Robert Barnwell Rhett
| Robert Rhett | |
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| Deputy to the Provisional C.S. Congress from South Carolina |
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In office February 4, 1861 – February 18, 1862 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
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United States Senator from South Carolina |
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In office December 18, 1850 – May 7, 1852 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Barnwell |
| Succeeded by | William de Saussure |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 7th Congressional District |
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In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1849 |
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| Preceded by | James Rogers |
| Succeeded by | William Colcock |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District |
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In office March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843 |
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| Preceded by | William Grayson |
| Succeeded by | Richard Simpson |
| Attorney General of South Carolina | |
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In office November 29, 1832 – March 4, 1837 |
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| Governor |
Robert Hayne George McDuffie Pierce Butler |
| Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from St. Bartholomew's Parish | |
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In office November 27, 1826 – November 29, 1832 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Robert Barnwell Smith December 21, 1800 Beaufort, South Carolina |
| Died | September 14, 1876 (aged 75) St. James Parish, Louisiana |
| Resting place |
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations |
Southern National Party |
| Occupation | Politician, lawyer, planter, and newspaper publisher |
Robert Rhett (born Robert Barnwell Smith; December 21, 1800 – September 14, 1876) was an American politician who served as a deputy from South Carolina to the Provisional Confederate States Congressfrom 1861 to 1862, a member of the US House of Representatives from South Carolina from 1837 to 1849, and Senator from South Carolina from 1850 to 1852. Extremely pro-slavery and an early advocate of secession, he was a Fire-Eater."
Rhett published his views through his newspaper, the Charleston Mercury.
He was born Robert Barnwell Smith in Beaufort, South Carolina, United States. He later studied law.
He was a member of the South Carolina legislature in 1826 until 1832. He was extremely pro-slavery in his views. At the end of the Nullification Crisis in 1833, he told the South Carolina Nullification Convention:
In 1832, Rhett became South Carolina attorney general and served until 1837. He was then elected US Representative and served until 1849. In 1838, he changed his last name from Smith to that of a prominent colonial ancestor, Colonel William Rhett. He objected vehemently to the protectionist Tariff of 1842.
On July 31, 1844, he launched the Bluffton Movement, which called for South Carolina to return to nullification or else declare secession. It was soon repudiated by more moderate South Carolina Democrats, including even Senator John C. Calhoun, who feared it would endanger the presidential candidacy of James K. Polk.
Rhett opposed the Compromise of 1850 as against the interests of the slave-holding South. He joined fellow Fire-Eaters at the Nashville Convention of 1850, which failed to endorse his aim of secession for the whole South. After the Nashville Convention, Rhett, William Lowndes Yancey, and a few others met in Macon, Georgia on August 21, 1850, and formed the short-lived Southern National Party. In December 1850, he was became US Senator to complete the term left by the death of Calhoun. He continued to advocate secession in response to the Compromise, but in 1852, South Carolina refrained from declaring secession and merely passed an ordinance declaring a state's right to secede. Disappointed, he resigned his Senate seat.
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