James Hopkins Adams

James Hopkins Adams (March 15, 1812 – July 13, 1861) was an American politician who served as the 66th governor of South Carolina from 1854 to 1856. He also served in the South Carolina Legislature.

Early life and education

Adams was born in Minervaville, South Carolina, in 1812 to Henry Walker Adams and Mary Goodwyn Adams. He graduated from Yale College in 1831.

In 1854, Adams was elected the 66th governor of South Carolina, a position he held through December 1856. In 1856, he recommended a resumption of the foreign slave trade as a way of eliminating illicit trade. The legislature rejected this proposal.

Adams supported reopening the Atlantic slave trade.

He signed the articles of secession for South Carolina, The Ordinance of Secession, and served as a member of the commission to the United States government to negotiate the transfer of United States property in South Carolina to the state government.

Personal life He married Jane Margaret Scott in April 1832.

Death and legacy He died on his plantation near Columbia, South Carolina,