James Green Jr. was born in Craven County, North Carolina in about 1737. Green became the clerk for the North Carolina Colonial Assembly in 1769. In 1773 Green certified a pension certificate for Fearnaught Beasley, a woman whose son, Ezekiel, was killed during the Battle of Alamance. He was appointed the clerk of the North Carolina Provincial Council in 1775 and in 1776 was promoted to clerk of the North Carolina Provincial Congress. Green represented Craven in the North Carolina General Assembly from 1780 to 1781 and later served as admiralty judge pro tempore of Beaufort County. He died in Craven County in April 1784.