James Tallmadge Jr. (1778-1853) was a lawyer, veteran of the War of 1812, and politician from Poughkeepsie who served in the U.S. House for one term (1817-19). In his final weeks in Congress, he introduced what became known as the “Tallmadge Amendment,” a bill banning the practice of slavery in Missouri which had petitioned to join the Union as a slave state, and would give slave states two additional members in the U.S. Senate.. The amendment passed the House but was defeated in the Senate. Tallmadge became Lieutenant Governor of New York (1824-26).