Gadsden, Christopher, 1724-1805

Christopher Gadsden (February 16, 1724 – August 28, 1805) was an American politician who was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement during the American Revolution. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, a merchant, and the designer of the Gadsden flag. He is a signatory to the Continental Association and a Founding Father of the United States.

Born in Charleston in the Province of South Carolina, he was sent to school near Bristol, England before returning to America and serving as an apprentice at a counting house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From 1745 to 1746 he was a purser on a British warship during King George's War. He then entered into mercantile ventures. Gadsden began his rise to prominence as a merchant and patriot in Charleston. He prospered as a merchant and built the wharf in Charleston that bears his name. Between its completion in 1767 until 1787 and 1803 to 1808, it is estimated that 40% (about 100,000 enslaved people) were brought to America through his wharf. He was captain of a militia company during a 1759 expedition against the Cherokee.

In 1766, the assembly made him one of their delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City, which was called to protest the Stamp Act. While his fellow delegates Thomas Lynch and John Rutledge served on committees to draft appeals to the House of Lords and Commons respectively, Gadsden refused any such assignment, since in his view the British parliament had no rights in the matter. He was outspoken in his support of the Declaration of Rights and Grievances produced by the Congress. Gadsden was elected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress the following year. He left Congress early in 1776 to assume command of the 1st South Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army and to serve in the Provincial Congress of South Carolina. In 1778, Gadsden was a member of the South Carolina convention that drafted a new state constitution. That same year he was named the lieutenant governor, to replace Henry Laurens who was away at the Continental Congress. He served in that office until 1780.

Gadsden was then returned to South Carolina's House of Representatives, then meeting at Jacksonboro. At this session, Governor Randolph and de facto President Rutledge both surrendered their offices. Gadsden was elected as the governor but felt he had to decline. Gadsden was a member of the state convention in 1788 and voted for ratification of the United States Constitution. He died from an accidental fall on August 28, 1805, in Charleston, and is buried there in St. Philip's Churchyard.