Walker, Amasa, 1799-1875, American economist, b. Woodstock, Conn. He became a merchant in Boston but retired from business in 1840. He lectured (1842-48) on political economy at Oberlin College, which he was influential in founding. He was a delegate to the peace congresses at London (1843) and Paris (1849). An abolitionist, he was elected secretary of state (1851-53) for Massachusetts by the Free-Soil party, and filled out a term (1862-63) as U.S. Congressman. Walker taught economics at Harvard (1853-60) and Amherst (1859-69). His Science of Wealth (1866) was long a popular economics textbook.

Amasa, in the Bible. 1 Cousin of Absalom, with whom he revolted. Later he became David's commander in chief; he was murdered by Joab. 2 Ephraimite chief.

Delano, Amasa, 1763-1823, American sea captain, b. Duxbury, Mass. He served in the American Revolution as a soldier at 15 and later as a privateersman. His experiences on the sea in the days of New England's supremacy are recorded in his Narrative of Voyages and Travels in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Comprising Three Voyages Round the World (1817).

(born March 9, 1824, Watervliet, N.Y., U.S.—died June 21, 1893, Palo Alto, Calif.) U.S. entrepreneur, a builder of the first transcontinental railroad. He practiced law in Wisconsin before settling in Sacramento, Calif., where he built a successful retail business in mining supplies and became active in local politics. He served as governor of California (1861–63). He invested heavily in the plan to build a transcontinental railroad, and when the Central Pacific Railroad was organized in 1861 he became its president (1863–93). During his tenure its track was built eastward to join that of the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah (1869), and he played a major role in further railroad development in California and the Southwest. From 1885 to 1893 he served in the U.S. Senate. He and his wife, Jane, founded Stanford University in 1885.

Learn more about Stanford, (Amasa) Leland with a free trial on Britannica.com.

For the bark beetle genus, see Amasa (beetle).

Amasa - burden.

• A son of Abigail who was sister to King David and Zeruiah, the mother of Joab. Hence, Amasa was a nephew to David, a cousin to Joab, as well as a cousin to Absalom.

Absalom, David's mutinous son, revolted and won over the tribes of Israel (). He appointed Amasa over the army, in effect replacing Joab, who had been general for his father David.

After the revolt was crushed, David held out an olive branch to Amasa (in a likely effort to appease and reunite Judah with the other 10 tribes of Israel) by offering to appoint Amasa as his new army commander (). While being fiercely loyal to David, Joab was also suspicious of any potential rivals for Joab's power or threats to David's kingdom, and had no qualms about taking the lives of any who might stand in his way (E.G., Abner: , and Absalom: ). So it was not difficult for Joab to also decide to murder Amasa ().

• A son of Hadlai, and one of the leaders of Ephraim during the reign of the evil King Ahaz ().