Overview
Arthur Middleton was a lawyer and politician who played an important role as a leader in the Patriot Cause in South Carolina. Middleton served in the colonial legislature, joined key committees that resisted British policies, and played an active role in the South Carolina Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety. He helped draft the South Carolina Constitution, served in the Continental Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. During the siege of Charleston, he was captured and held as a prisoner of war before returning to Congress in 1781 and 1782.
Personal Facts
- Born: June 26, 1742, near Charleston, South Carolina.
- Parents: Henry Middleton (father), Mary Baker Williams (mother).
- Spouse: Mary Izard (1764).
- Died: January 1, 1787, near Charleston, South Carolina. He was 44.
- Buried: Middleton Place Gardens and Tomb, Charleston, South Carolina.
- Part of: Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Significance
Arthur Middleton is important to American History for his role in the Patriot Cause in South Carolina, the American Revolution, and the American Revolutionary War. As a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, he is one of the nation’s Founding Fathers.
Biography
Early Life
Arthur Middleton was born on June 26, 1742, on his family’s plantation “Middleton Place” on the Ashley River near present-day Charleston, South Carolina. His parents were Henry Middleton and Mary Baker Williams, and the family was active in Carolina politics. His father owned numerous plantations totaling roughly 50,000 acres and employed approximately 800 enslaved people, making him one of the wealthiest and most influential figures in South Carolina.
AHC Notes
- Henry Middleton (1717–1784) — Middleton was a prominent South Carolina planter and politician who was educated in England. He served as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and resigned to help lead the Patriot Cause. He was elected to the First Continental Congress and succeeded Peyton Randolph as President. He was President of the South Carolina Provincial Congress in 1775 and 1776. Middleton resigned from the Continental Congress because he did not support independence. Following the Siege of Charleston, he sought British protection, but continued to provide financial support to the American war effort.
Middleton was educated in South Carolina and in England. In 1757, he went to England, where he was educated at Hackney School, graduated from the University of Cambridge, and studied law at the Middle Temple in London. He returned home in 1763 and found his family had undergone several changes, including the births of new children, his mother’s death, and his father’s remarriage.
- On August 19, 1764, he married Mary Izard. They had nine children together.
In 1764, he became a Justice of the Peace. In October, he was elected to the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly.
- Middleton joined the committee that communicated with South Carolina’s agent in London and served until 1768.
- In May 1768, he took his wife to London, where their son Henry was born, and where artist Benjamin West painted their family portrait.
After visiting southern Europe and spending time in Rome, they returned to South Carolina in September 1771 to live at “Middleton Place,” which Middleton inherited through his mother.
Patriot Cause
In 1772, Middleton won another term in the Commons House of Assembly. As tensions with Great Britain over the Intolerable Acts increased, he served in the First South Carolina Provincial Congress.
- Middleton served on the general committee and on the secret Committee of Five that planned and directed the actions of the three groups of citizens who seized powder and weapons from public storehouses on the night of April 21–22, 1775.
- He helped raise 1,000 guineas to support colonial resistance.
- Middleton served on a special committee appointed on May 5, 1776, following a letter from Arthur Lee in London warning that British officials might incite slave uprisings in the American colonies.
AHC Notes
- Charleston Arms and Powder Raid (April 21–22, 1775) — South Carolina Patriots successfully seized and removed gunpowder and weapons from various locations in and around Charleston, South Carolina. The maneuver was carried out at the request of the South Carolina Secret Committee of Five.
- Arthur Lee (1740–1792) — Lee was a Virginia native who studied in England and earned an M.D. in 1764 before shifting from medicine to politics. In London, he wrote essays and petitions, worked with John Wilkes’s circle, and served as the agent for Massachusetts. Congress later appointed him a Commissioner in Paris, where he pursued foreign aid and clashed with Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin. After returning home, he served in Virginia and the Continental Congress, negotiated treaties with Northwest Indian nations, opposed the Constitution for lacking a Bill of Rights, and retired to Lansdowne.
Leadership During the War
After news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775) reached South Carolina, Middleton continued to support the Patriot Cause.
- On June 14, 1775, he became a member of the first South Carolina Council of Safety, which assumed the colony’s executive duties.
- In the Second South Carolina Provincial Congress, he was elected to the new Council of Safety on November 16, 1775.
Middleton led the more extreme faction and advocated removing from office anyone who refused to sign the Continental Association and confiscating the property of those who fled South Carolina.
- Middleton supported physical attacks against Loyalists, including tarring and feathering.
- He repeatedly pushed for stronger defenses for Charleston Harbor.
AHC Notes
- Continental Association — The Continental Association was an organization set up by the Articles of Association, which were agreed to by the delegates to the First Continental Congress on October 20, 1774. Under the agreement, Committees of Inspection were to be set up in each colony to ensure the colonists complied. The Committees of Correspondence were also given the power to conduct inspections.
South Carolina Constitution and Independence
On February 11, 1776, he joined a committee of 11 men appointed to draft a new Constitution for South Carolina.
- Soon after, he was elected to the Second Continental Congress.
- He did not leave for Philadelphia until the new Constitution was completed and the Council of Safety was replaced by a new government.
- The earliest record of his attendance in Congress dates to May 20, 1776, and he later signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2.
In January 1777, Middleton was reelected to the Continental Congress and served until October. He won the election again in 1778, 1779, and 1780, but declined to serve.
When President John Rutledge vetoed the bill to create South Carolina’s new Constitution and resigned, Middleton was chosen to replace him, but refused the office.
American Revolutionary War
During the Siege of Charleston (1780), Middleton served in the South Carolina Militia. He was captured when the city fell to the British and was sent to St. Augustine as a prisoner of war.
After his exchange in July 1781, he took his seat in the Confederation Congress on September 24. He was reelected by the Jacksonborough Assembly and served in the 1782 session.
AHC Notes
- Siege of Charleston (April 1–May 12, 1780) — After American and French forces failed to capture Savannah, Georgia, in October 1779, the Americans retreated to Charleston, South Carolina. Under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln, they fortified the city and prepared for a British attack. British forces under the command of General Henry Clinton landed in South Carolina and conducted a six-week siege. Lincoln was forced to submit to harsh terms of surrender, and more than 5,000 American troops were taken as prisoners. It was the most significant defeat suffered by American forces during the American Revolutionary War and a major turning point in the conflict.
Post-War Career
Following the war, Middleton repaired the damage to his estates and focused on managing his plantations. He joined the racing club and the hunting club in St. George’s Parish and became one of the first trustees of the College of Charleston.
Middleton died in 1787 at age 44, leaving his wife and eight of their nine children. His daughter Isabella married Daniel Elliott Huger, and his sons Henry Middleton and John Izard Middleton continued the family’s tradition of notable public service. His remains are buried at Middleton Place.
