James Chesnut Jr. (January 18, 1815 – February 1, 1885) was an American lawyer and politician, and a Confederate functionary.

Chesnut, a lawyer prominent in South Carolina state politics, served as a Democratic senator in 1858-60, where he proved moderate on the slavery question. But on Lincoln's election in 1860, Chesnut resigned from the U.S. Senate and took part in the South Carolina