Robert Goodloe Harper (January 1765 – January 14, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He was a member of the United States Senate from Maryland, serving from January 1816 until his resignation in December of the same year. He also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1790–1795), the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina (1795–1801), and in the Maryland State Senate. He is best remembered for the phrase, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute"^[1] in connection with the XYZ Affair. The town of Harper, Liberia, is named after him.

Quick Facts United States Senator from Maryland, Preceded by ...

Robert Goodloe Harper
United States Senator from Maryland
In office January 29, 1816 – December 6, 1816
Preceded by	Samuel Smith
Succeeded by	Alexander C. Hanson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 5th district
In office February 9, 1795 – March 3, 1801
Preceded by	Alexander Gillon
Succeeded by	William Butler
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives
In office 1790–1795
Personal details
Born	January 1765 (1765-01) Fredericksburg, Virginia Colony, British America
Died	January 14, 1825(1825-01-14) (aged 59–60) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Federalist
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch/service	United States Army
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	War of 1812

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Harper was born near Fredericksburg in the Colony of Virginia in January 1765. He was the fifth child and first son of Jesse Harper (b. 1733) and Emily Diana Goodloe (1734–1788) and moved with his parents to Granville, North Carolina around 1769. He received his early education at home and later attended grammar school.

At the age of fifteen, Harper joined a volunteer corps of Cavalry and served in the American Revolutionary Army. He made a surveying tour through Kentucky and Tennessee in 1783, and graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1785. He studied law in Charleston, South Carolina, teaching school at the same time, and was admitted to the bar in 1786.^[2]

He commenced practice in the Ninety-Six District of South Carolina, moving back to Charleston in 1789. From 1790 to 1795, Harper was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, at which time he was elected from South Carolina to the Third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Alexander Gillon. He was reelected to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Congresses but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1800 to the Seventh Congress, serving as a U.S Representative from February 9, 1795 to March 1801. While in Congress, he was the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means in the Fifth and Sixth Congresses. Harper was one of the impeachment managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1798 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against William Blount.

On May 7, 1800, Harper married Catherine Carroll (1778–1861) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Catherine was the daughter of Charles Carroll and Mary (née Darnall) Carroll. Her elder sister, Mary, married Richard Caton.^{[lower-alpha 1]} Together, they were the parents of at least four children who survived to adulthood, including:

• Charles Carroll Harper (1802–1837), who married Charlotte Hutchinson Cheffelle (1807–1867) in 1827.
• Mary Diana Harper (1803–1818), who died young.
• Richard Caton Harper (1806–1815), who died young.
• Elizabeth Hyde Harper (1809–1823), who died unmarried.
• Emily Louisa Harper (1812–1892), who never married.
• Robert Goodloe Harper, Jr. (1814–1854)

He died in Baltimore on January 14, 1825, and was initially interred in the family burial ground on his estate, Oakland in Roland Park, and later reburied in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore.^[7]