Aedanus Burke (June 16, 1743March 30, 1802) was a soldier, slaveholder, judge, and

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

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 ...

. Database at

Life

Born in Tiaquin,

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

in the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland (; , ) was a dependent territory of Kingdom of England, England and then of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1542 to the end of 1800. It was ruled by the monarchs of England and then List of British monarchs ...

, Burke attended the theological College of Saint Omer, visited

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, visited the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, and moved back to the American Colonies, settling in Charles Town, South Carolina (now Charleston). Burke served in the militia forces of South Carolina 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 ...

and was appointed a judge of the state circuit court in 1778, serving until the enemy overran the state. Burke was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1778 to 1779 and again served in the Revolutionary Army from 1780 to 1782. In 1783, Burke published two pamphlets, ''An Address to the Freemen of South Carolina'' (January 1783) and ''Considerations on the Society or Order of Cincinnati'' (October 1783), under the pseudonym ''Cassius'' where he criticized the nascent

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

for being an attempt at reestablishing a hereditary nobility in the new republic.William Doyle, ''Aristocracy and Its Enemies in the Age of Revolution'', Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 102ff. When the courts were reestablished, Burke resumed his seat on the bench and, in 1785, was appointed one of three commissioners to prepare a digest of the State laws. Burke was a member of the convention in 1788 called to consider ratification of the

Constitution of the United States 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 ...

, which he opposed. Burke was elected as an Anti-Administration candidate to the First United States Congress (March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1791). Burke attracted national attention for his March 1790 speech deriding

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

on the floor of the House of Representatives. Burke seized on a comment that Hamilton made during his eulogy to

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

the previous year, where Hamilton had labeled some state militias during the American Revolution the "mimicry of soldiership," to attack the Treasury Secretary's personal honor. Hamilton claimed the comment had been taken out of context. Burke later retracted his statement. Burke declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1790 to the Second Congress, the legislature having passed a law prohibiting a state judge from leaving the state; Burke was elected a

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the courts of equity in 1799 and served until he died in Charleston in 1802. As the senior member of the South Carolina appellate courts from 1796 to 1799, Burke was the Chief Justice of South Carolina. Interment was in the Chapel of Ease of St. Bartholomew's Parish's cemetery near Jacksonboro, South Carolina.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Aedanus Members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves Anti-Federalists 1743 births 1802 deaths People of South Carolina in the American Revolution Irish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Politicians from County Galway 18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 18th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly