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States.

Post-revolution years

After the Revolution Hooper returned to his career in law, but he lost favor with the public due to his political stance. Hooper fell in line with the Federalist Party due to his influential connections, his mistrust of the lower class, and his widely criticized soft dealings with Loyalists,[10] toward whom he was generally forgiving. The Federalist Party (or Federal Party) was an American political party in the period 1792 to 1816 with remnants lasting into the 1820s This kind and fair treatment made some even label him a Loyalist. Hooper was again called to public service in 1786, when he was appointed a federal judge in a border dispute between New York and Massachusetts, though the case was settled out of court. In the United States the title of federal judge usually refers to a Judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous In 1787 and 1788 Hooper campaigned heavily for North Carolina to ratify the new United States Constitution, but by this time Hooper had become quite ill, eventually dying on October 14, 1790, at the age of 48. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Events 1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill seven miles from Hastings, the forces Year 1790 ( MDCCXC) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year [11]

External links


Footnotes

  1. ^ B. J. Lossing, Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (Aledo, Tex. : WallBuilders Press, 2007), 201
  2. ^ Dennis Brindell Fradin, The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence (New York: Walker and Co. , 2002), 112
  3. ^ Lossing, Lives of the Signers, 202
  4. ^ Fradin, The Signers, 112
  5. ^ A. C. Goodwin, "Brief Biography and Genealogy of William Hooper," Ancestry. com (2 Dec. 1998), http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hoops/hooper/s. . . (accessed Apr. 13, 2008).
  6. ^ Charles W. Snell, "Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Biographical Sketches," United States Department of the Interior, National Parks Service (4 July 2004) http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/credits.htm (accessed Apr. 13, 2008).
  7. ^ Harold D. Lowry, "William Hooper. Society of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, 2006," http://www.dsdi1776.com/Signers/William%20Hooper.html (accessed Apr. 13, 2008).
  8. ^ Fradin, The Signers, 112.
  9. ^ Gordon S. Wood, The American Revolution: A History (New York: Modern Library, 2002), 86
  10. ^ Snell, Signers of the Declaration.
  11. ^ Lossing, Lives of the Signers, 204.

References


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