He won the office after the state's first governor, John Sevier, was prevented by constitutional restrictions from seeking a fourth consecutive term.

[2] During the Revolutionary War, Archibald Roane served in the Continental Army as a member of the Lancaster County Militia (5th Company, 9th Battalion, Pennsylvania Volunteers).

[2][3][4] He was among the troops who took part in Washington's crossing of the Delaware River and the subsequent Battle of Trenton in December 1776,[5] and was present at the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.

[2][4] In the 1780s he settled for a time in vicinity of Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, where he studied and later taught at Liberty Hall Academy, a predecessor institution to Washington and Lee University.

[5][2][4] Shortly after his marriage in 1788, Roane moved to Jonesborough, Tennessee, then still a part of North Carolina, where he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law.

[5] Like his predecessor, much of Roane's time as governor was spent dealing with disputes between white settlers and Indians.

[5] Roane coordinated efforts to begin construction of the Natchez Trace, convincing Secretary of War Henry Dearborn to construct inns and military posts along the road, and provide rewards for the apprehension of bandits who harassed Natchez travellers.

[5] Enraged that Jackson, 20 years his junior and lacking in military experience, had defeated him for militia commander, Sevier immediately embarked upon a campaign to regain the governorship.