Representative Archibald Atkinson

Archibald Atkinson (September 15, 1792 – January 7, 1872) was an American lawyer, slave owner, and Democratic politician who served three terms as a U.S. Representative from Virginia from 1843 to 1849. A veteran of the War of 1812, he participated in national politics during a period of intensifying sectional conflict over slavery, while also maintaining a long career in Virginia state and local public life.

Atkinson was born on September 15, 1792, in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He received what contemporaries described as a liberal education, reflecting a course of study suitable for entry into the professions and public service in early nineteenth-century Virginia. He later pursued formal legal training, attending the law department of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia (now the William & Mary Law School). This education prepared him for admission to the bar and entry into legal practice.

Following his studies, Atkinson served in the War of 1812, aligning himself with the generation of young American men whose military service coincided with the early consolidation of the republic. After the war, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Smithfield, Virginia, in Isle of Wight County. In addition to his private practice, he would later serve as prosecuting attorney for Isle of Wight County, reinforcing his standing as a prominent local legal figure.

Atkinson entered public office relatively early in his career. He was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, serving from 1815 to 1817, and returned to that body for a second period of service from 1828 to 1831. His state legislative work was followed by service in the upper chamber of the General Assembly; he was a member of the Virginia Senate from 1839 to 1843. Through these roles he became a familiar figure in Virginia politics and a representative of Democratic Party interests in his region.

At the national level, Atkinson initially sought election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1841 but was defeated by Whig candidate Francis Mallory, receiving only 11.26 percent of the vote. He secured a seat two years later, when he was first elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth Congress with 50.07 percent of the vote, defeating Whig James E. Langhorne. He was subsequently re-elected to the Twenty-ninth Congress in 1845 with 55.9 percent of the vote, defeating Whig R. H. Whitfield, and to the Thirtieth Congress in 1847 with 50.82 percent of the vote, defeating Whig Samuel Watts. His service in the U.S. House of Representatives thus extended from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1849, encompassing three consecutive terms. During these years he participated in the legislative process as a Democratic representative from Virginia, acting in Congress at a time of territorial expansion, debates over the extension of slavery, and growing sectional tensions. He did not stand as a candidate for renomination in 1848 to the Thirty-first Congress.

Atkinson’s congressional career was marked by his outspoken defense of slavery. In a valedictory speech to Congress in 1849, at the close of his final term, he described slavery as a “positive moral good” for those enslaved, asserting that the “well-fed, well-clad, contented negro of Virginia asks not your sympathy for him.” He further claimed, without basis, that enslaved people would rise up against abolitionists, reflecting and reinforcing pro-slavery ideology in the antebellum South. These statements, together with his status as a slave owner, placed him firmly among the defenders of the institution of slavery in national debate.

After leaving Congress, Atkinson returned to his legal and local public responsibilities in Virginia, including his role as prosecuting attorney for Isle of Wight County. He continued to reside in Smithfield, where he had long practiced law and maintained his ties to the community. He lived through the Civil War and the early years of Reconstruction, though his public prominence diminished after his congressional service.

Archibald Atkinson died in Smithfield, Virginia, on January 7, 1872. He was interred in the graveyard of Old St. Luke’s Church, located approximately four miles southeast of Smithfield in Isle of Wight County. His career, spanning military service in the War of 1812, decades in Virginia’s legislature, and three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflected both the opportunities and the profound moral conflicts of the antebellum South.