Charles Pinckney Jr. (October 26, 1757October 29, 1824) was an American Founding Father, planter, and politician who was a signer of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. He was elected and served as the 37th governor of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, later serving two more non-consecutive terms. He also served as a U.S. Senator and a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. He was a first cousin once removed of fellow signer Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Pinckney's descendants included seven future South Carolina governors, including men related to the Maybank and Rhett families.

Early life and education

Pinckney was born and educated in Charles Town in the Province of South Carolina. His father, Colonel Charles Pinckney, was a wealthy lawyer and planter. His mother was Frances Brewton (b. 1733), daughter of a goldsmith and sister of Miles Brewton and Rebecca Brewton Motte, who were both also prominent in Charleston history. His father had signed a loyalty oath to the British after they occupied Charleston in 1780 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. This oath enabled him to keep his property. On his death in 1782, the senior Pinckney bequeathed Snee Farm, a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

outside the city, and the enslavement of numerous people, to his eldest son Charles.

Marriage and family

Busy with the war and his political career, Pinckney did not marry until 1788. He married Mary Eleanor Laurens on April 27, 1788, at Saint Philip's Church in Charleston. Mary was the daughter of Henry Laurens, a wealthy and politically powerful South Carolina slave trader. They had at least three children. Among his in-laws were father-in-law Henry Laurens, Colonel John Laurens, and U.S. Representative David Ramsay. A brother-in-law married the daughter of South Carolina Governor John Rutledge.

Career

Pinckney was elected as a delegate to the Third

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

(1777–78). Pinckney started to practice law in Charleston in 1779 at age 21. About that time, well after the War for Independence had begun, Pinckney enlisted in the militia. Pinckney became a lieutenant and served at the siege of Savannah. When Charleston fell to the British the following year, Pinckney was captured; he was held as a prisoner until June 1781 and sent north for a potential exchange. Pinckney did not return to Charleston until 1783. The British also captured Pinckney's father. Pinckney and more than 160 men signed oaths of allegiance to the British to avoid having property confiscated. After the war, Pinckney was fined 12% on his property for having sworn the oath of allegiance. Pinckney was elected again to the Continental Congress following the war, serving from 1784 to 1787. He was also elected to the state legislature for several terms (1779–1780, 1786–1789, and 1792–1796). As a nationalist, he worked in Congress to ensure that the United States would receive navigation rights from Spain to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

and to strengthen congressional power. Pinckney eventually owned several plantations and a townhouse in Charleston in addition to Snee Farm: Frankville and Hopton, situated on both sides of the Congaree River, near Columbia; a plantation in Georgetown consisting of 560 acres of tidal swamp and 600 acres of high land; a tract of 1,200 acres called Lynches Creek; Fee Farm on the Ashepoo River; Shell Hall, a house with four acres of land at Haddrell's Point in Christ Church Parish; a house and garden lot on Meeting Street, Charleston; Wright's Savannah plantation on the Carolina side of the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

; and a tract of land on the Santee River above the canal, including a ferry, called Mount Tacitus. After Pinckney married Eleanor Laurens in 1788, the elegant three-story brick home at 16 Meeting Street in Charleston presumably became his principal residence. In the 1790 federal census, he is recorded as enslaving "14 slaves in St. Philip's and St. Michael's Parish, 52 slaves in St. Bartholomew, and 45 slaves in the Orangeburg District," all in addition to Snee Farm, where his father's probate record had listed 40 enslaved people in 1787.

Constitutional Convention

Pinckney's role in the Constitutional Convention is controversial. Although one of the youngest delegates, he later claimed to have been the most influential one and contended he had submitted a draft, known as the Pinckney Plan, that was the basis of the final Constitution. This narrative was strongly disputed by

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

and some of the other framers. Pinckney submitted an elaborate form of the

Virginia Plan The Virginia Plan (also known as the Randolph Plan or the Large-State Plan) was a proposed plan of government for the United States presented at the Constitutional Convention (United States), Constitutional Convention of 1787. The plan called fo ...

