Peleg Arnold was born in 1751 in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and began his career in public service by being elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1777. He served as a colonel in the Providence County Militia during the Revolutionary War and later founded the Providence Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1790. Arnold held judicial positions, including chief justice of Rhode Island's Superior Court of Judicature, and was involved in banking, founding the Smithfield Union Bank in 1803. He also held educational leadership roles, serving as president of the Smithfield Academy in 1810.

Peleg Arnold combines an abolitionist stance with a focus on regional economic interests, advocating for bounties to enlist blacks in the Continental Army while also founding the Smithfield Union Bank. His judicial career, marked by his service as chief justice of Rhode Island's Superior Court, underscores a commitment to legal structures. Arnold's political career, spanning multiple parties and unsuccessful runs for federal office, suggests a highly localized approach to governance, balancing progressive ideals with pragmatic regional concerns.