Daniel Moore Bates (January 28, 1821 – March 28, 1879) was an American lawyer who served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware.

The Bates were an influential and wealthy couple, and with their help, Daniel enrolled in Dickinson College when he was fourteen graduating in 1839.

In 1843, he was a founding member of the State Colonization Society of Delaware, an organization encouraging repatriation of African Americans to Africa.

In 1855, President Franklin Pierce appointed him as the United States Attorney for the district of Delaware and he stayed in this post until 1861.

He was one of the Delaware commissioners dispatched to a Peace Conference in February 1861 attempting to avoid the breakup of the Union and the Confederacy's formation.