James Moore was born about 1650, in England. Little is known of James Moore's origins. During his life he was said to be a son of Roger Moore (also known as Rory O'Moore or Ruairí Óg Ó Mórdha), leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and that he had supposedly inherited his father's rebellious nature.
He emigrated to America and located at Charlestown (now Charleston, South Carolina) about 1675. The blood of his rebellious ancestors seemed to evidence itself in Moore's own activities, for he soon identified himself with the discontented elements and was active in movements of protest.
In 1684 he was prominent in the opposition to the prerogatives of the proprietors, took part in the overthrow of Governor Colleton in 1690, and was a leading spirit in 1693 and 1694 in the protest against quit rents. He had an important place in colonial politics and served as a member of the councils of Governors Morton, Archdale, and Blake.
When Blake died in 1700 he was elected by the council to take his place as governor. He "is said at this time to have been in great debt, and determined if possible to improve his desperate circumstances during his lease of power". In addition to his political activities he had engaged in cattle raising and was a prominent Indian trader.
He had had to fight the accusation of enslaving the Indians and in 1692 had been forbidden to leave the colony to engage in trade except with the consent of the governor and council. He had even lost his councilorship when he attempted to reopen the peltry trade, closed by an Indian war. As governor he perhaps saw a way to strengthen his position in the trade, and he had a bill introduced into the Assembly that would have given him a monopoly of the Indian trade. When the bill was defeated he dissolved the Assembly.
In the election of a new Assembly charges of illegal voting were raised, and when the Assembly, which was unfavorable to him, attempted to investigate the charges he prorogued it, a course he continued as often as the investigation was taken up. He showed himself a man of adventure, not only in his choice of the hazardous occupation of Indian trader but also in his leadership of expeditions and his aspirations as an explorer. As governor he led a force during Queen Anne's War against Saint Augustine and besieged the city for some weeks but on the appearance of two Spanish frigates burned his own ships and retreated by land.
After Nathaniel Johnson arrived in the colony to assume the governorship in 1703 Moore advocated an offensive against the Apalachee Indians for the purpose of counteracting French influence and, possibly, advancing his own interests as a trader. The Assembly refused to support such a move, and he himself gathered an army of whites and Indians at Okmulgee and in 1704 made a successful raid, weakening French power and carrying off many Indians to be slaves. In his activities as a trader he found gold that was assayed in England and reported to be valuable, but he was unsuccessful in interesting the Lords of Trade in his investigations. In 1699 he also tried to obtain support from Edward Randolph in a project to explore the Mississippi, which he declared he could do with a force of fifty whites and a hundred Indians. Nothing came of his dreams of exploration, however, and a few years later he died in 1706, of yellow fever in Charlestown (now Charleston, South Carolina).
The governor of colonial Carolina between 1700 and 1703, James Moore was best known for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida during Queen Anne's War, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida. He captured and brought back to Carolina as slaves thousands of Apalachee Indians.
James Moore was married to Margaret Berringer, the daughter of Lady Yeamans and the step-daughter of Sir John Yeamans. The couple had ten children.
