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Robert Barnwell Rhett, Sr. (December 21, 1800September 14, 1876) was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher, and politician from South Carolina. He was an extreme pro-slavery spokesman and advocate of secession - a "Fire-Eater", in the slang of the time. He published these views through his newspaper, the ''Charleston Mercury''.〔(The Secession ) Charleston ''News and Courier'' - December 18, 1960〕 He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from South Carolina as a Democrat. ==Biography== He was born Robert Barnwell Smith in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was of English ancestry.〔William C. Davis, William C. ''Rhett: The Turbulent Life and Times of a Fire-Eater'' page 1〕 On his Barnwell mother's side, he was related to U.S. Representative Robert Barnwell (his great-uncle) and U.S. Representative and Senator Robert Woodward Barnwell (son of Robert). A cousin of the Barnwells was the wife of Alexander Garden. He studied law and became a member of the South Carolina legislature in 1826, serving until 1832. Rhett was extremely pro-slavery in his views. At the end of the Nullification Crisis in 1833, Rhett told the South Carolina Nullification Convention: In 1832, Rhett became South Carolina attorney general, serving until 1837. He was then elected U.S. Representative, serving until 1849. In 1838, he changed his last name from Smith to that of a prominent colonial ancestor, Colonel William Rhett. Rhett objected vehemently to the protectionist Tariff of 1842. On July 31, 1844, Rhett launched the Bluffton Movement, which called for South Carolina to return to nullification or else declare secession. The Bluffton program 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 left the House of Representatives in 1849. 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 elected U.S. Senator, to complete the term left by the death of Calhoun. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robert Rhett」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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