James Williams (1796–1869) was an American Minister Resident (Ambassador) to the Ottoman Empire, appointed on January 14, 1858 by President James Buchanan. James Williams remained in this function until the outbreak of the American Civil War, terminating his functions on May 25, 1861. A native of Tennessee, he remained in Europe supporting the Confederacy by selling Confederate bonds, as well as writing numerous articles and books in favor of the South alongside Henry Hotze in London. Accused of treason for joining the Confederate cause as a US Government employee, he remained in Europe and died in Austria in 1869.