Peter Sharpe

Peter Sharpe (December 10, 1777, in New York City – August 3, 1842, in Brooklyn, New York) was an American politician who served as a United States Representative from New York during a formative period in the early republic. Born in New York City, he came of age as the city was emerging as a major commercial center in the post-Revolutionary era. Before entering public life, Sharpe worked in a skilled trade; contemporaries described him as “a Maiden-lane whip-maker, of the average intelligence of a mechanic,” indicating that he was engaged in artisanal manufacturing in the Maiden Lane area of lower Manhattan, then a busy commercial district.

Sharpe’s early public career developed in New York City municipal politics. He served as an alderman of New York City, a position that placed him within the city’s governing structure at a time when urban growth and commercial expansion were reshaping local governance. His work as alderman helped establish his reputation and provided a platform for advancement into state-level politics, reflecting the common early nineteenth-century pattern in which local officeholders moved into the state legislature.

Sharpe entered the New York State Assembly as a representative from New York County, serving in the sessions of 1814–1815 and then continuously from 1816 to 1821. During this period he participated in legislative deliberations as New York grappled with issues of internal improvements, banking, and the evolving structure of state government. His colleagues elevated him to a leadership role when he was chosen Speaker of the New York State Assembly for the 1820–1821 session, a position that placed him at the center of legislative proceedings and party organization. In 1821 he further extended his influence by serving as a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821, which undertook significant revisions of the state constitution, including changes to suffrage and the distribution of political power within the state.

Sharpe’s state-level prominence led to his involvement in national politics and elections to the United States House of Representatives from New York. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, as the nation navigated the aftermath of the War of 1812, the “Era of Good Feelings,” and the emerging realignment of political parties. Credentials of his election to the Seventeenth Congress were issued by the Secretary of State of New York, but Sharpe did not claim or take the seat. His election was successfully contested by Cadwallader D. Colden, who was seated in his place on December 12, 1821, following the disputed United States House of Representatives elections in New York in 1821. This episode illustrated the contentious and often closely fought nature of early nineteenth-century congressional contests in New York.

Sharpe subsequently secured a place in the national legislature when he was elected as an Adams-Clay Democratic-Republican to the Eighteenth United States Congress. As a member of this faction of the Democratic-Republican Party, aligned with John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, he supported a political program that favored internal improvements and a stronger national role in economic development. He served two terms in office in the House of Representatives, holding his seat from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1825, representing New York and contributing to the legislative process on behalf of his constituents. His tenure coincided with the United States House of Representatives elections in New York in 1822, which helped shape the composition of the delegation during a period of shifting party identities. Sharpe was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the Nineteenth Congress in 1824, as the national party system fractured and new political alignments began to emerge.

As a member of the Adams-Clay Democratic-Republican Party representing New York, Peter Sharpe contributed to the legislative process during his service in Congress, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents at a time when debates over economic policy, federal authority, and regional interests were intensifying. His combined experience as a city alderman, state legislator, Speaker of the New York State Assembly, constitutional convention delegate, and United States Representative reflected a career that bridged local, state, and national politics in the early nineteenth century.

After leaving Congress, Sharpe did not return to national office, and he spent his later years in New York as the state and city continued to expand in population and economic importance. He died on August 3, 1842, in Brooklyn, New York. Initially buried at the New York Marble Cemetery in Manhattan, he was later reinterred in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, one of the city’s most prominent rural cemeteries of the nineteenth century. His burial there placed him among many of New York’s notable political and civic figures of his era.