Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824

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Charles Pinckney (October 26, 1757 – October 29, 1824) was an American Founding Father, planter, and politician who was a signer of the United States Constitution. He was elected and served as the 37th Governor of South Carolina, later serving two more non-consecutive terms. He also served as a U.S. Senator and a member of the House of Representatives. He was first cousin once removed of fellow signer Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.

Born and educated in Charles Town (now Charleston) in the Province of South Carolina, Pinckney pursued classical studies. Admitted to the bar in 1779, he commenced practice in Charleston that year and was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives for the first time, serving until 1780. About that time, well after the War for Independence had begun, Pinckney enlisted in the South Carolina militia. He became a lieutenant and served at the siege of Savannah. When Charleston fell to the British the next year, Pinckney was captured; he was held as a prisoner until June 1781 and sent north for a potential exchange. He did not return to Charleston until 1783. Pinckney was elected to the Continental Congress in 1783, serving from 1784 until 1787. 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, a claim disputed by other framers including James Madison. Pinckney submitted an elaborate form of the Virginia Plan, proposed first by Edmund Randolph, but it was disregarded by the other delegates. He was also re-elected to the South Carolina House, serving from 1786 to 1789.

Pinckney's political career blossomed following the adoption of the Constitution. From 1789 to 1792, the state legislature elected him as governor of South Carolina, and in 1790 he chaired the state constitutional convention. During this period, he became associated with the Federalist Party though his views changed over time and he increasingly began to cast his lot with Carolina back-country Democratic-Republicans against his own 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.

In the presidential election of 1800, he served as Thomas Jefferson's campaign manager in South Carolina. The victorious Jefferson appointed Pinckney as minister to Spain. Pinckney returned from Spain to Charleston and to leadership of the state Democratic-Republican Party. He served in the legislature in 1805 and 1806 and was elected Governor for a third time, serving from 1806 to 1808. In this position, he favored legislative reapportionment in order to give more fair representation to back-country districts. He 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 election to the U.S. House of Representatives where he fought against the Missouri Compromise. A major slaveholder whose wealth depended on enslaved labor at his plantations, he supported expansion of the institution of slavery to new territories and states.

