Background
SMITH, Robert Hardy was born on October 21, 1814 in Camden County, North Carolina, United States, United States. Son of Robert Hardy and Elizabeth (Gregory) Smith.
SMITH, Robert Hardy was born on October 21, 1814 in Camden County, North Carolina, United States, United States. Son of Robert Hardy and Elizabeth (Gregory) Smith.
Private school, United States Military Academy.
He attended the U.S. Military Academy during the early 1830s but did not graduate. He taught in Dallas County in 1834 and was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1835. Smith was married three times: to Evalina Inge on January 12, 1839.
After her death, to his sister-in-law Emily Inge on November 25, 1845. And after her death, to Helen Herndon on April 9, 1850. He had three children.
After moving to Livingston, Alabama, in 1836, he developed a law practice and entered politics. He represented Sumter County in the Alabama legislature in 1849. He became the leader of the Whigs in the Alabama House but lost his bid for the state Senate in 1851.
A political compromiser, he opposed the radicalism of the Nashville convention of 1850. In 1853, he moved to Mobile, Alabama, to practice law. In 1860, he was a unionist member of the anti-Yancey faction in the state and supported John Bell for the presidency.
Yet, when Alabama seceded, he went to North Carolina to persuade that state to secede. Smith was elected to the Confederate Congress in 1861. He served on the Naval Affairs and Accounts Committees of the provisional Confederate Congress and helped to frame the Confederate Constitution.
He introduced the item veto, supported the speedy addition of constitutional amendments, and probably served on the secret committee of three which perfected the style of the Constitution. During the war, he served as colonel of the 36th Alabama Infantry, resigning in April 1862 because of sickness. Smith performed no further service in the Confederate cause.
After the war, he returned to the practice of law in Mobile.
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.