Robert Barnwell Rhett House was the home of Robert Barnwell Rhett, an extreme secessionist politician. He opposed John C. Calhoun

John C. Calhoun

John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...

 to lead the Bluffton Movement

Bluffton Movement

The Bluffton Movement , in the U.S. state of South Carolina, was an attempt to invoke "separate state action" against the tariff of 1842, after John Calhoun's failure to secure the presidential nomination and the Northern Democrats' abandonment of the South on the tariff had apparently destroyed...

 for separate state action on the Tariff of 1842

Tariff of 1842

The Tariff of 1842, or Black Tariff as it became known, was a protectionist tariff schedule adopted in the United States to reverse the effects of the Compromise Tariff of 1833...

. Rhett was one of the leading fire-eaters at the Nashville Convention

Nashville Convention

The Nashville Convention was a political meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 3 – 11, 1850. Delegates from nine slave holding states met to consider a possible course of action if the United States Congress decided to ban slavery in the new territories being added to the country as a...

 of 1850, which failed to endorse his aim of secession.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

in 1973.

The South Carolina Department of Archives and History summary is here.

External links

• Robert Barnwell Rhett House, Charleston County (6 Thomas St., Charleston), at South Carolina Department of Archives and History