COOPER, THOMAS (1759-184o), American educator and political philosopher, was born in London, Oct. 22, 1759, and studied at Oxford. Because of his active sympathy with the French Revolution he emigrated to the United States about 1793 and began the practice of law, becoming president-judge of the 4th District of Pennsylvania in 1806-11. Like his friend Joseph Priestley, Cooper was very highly esteemed by Thomas Jefferson, who secured for him the appointment as first professor of natural science and law in the University of Virginia, a position which Cooper was forced to resign under the fierce attack made upon him by the Virginia clergy. After filling the chair of chemistry in Dickinson College, Carlisle (Pa.), and in the Uni versity of Pennsylvania, in 1819 he went to South Carolina college, Columbia, where he taught chemistry and political econ omy.
In 1820 he became acting president of that institution, and was president from 1821 until 1833, when he resigned his presi dency and, in the following year, his professorship, owing to the opposition within the State to his liberal religious views. He was a born agitator : John Adams described him as "a learned, inge nious, scientific, and talented madcap." Before his college classes, in public lectures, and in numerous pamphlets he constantly preached the doctrine of free trade and tried to show that the protective system was especially burdensome to the South. His remedy was State action. Each State, he contended, was a sovereign power and was in duty bound to protest against the tyrannical acts of the Federal Government. He exercised con siderable influence in preparing the people of South Carolina for nullification and secession. The last years of his life were spent in preparing an edition of the Statutes at Large of the State. Dr. Cooper died in Columbia on May II, 1840. As a philosopher he was a follower of Hartley, Erasmus Darwin, Priestley, and Brous sais; he was a physiological materialist and a severe critic of Scottish metaphysics.
Among his publications are Some Information Respecting America (1794) ; Political Essays (1800) ; Lectures on the Elements of Political Economy (1326) ; A Treatise on the Law of Libel and the Liberty of the Press (183o) ; and a translation of Broussais' On irritation and Insanity (5831), with which were printed several of his own essays.
See I. Woodbridge Riley, American Philosophy: The Early Schools (1907) ; E. F. Smith, Chemistry in America (1914); and "The Possible Origin of a Lincoln Phrase" in the Review of Reviews (Feb., 19o1).