The following people were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Charleston, South Carolina, United States (categorized by area in which each person is best known):
Henry Middleton was a planter, public official from South Carolina. A member of the colonial legislature, during the American Revolution he attended the First Continental Congress and served as that body's president for four days in 1774 after the passage of the Continental Association, which he signed. He left the Second Continental Congress before it declared independence. Back in South Carolina, he served as president of the provincial congress and senator in the newly created state government. After his capture by the British in 1780, he accepted defeat and returned to the status of a British subject until the end of the war.
Arthur Middleton was a Founding Father of the United States, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and a representative from South Carolina in the Second Continental Congress.
Christopher Gadsden was an American politician who was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement during the American Revolution. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, a merchant, and the designer of the Gadsden flag. He is a signatory to the Continental Association.
Robert Young Hayne was an American politician. He served in the United States Senate from 1823 to 1832, as Governor of South Carolina 1832–1834, and as Mayor of Charleston 1836–1837. As Senator and Governor, he was a leading figure in the Nullification Crisis and, along with John C. Calhoun and James Hamilton Jr., a vocal proponent of the doctrines of states' rights, compact theory, and nullification; his 1830 debate in the Senate with Daniel Webster is considered a defining episode in the constitutional crisis which precipitated the American Civil War.
William Drayton was an American politician, banker, and writer who grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the son of William Drayton Sr., who served as justice of the Province of East Florida (1765–1780).
Percival Drayton was a career United States Navy officer. He served in the Brazil Squadron, the Mediterranean Squadron and as a staff officer during the Paraguay Expedition.
Thomas Fenwick Drayton was a planter, politician, railroad president, slave owner and military officer from Charleston, South Carolina. He served in the United States Army and then as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. His brother, Percival Drayton, was a Naval Officer and fought on the Union side during the war.
St. Michael's Churchyard, adjacent to historic St. Michael's Episcopal Church on the corner of Meeting and Broad Streets, in Charleston, South Carolina is the final resting place of some famous historical figures, including two signers of the Constitution of the United States. The church was established in 1751 as the second Anglican parish in Charleston, South Carolina.
Arthur Middleton Manigault was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
Peter Manigault was an attorney, plantation owner, slave owner, and colonial legislator native to Charleston, South Carolina. He was the wealthiest man in the British North American colonies at the time of his death and owned hundreds of slaves. He was the son-in-law of Joseph Wragg, the largest slave trader of North America in the 1730s.
Nathaniel Henry Rhodes Dawson was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 3rd U.S. Commissioner of Education. During the American Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army as a colonel.