, proposed first by Edmund Randolph; other delegates disregarded it. Historians assess him as an important contributing delegate. Pinckney boasted that he was 24, allowing him to claim distinction as the youngest delegate, but he was 29 years old at the time of the convention. He attended full-time, spoke often and effectively, contributed to the final draft, and resolved problems that arose during the debates. He also worked to ratify the Constitution in South Carolina (1788). At the Convention, Pierce Butler and Pinckney, both from South Carolina, introduced the Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section II, Clause III). James Wilson of Pennsylvania objected, saying that it was special protection for enslavers, requiring all state governments to enforce it at taxpayers' expense, in places where no one or most residents did not enslave people. Butler withdrew the clause, but the next day, a Southerner reinstated it, and the convention adopted it without further objection. This clause was added to the clause that provided extradition for fugitives from justice. This clause was first applied to fugitive slaves and required that they be extradited upon enslavers' claims. Despite the clause, free states sometimes declined to enforce it. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 increased requirements on the states and penalties for failure to assist in re-enslavement. This practice was not eliminated until the Thirteenth Amendment abolished the institution of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. In 1864, during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, an effort to repeal this clause of the Constitution had failed. Pinckney introduced a clause in the Constitution opposing an established state religion. His No Religious Test Clause read as follows: Once the phrase was included in a vote, it passed with little opposition. For the first time, an official of a national government was not required to have a religion. Pinckney is also responsible for the inclusion of the writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

into the Constitution. Initially introduced as "Nor shall the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus ever be suspended, except in case of rebellion or invasion", it is now a part of Article 1 of the United States Constitution.

Later career

Pinckney's political career blossomed. From 1789 to 1792, the state legislature elected him as governor of South Carolina, in 1790 he chaired the state constitutional convention, and in 1792 he received 8 votes from the legislature for the U.S. Senate. During this period, he became associated with the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

, where he and his cousin Charles Cotesworth Pinckney were leaders. But, with the passage of time, the former's views began to change. In 1795 he attacked the Federalist-backed

Jay Treaty The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted ...

. He increasingly began casting his lot with Carolina back-country Democratic-Republicans against his eastern elite. The population in the western part of the state was increasing, but legislative apportionment favored the Low Country planters. In 1796 Pinckney was elected governor again by the state legislature. In 1798 his Democratic-Republican supporters in the legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate. Pinckney strongly opposed the actions of his former party. In the presidential election of 1800, Pinckney served as

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

's campaign manager in South Carolina. The victorious Jefferson appointed Pinckney as minister to Spain (1801–05). Pinckney tried but failed to gain

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...

cession to the United States. Pinckney facilitated Spanish acquiescence in the transfer of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to the United States in 1803 by the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

. (Spain had already returned rule of this territory to France under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

.) Pinckney returned from Spain to Charleston and the leadership of the state Democratic-Republican Party. Pinckney served in the legislature in 1805–06 and was elected again as governor (1806–08). In this position, he favored legislative reapportionment to give more fair representation to back-country districts. Pinckney also advocated universal white manhood suffrage. He served again in the legislature from 1810 to 1814 and then temporarily withdrew from politics. In 1818, he won the U.S. House of Representatives election, where he fought against the

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise (also known as the Compromise of 1820) was federal legislation of the United States that balanced the desires of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand ...

. A major enslaver whose wealth depended on enslaved labor at his plantations, Pinckney supported an expansion of the institution of slavery to new territories and states. Pinckneygrave1

In 1821, with his health beginning to fail, Pinckney retired for the last time from politics. Pinckney died in 1824. A memorial was erected in St. Michael's Church in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. The memorial was sculpted by Solomon Gibson (younger brother of John Gibson) in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Legacy and honors

Pinckney's Snee Farm plantation is maintained as Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. The nearby Charles Pinckney Elementary School in Mount Pleasant is named for him. His son, Henry L. Pinckney, was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina and mayor of Charleston. His daughter married Robert Young Hayne, who became a U.S. Representative, mayor of Charleston, and governor of South Carolina. Pinckney was a Freemason and a Solomon's Lodge No. 1 member in Charleston.

References

* * Marty D. Mathews, ''Forgotten Founder: The Life and Times of Charles Pinckney'' (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004).

External links

SCIway Biography of Charles Pinckney

NGA Biography of Charles Pinckney

The Plan of Charles Pinckney
– Submitted as an alternative to the Virginia Plan {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinckney, Charles 1757 births 1824 deaths 19th-century American diplomats 18th-century American planters 19th-century American planters Signers of the United States Constitution Governors of South Carolina University of South Carolina trustees United States senators from South Carolina Ambassadors of the United States to Spain Pinckney family American proslavery activists American people of English descent Continental Congressmen from South Carolina South Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain South Carolina Federalists Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Members of the Middle Temple Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Federalist Party state governors of the United States Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States United States senators who owned slaves Founding Fathers of the United States 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 18th-century United States senators Candidates in the 1792 United States elections