Robert Goodloe Harper (January 1765January 14, 1825), was an American politician and a federalist. He was a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, serving from January 1816 until his resignation in December of the same year. He also served in the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...

(1790–1795), the U.S. House of Representatives from

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

(1795–1801), and in the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single-m ...

. He is best remembered for the phrase, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute" in connection with the

XYZ Affair The XYZ Affair was a political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 1798, early in the presidency of John Adams, involving a confrontation between the United States and Republican France that led to the Quasi-War. The name derives from the subs ...

. The town of

Harper, Liberia Harper, situated on Cape Palmas, is the capital of Maryland County in Liberia. It is a coastal town situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Hoffman River. Harper is Liberia's 11th largest town, with a population of 17,837. Name The town i ...

, is named after him.

Early life

Harper was born near Fredericksburg in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...

in January 1765. He was the fifth child and first son of Jesse Harper (b. 1733) and Emily Diana Goodloe (1734–1788) and moved with his parents to Granville, North Carolina around 1769. He received his early education at home and later attended grammar school. At the age of fifteen, Harper joined a volunteer corps of Cavalry and served in the American Revolutionary Army. He made a surveying tour through

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

in 1783, and graduated from the College of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

) in 1785. He studied law in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, teaching school at the same time, and was admitted to the bar in 1786.''The Evils of Necessity: Robert Goodloe Harper and the Moral Dilemma of Slavery''; Cox, Joseph.

Career

He commenced practice in the

Ninety-Six District Ninety-Six District (not "96th") is a former judicial district in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It existed as a district from 29 July 1769 to 31 December 1799. The court house and jail for Ninety-Six District were in Ninety Six, South Carolina ...

of South Carolina, moving back to Charleston in 1789. From 1790 to 1795, Harper was a member of the

, at which time he was elected from South Carolina to the Third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

Alexander Gillon Alexander Gillon (August 13, 1741October 6, 1794) was an American merchant and seaman from Charleston, South Carolina. He represented South Carolina in the U.S. House in 1793 and 1794. Early life and family Gillon was born in 1741 in Rotterd ...

. He was reelected to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Congresses but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1800 to the Seventh Congress, serving as a U.S Representative from February 9, 1795 to March 1801. While in Congress, he was the chairman of the

Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...

in the Fifth and Sixth Congresses. Harper was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1798 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against

William Blount William Blount (March 26, 1749March 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, statesman, farmer and land speculator who signed the United States Constitution. He was a member of the North Carolina delegation at the Constitutional Convention o ...

Political career in Maryland

Harper moved to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, and engaged in the practice of law. He consorted with the men of the mob riots of Baltimore against the British in June 1812. He served in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

, attaining the rank of major general. He assisted in organizing the Baltimore Exchange Co. in 1815 and was a member of the first board of directors. He then became a member of the

, and was later elected from Maryland to the

for the term beginning March 4, 1815, serving from January 1816 until December 1816, when he resigned. He was an unsuccessful

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

candidate for

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

in the 1816 election. He also received one electoral vote for Vice President in the 1820 election.''Champion of Southern Federalism: Robert Goodloe Harper of South Carolina.'' Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1972. In 1815, Harper was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref> and traveled extensively in Europe in 1819 and 1820. He took a prominent part in the ceremonies on the occasion of Lafayette’s visit to Baltimore in 1824.

Personal life

On May 7, 1800, Harper married Catherine Carroll (1778–1861) in

Anne Arundel County, Maryland Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...

. Catherine was the daughter of Charles Carroll and Mary (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Darnall) Carroll. Her elder sister, Mary, married

Richard Caton Richard Caton (1842, Bradford – 1926), of Liverpool, England, was a British physician, physiologist and Lord Mayor of Liverpool who was crucial in discovering the electrical nature of the brain and laid the groundwork for Hans Berger to disc ...

. Together, they were the parents of at least four children who survived to adulthood, including: * Charles Carroll Harper (1802–1837), who married Charlotte Hutchinson Cheffelle (1807–1867) in 1827. * Mary Diana Harper (1803–1818), who died young. * Richard Caton Harper (1806–1815), who died young. * Elizabeth Hyde Harper (1809–1823), who died unmarried. * Emily Louisa Harper (1812–1892), who never married. * Robert Goodloe Harper, Jr. (1814–1854) He died in Baltimore on January 14, 1825, and was initially interred in the family burial ground on his estate, Oakland in Roland Park, and later reburied in

Greenmount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as man ...

in Baltimore.''American National Biography'' Papenfuse, Eric.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Charles, he was a grandfather of Emily Louisa Harper (1835–1908), who married William Clapham Pennington (1829–1913). Their son, Robert Goodloe Harper Pennington (1854–1920) was a prominent artist.

Ancestry

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Robert Goodloe 1765 births 1825 deaths United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Maryland state senators Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Politicians from Fredericksburg, Virginia United States Army generals United States senators from Maryland 1816 United States vice-presidential candidates 1820 United States vice-presidential candidates Maryland Federalists Federalist Party United States senators Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Carroll family Members of the American Antiquarian Society