Newton Cannon (May 22, 1781 – September 16, 1841) was an American politician who served as the eighth governor of Tennessee from 1835 to 1839. He also served several terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1814 to 1817, and from 1819 to 1823. Cannon was a long-time foe of Andrew Jackson, and spent much of his political career opposing Jacksonite policies. Cannon was succeeded as Governor of Tennessee by James K. Polk in 1839, who later became President of the United States.

Early life

Born in Guilford County, North Carolina, Cannon was the son of Minos Cannon, who served as a soldier in the Continental Army. The family moved to the area that later became Williamson County, Tennessee, around 1790.

Cannon received a common school education and tried several occupations as a young man, working as a saddler, merchant and surveyor, and undertaking the study of law, before eventually becoming a planter in Williamson County. He owned slaves.

Career

Cannon entered political office in 1811, representing Williamson, Rutherford, Maury, Bedford, Lincoln, and Giles counties in the state senate in the 9th Tennessee General Assembly (1811–1812). He served in the Creek War of 1813 as a colonel in the Tennessee Mounted Rifles. Cannon lost the election to Houston by 11,314 votes. Carroll maintained that the gubernatorial term limit in the state's original constitution no longer applied because it was replaced by a new constitution in 1834. Cannon, however, argued that the 1834 constitution was a revision rather than a replacement for the original constitution. Cannon's view apparently prevailed with the voters. Cannon's election was also aided by division among Tennessee Democrat-Republicans over the U.S. Presidential candidacy of Tennessean Hugh Lawson White in opposition to the national party's choice of Martin Van Buren. He became the first governor to benefit from increased powers given to the office by the state constitution of 1834. As governor, in 1836 he convened the first special session of the legislature in state history.

Cannon was re-elected to a second term as governor in 1837, defeating General Robert Armstrong. In his second term as governor, both houses of the General Assembly were controlled by Whigs, and the legislature approved proposals to create a new state bank and to expand state support for internal improvements such as roads, railroads, and canals.

Opposition to Andrew Jackson

Throughout his political career, Newton Cannon was known for his personal and political antagonism toward Andrew Jackson, whose policies he consistently opposed. Three different supposed interactions between the two men all have been suggested as explanations for the origin of Cannon's antipathy to Jackson. The earliest of these interactions involved a horse track known as Clover Bottom that Jackson owned together with a pair of brothers, William and Patten Anderson. Cannon is purported to have lost substantial amounts of money and other possessions from gambling at Clover Bottom, and is said to have blamed Jackson and the Andersons for his losses, suspecting them of fixing races. He was the father of ten children. A daughter, Rachel Adeline Cannon Maney, was for many years an owner of the Oaklands estate in Murfreesboro. The Civil War journals of a grandson, also named Newton Cannon, were published in 1963 as The Reminiscences of Newton Cannon: First Sergeant, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, C.S.A.

Cannon County, Tennessee, which was established during Cannon's governorship, is named in his honor.

References

  • National Governors Association
  • The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
  • Tennessee Portrait Project
  • Governor Newton Cannon Papers, 1835 - 1839, Tennessee State Library and Archives.