Representative Nathaniel Hazard

Nathaniel Hazard (1776 – December 17, 1820) was a U.S. Representative from Rhode Island during the early national period of the United States. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1776, into a community that was an important colonial seaport and commercial center. Growing up in the years immediately following the American Revolution, Hazard came of age as the new federal government was taking shape and Rhode Island was transitioning from a British colony to a state within the Union. Details of his immediate family background are sparse in the historical record, but his later educational and political attainments indicate that he was part of, or closely connected to, the educated mercantile and professional circles of Newport.

Hazard pursued higher education at a relatively young age and was graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1792. Brown, then known as the College of Rhode Island, was one of the leading institutions of higher learning in New England and played a significant role in training the region’s political and professional elite. His graduation in 1792, when he was still in his mid-teens, reflects both the academic expectations of the era and his own early intellectual development. The classical education he received there would have prepared him for public life, with training in rhetoric, philosophy, and the principles of law and government that were central to political leadership in the early republic.

Following his education, Hazard embarked on a career in public service in his home state. He served as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, participating in the legislative affairs of the state during a period marked by debates over commerce, banking, and the evolving relationship between state and federal authority. Within that body he rose to a position of prominence and influence, serving as speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. As speaker, he would have presided over legislative sessions, guided the consideration of bills, and played a central role in shaping the state’s legislative agenda, indicating the confidence his colleagues placed in his leadership and judgment.

In addition to his formal roles in Rhode Island politics, Hazard engaged with national political figures and issues. While in New York, he wrote to Alexander Hamilton on a few occasions, bringing to Hamilton’s attention various problems and concerns affecting the city. These letters, later preserved in collections such as Founders Online, show Hazard’s awareness of urban and commercial challenges and his willingness to appeal directly to one of the principal architects of the nation’s financial and governmental systems. His correspondence with Hamilton suggests that he was attentive to the broader national context in which local and state issues unfolded and that he sought to influence or inform federal policymakers about conditions on the ground.

Hazard’s state-level prominence and national engagement culminated in his election to the United States House of Representatives. He was elected as a Republican, aligned with the Democratic-Republican Party that dominated national politics in the early nineteenth century, to the Sixteenth Congress. He took his seat in the U.S. House on March 4, 1819, representing Rhode Island at a time when the country was grappling with questions of westward expansion, economic policy following the War of 1812, and the growing sectional tensions that would later intensify over the issue of slavery. As a member of Congress, he participated in the legislative work of the national government during a critical phase of the so‑called “Era of Good Feelings,” when partisan divisions were muted but underlying regional differences were becoming more pronounced.

Hazard’s service in Congress was cut short by his untimely death in office. He continued to serve in the House of Representatives until his death in Washington, D.C., on December 17, 1820. His passing placed him among the early group of members of the United States Congress who died while still in office between 1790 and 1899, a reminder of the personal toll that extended travel and service in the nation’s capital could exact in an era before modern medicine and transportation. Following his death, Nathaniel Hazard was interred in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., a burial ground that became the resting place for many early national legislators and officials. His career, though relatively brief at the national level, reflected the trajectory of a New England statesman who moved from local prominence in Rhode Island’s legislature to participation in the broader work of the federal government during the formative decades of the United States.