Editing Henry Middleton (section)

==Public career==
Middleton served in a variety of public offices in South Carolina. He was a [[justice of the peace]] and a member of the [[Commons House of Assembly]], where he was elected speaker in 1747, 1754, and 1755.<ref name="DAB" /> He was a member of provincial council<ref name="Edgar1977">{{cite book |last1=Edgar |first1=Walter |last2=Bailey |first2=N. Louise |title=Biographical Directory of the South Car- olina House of Representatives. Vol. 2, The Commons House of Assembly, 1692–1775 |date=1977 |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |location=Columbia}}</ref> but resigned in 1770 in opposition to British policy.<ref name="DAB" />

In 1774, at the outset of the [[American Revolution]], Middleton was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress.<ref name="McCrady1901">{{cite book |last1=McCrady |first1=Edward |title=The History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775–1780 |date=1901 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |location=New York}}</ref> He served as that body's [[President of the Continental Congress|president]] during the last few days of the [[First Continental Congress]], following the departure of [[Peyton Randolph]].<ref>Calvin C. Jillson and Rick K. Wilson, ''Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774–1789'' (Stanford University Press, 1994), 51.</ref> Middleton opposed declaring independence from Great Britain and resigned from the [[Second Continental Congress]] in February 1776 when more radical delegates began pushing for independence.<ref name="DAB" /> He was succeeded in Congress by his son [[Arthur Middleton|Arthur]] who was more radical than his father and became a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref name="DAB" />

After Middleton's return to South Carolina, he was elected president of the provincial congress and, beginning on November 16, 1775, served on the [[Committee of safety (American Revolution)|council of safety]].<ref name="DAB" /> In 1776, he and his son Arthur helped frame a temporary state constitution.<ref name="DAB" /> In 1779, he became a state senator in the new government.<ref name="DAB" />

When Charleston was captured by the British at the [[Siege of Charleston]] in 1780, Middleton accepted defeat and status as a British subject.<ref name="scencyclopedia">{{cite web |title=Middleton, Henry (1717-1784) |url=http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/middleton-henry-2/ |website=www.scencyclopedia.org |publisher=South Carolina Encyclopedia |access-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604174825/http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/middleton-henry-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This reversal apparently did not damage his reputation in the long run, because of his previous support of the Revolution, and he did not suffer the fate of having his estates confiscated, as many [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]] did after the war.<ref name="DAB" />