In 1821, with his health beginning to fail, Pinckney retired for the last time from politics. He died in Charleston and was buried at St. Philip's Cemetery there.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Moore, Stephen, 1734-1799. Stephen Moore papers, 1763-1963; (bulk, 1763-1797). University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
creatorOf Joy, Benjamin, 1757-1829. Papers, 1801-1823. Massachusetts Historical Society
referencedIn Whitaker, William Asbury, 1883-1960. William Asbury Whitaker papers, 1596-1957 [manuscript]. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Butler, Pierce, 1744-1822. Pierce Butler papers, 1779-1787. Library of Congress
referencedIn Jackson, William, 1759-1828. William Jackson papers, 1782-1828 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn Samuel Blachley Webb papers, 1756-1819 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn Prout, Joshua. Letter, 1805 August 20, Wadesboro, North Carolina to Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, [Albemarle County, Virginia]. William & Mary Libraries
referencedIn Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866. Collection of documents concerning the American Revolution, 1740-1866 Houghton Library
referencedIn Houghton Library. Houghton Library printed book provenance file, L-Q. 1942. Houghton Library
referencedIn Joseph Halle Schaffner autograph collection, 1683-1948. Houghton Library
referencedIn North Carolina. State Dept. of Archives and History. Deeds, indentures, land grants and other miscellaneous documents collection, 1622, 1735, 1774, 1784-1785, 1798, 1808, 1815, 1819, 1852, 1862, 1954, n.d. Clemson University Libraries, Robert Muldrow Cooper Library
creatorOf Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824. [Letter] 1801 May 26 [to] Chas. Leston / Charles Pinckney. Smith College, Neilson Library
creatorOf Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824. Proclamation, 1789 Oct. 12. South Carolina Historical Society
creatorOf Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824. Governor's message no. 1, 1808 Nov. 29. South Carolina Historical Society
referencedIn Brown, Samuel, 1769-1830. Samuel Brown : papers, 1817-1825. The Filson Historical Society
referencedIn Thomas Addis Emmet collection, 1483-1876 (bulk:1700-1800) New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824. Papers, 1796-1853. Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library
creatorOf Roux family. Roux family papers, 1658-1929. University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
referencedIn Meleney, John C., 1921-. John C. Meleney research files, 1775-1986, (bulk, 1775-1808). University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
referencedIn WIS (Radio station : Columbia, S.C.). Palmetto Landmarks [transcripts], 1947-1949. University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
creatorOf Bowdoin, James, 1752-1811. Papers, 1804-1806. Massachusetts Historical Society
referencedIn William Jackson papers, 1782-1828 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn Perkins, Elias, 1767-1845. Elias Perkins papers, 18th-19th centuries. New London County Historical Society
creatorOf Lear, Tobias, 1762-1816. Manuscript letter copybooks and diary, 1803-1809. : Algiers. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
referencedIn Pinckney family. Pinckney family collection, 1766, 1787, 1790, 1803-1804. Clemson University Libraries, Robert Muldrow Cooper Library
referencedIn Lowndes, Thomas, 1766-1843. Letter : Charleston, [S.C.] to Robert G. Harper, 1787 Nov. 10. South Carolina Historical Society
creatorOf Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824. Autograph letter signed : "Meeting Street,"[Charleston, S.C.], to [George Washington], 1791 Apr. 26. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Marion, Francis, 1732-1795. Francis Marion papers, 1761-1962. University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
creatorOf Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824. ALS : Charleston, S.C., to James Madison, 1801 July 8. Rosenbach Museum & Library
referencedIn Jackson, William, 1759-1828. William Jackson papers, 1782-1828 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn Washington Irving's Life of George Washington Volume X, miscellany, 1764-1805 Cornell University Library
creatorOf Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824. Instructions to [W.] Ravenel, 1797. South Carolina Historical Society
referencedIn Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866. Jared Sparks collection of American manuscripts, 1582-1843 Houghton Library
referencedIn Webb, Samuel Blachley, 1753-1807. Samuel Blachley Webb papers, 1756-1819 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn Frederick M. Dearborn collection of military and political Americana, Part I: The Revolution and the Administration, 1669-1958. Houghton Library
referencedIn Dart, John Sandford, 1741-1798. Letter, 1788 Apr. 1, Charleston, S.C., to Col. [Anthony Walton White]. University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
creatorOf Pinckney, Charles, 1757-1824. ALS, 1803 May 5 : Madrid, to the American ministers at Paris [Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe]. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
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associatedWith Brown, Samuel, 1769-1830. person
associatedWith Butler, Pierce, 1744-1822. person
associatedWith Dart, John Sandford, 1741-1798. person
associatedWith Dearborn, Frederick M. (Frederick Myers), b. 1876 person
associatedWith Emmet, Thomas Addis person
associatedWith Emmet, Thomas Addis person
associatedWith Emmet, Thomas Addis person
associatedWith Ferdinand VII, King of Spain person
associatedWith Houghton Library. person
associatedWith Jackson, William, 1759-1828. person
associatedWith Jackson, William, 1759-1828. person
associatedWith Joy, Benjamin, 1757-1829. person
associatedWith Kountze, De Lancey, d. 1946, person
associatedWith Lear, Tobias, 1762-1816. person
associatedWith Leston, Charles, person
associatedWith Livingston, Robert R., 1746-1813. person
associatedWith Lowndes, Thomas, 1766-1843. person
associatedWith Madison, James, 1751-1836, person
correspondedWith Marion, Francis, 1732-1795. person
associatedWith Meleney, John C., 1921- person
associatedWith Monroe, James, 1758-1831. person
associatedWith Moore, Stephen, 1734-1799. person
associatedWith Perkins, Elias, 1767-1845. person
associatedWith Pierpont Morgan Library. Glazier Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 1746-1825. person
associatedWith Pinckney family. family
associatedWith Pinckney family. family
associatedWith Pinckney, Henry Laurens. person
associatedWith Pinckney, Thomas, 1750-1828. person
associatedWith Prout, Joshua. person
associatedWith Roux family. family
associatedWith Schaffner, Joseph Halle, 1897-1972 person
associatedWith South Carolina. Militia corporateBody
associatedWith Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 person
correspondedWith Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 person
associatedWith Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 person
associatedWith Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 person
associatedWith Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 person
associatedWith Washington, George, 1732-1799. person
associatedWith Webb, Samuel Blachley, 1753-1807. person
associatedWith Whitaker, William Asbury, 1883-1960. person
associatedWith WIS (Radio station : Columbia, S.C.) corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Charleston SC US
Madrid 29 ES
Mount Pleasant SC US
Charleston SC US
Subject
Courts
Diplomacy
Diplomatic and consular service, American
Embargo, 1807-1809
Governor
Public lands
Tax collection
Thanksgiving Day
Occupation
Ambassadors
Delegates, U.S. Continental Congress
Diplomats
Lawyers
Planters
Representatives, U.S. Congress
Senators, U.S. Congress
Slaveholders
Soldiers
State Representative
Activity

Person

Birth 1757-10-26

Death 1824-10-29

Male

Britons,

Americans

English

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