In 1790, he was admitted to the bar, and early on held several local political offices. He was also a member of the Maryland State Senate from 1791 to 1795 and later from 1799 to 1801.
Goldsborough was elected as a Federalist to the Ninth and to the five succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1805, to March 3, 1817. In 1814 he was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.[1] He later served as Governor of Maryland in 1819. In 1820, he retired from public life and moved to his estate near Cambridge.