Representative Robert Blair Campbell

Robert Blair Campbell (November 5, 1791 – July 12, 1862) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina and a member of the Nullifier Party, who served three terms in Congress during a formative period in American political history. He was the brother of John Campbell, who also represented South Carolina in the United States House of Representatives. Campbell’s public life spanned state legislative service, national office, militia command during the nullification crisis, and a series of significant diplomatic posts abroad.

Campbell was born on November 5, 1791, on Woodstock Plantation in Marlboro County, South Carolina. He received his early education from a private tutor and later attended school in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He went on to South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) in Columbia, from which he graduated in 1809. After completing his formal education, he engaged in agricultural pursuits, managing plantation interests typical of the region and period. In 1814 he was commissioned a captain in the South Carolina Militia, marking the beginning of his formal public service and military involvement.

Campbell entered electoral politics in the early 1820s. He was an unsuccessful candidate in 1820 for election to the Seventeenth Congress. Shortly thereafter, he won a seat in the South Carolina Senate, where he served from 1821 to 1823. His early legislative experience at the state level helped establish his reputation in South Carolina politics. Campbell returned to the South Carolina Senate later in his career, serving a second period from 1830 to 1833, a time that coincided with rising sectional tensions and the emergence of the nullification controversy in his home state.

At the national level, Campbell was first elected as a Jackson Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1825. His initial term in the House of Representatives aligned him with the broader Jacksonian movement that was reshaping American party politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1824 to the Nineteenth Congress, and again failed in his bids for election in 1826 to the Twentieth Congress and in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress. Despite these setbacks, he remained a significant political figure in South Carolina.

Campbell returned to Congress in the 1830s as a member of the Nullifier Party, which opposed certain federal tariffs and asserted the doctrine that states could nullify federal laws deemed unconstitutional. He was elected as a Nullifier to the Twenty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Thomas B. Singleton and was subsequently reelected as a Nullifier to the Twenty-fourth Congress. In this capacity, he served from February 27, 1834, to March 3, 1837. His three terms in the House—one as a Jackson Republican and two as a Nullifier—placed him at the center of debates over federal authority and states’ rights. During the nullification movement, in 1833, he was commissioned a general of South Carolina troops, underscoring his prominence in the state’s political and military response to federal tariff policy and its broader constitutional implications.

Around 1840, Campbell moved from South Carolina to Lowndes County, Alabama, where he continued his political career at the state level. He served as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1840, extending his legislative experience beyond his native state. His career then shifted toward diplomacy. On September 28, 1842, he was appointed United States consul at Habana (Havana), Cuba, a strategically important post in the Caribbean. He served in that capacity until July 22, 1850, overseeing American commercial and consular interests during a period of growing U.S. engagement in the region. After his service in Cuba, Campbell moved to San Antonio, Texas.

In the early 1850s, Campbell was again called to federal service in a role connected to the expansion and definition of the United States. On March 16, 1853, he was appointed a commissioner for the United States to aid in the settlement of the disputed boundary line between Texas and Mexico, a matter of continuing importance following the Mexican–American War and the subsequent adjustments of territory. His work as commissioner contributed to the practical implementation of international agreements and the clarification of national borders in the Southwest.

Campbell’s final major public role was as a United States consul in Europe. He was appointed consul at London, England, and served there from August 3, 1854, until March 1861, when he was recalled. His tenure in London coincided with a period of significant transatlantic political and economic interaction on the eve of the American Civil War. After leaving his consular post, he moved to Ealing, then a suburban area outside London. Robert Blair Campbell died in Ealing on July 12, 1862. He was interred in the crypt of Kensington Church, closing a life that had encompassed state and national legislative service, military command within South Carolina, and extensive diplomatic representation of the United States abroad.