Portrait of Charles Pinckney

Charles Pinckney was a South Carolina statesman who was active in the formation of the United States government from the early onset of the American Revolution. He was a vocal proponent of a strong federal government; was one of many who called for a replacement of the weak Articles of Confederation that served as the nascent country’s constitution from 1781 until shortly after the war; was a member of the Constitutional Convention that drafted the U. S. Constitution; was instrumental in convincing South Carolina to ratify the new document; and was a signer of the ratified Constitution. He went on to become the ambassador to Spain, a four time Governor of South Carolina, a U. S. Senator, and a member of the U. S. House of Representatives.

The Pinckney family was part of the South Carolina Lowcountry social elite. His great grandfather first came to America in 1692, just twenty-two years after South Carolina became a colony, and went on to become a wealthy merchant and farmer. Both his grandfather and his father were members of the Commons House of Assembly that governed South Carolina during the British colonial period. By the time Charles was born on October 26, 1757, the family owned a number of plantations and homes in the Charleston area, one being what is now called the Snee Farm, a 715-acre plantation his father purchased in 1754. While Snee Farm was a working rice and indigo plantation, complete with slaves, the family used it as a summer home. Today, Charles Pinckney National Historic Site sits on the 28 acres that remain of the original plantation.

It was customary for the sons of wealthy families to study in Europe, but such a chance would not befall Charles due to the political unrest between the colonies and England. He remained at home and studied law under his father during the early years of the war. He became a member of the South Carolina Bar at age 21 (1779), but never got around to practicing law, instead choosing a career in politics. He was elected to the General Assembly of South Carolina that same year (the General Assembly was South Carolina’s legislature and was made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives; Pinckney was in the House). However, he did not complete his term, instead joining the South Carolina militia to fight the British with his father, who was commander of the Charleston Regiment. When Charleston was taken by the British in May of 1780, both Charles and his father became prisoners of war and were held in a prison ship that was docked in Charleston harbor. Charles was freed in 1781 as part of a prisoner exchange. His father pledged allegiance to England in exchange for release and to keep his property.

After the war, in 1784 Pinckney was again elected to the General Assembly of South Carolina, but shortly afterward, his peers chose him to be one of the state’s representatives in the Confederation Congress, the governing body of the new United States that was created by the Articles of Confederation. Previously, Congress was called the Continental Congress, and though the Articles of Confederation changed the name, all members of Congress still referred to themselves as the Continental Congress. Other than the name, there were very little changes to the way Congress operated. Those elected to the Continental Congress automatically where members of the Confederation Congress; no new elections were required.

Drawn up between 1776 and 1777 and ratified by the thirteen states in 1781, the Articles of Confederation served as the country’s constitution. Unfortunately, it had very limited powers, with a major shortcoming being the inability to collect tax revenue. This was a big problem due to the debt that the country had accumulated during the war. Pinckney was vocal in his desire for a stronger federal government and a revision of the Articles. This opinion was growing throughout Congress, and in 1787, it decided to hold a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to debate and possibly construct either a revision to the Articles of Confederation or a new constitution altogether. Each state would send five delegates to the Convention that would begin on May 25, 1787. South Carolina sent Pinckney, his cousin Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Rutledge, and Pierce Butler. Henry Laurens was also chosen but did not attend, and no replacement was named.

Pinckney, the second youngest at the Convention, was very active in debates and speaking. He was appointed to the Rules Committee that would hash out how the Convention was to be run. Furthermore, he supposedly submitted a proposed draft of a constitution, known as the “Pinckney Plan” or “Pinckney Draught.” However, due to Pinckney’s knack for self-promotion (he always claimed he was one of the most influential members of the Convention) and a lack of / disappearance of the actual document many years later, some historians have doubts as to whether such a document ever really existed.

Other historians claim the draft did exist, and though not used or debated during the Convention, they attribute about thirty ideas in the final Constitution to Pinckney and his draft. James Madison took notes throughout the Convention and wrote that on May 29^th that Pinckney “laid before the house the draught of a federal government which he had prepared…” However, Madison never saw the document and was never furnished a copy of one by Pinckney. In 1818, John Quincy Adams was compiling a Journal of the Convention and wrote to Pinckney to get a copy of his draft. Instead of the draft, Pinckney sent a letter and a report of the Committee of Detail from August 6, 1787, that referenced his draft. In the early 1900s, an outline of the draft was discovered in the writings of James Wilson, a delegate from Pennsylvania.

Whether or not a Pinckney Draught ever existed, Pinckney’s contributions to the Convention are not under question. Some historians rank him only behind Benjamin Franklin, South Carolina’s own John Rutledge, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut as far as influence at the Convention goes. He was a regular attendee, spoke often, and contributed many ideas to the final Constitution. One such idea was that there would be no religious qualifications to run for public office. At the time, most states had official religions, and to run for office you had to swear that you believed in God.

When the Convention ended in September, Pinckney hurried back to his position at the Confederation Congress in New York and helped promote the proposed Constitution. The Congress voted to send it to the states for ratification.

After his term in Congress ended in October 1787, he returned to the South Carolina General Assembly and pushed strongly for ratification of the proposed Constitution. South Carolina began a ratification debate in early May 1788, with Pinckney being the first to speak. On May 23^rd, South Carolina became the first state to ratify the Constitution. By June, enough states had ratified the document to make the new Constitution the law of the land.

The General Assembly elected Pinckney as Governor of South Carolina in January 1789, and he served two consecutive terms (89-92). For the next ten years he flip-flopped between terms in the General Assembly, a third as Governor, and even one as State Senator in 1798.

Up until 1794, Pinckney had been a member of the Federalist Party, which pretty much ran the Federal Government and was the party of the rich and upper class. The opposition at the time was the Democratic-Republic Party that had been formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. This party was most popular in the South, particularly in rural areas, and favored state’s rights. When the Federalists proposed the “Jay Treaty” with England, Pinckney was so adamantly opposed that he found himself siding with Jefferson, and eventually joined his party, essentially turning his back on the upper class that he had always been part of.

The Jay Treaty was officially known as the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, with John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States, being the chief negotiator. The treaty, among other things, gave “most favored nation trading status” to England and guaranteed that the U. S. government would pay war debts owed to British merchants who could not collect in court. In exchange, England would remove troops that still occupied forts in the northern American territories and repay American ship owners for vessels seized during the war. A provision to repay slave owners for slaves who ran away to England was discussed but ultimately was not part of the deal. Jefferson still favored France and felt that the treaty was inching the new United States back towards monarchy and aristocracy. Despite his efforts to derail the treaty, it was signed in 1796 and was to last ten years.

Pinckney became Jefferson’s campaign manager in South Carolina for the 1800 election, an election that Jefferson won (Pinckney was campaigning against his cousin, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who was running as Vice President with presidential candidate John Adams). In thanks, Jefferson appointed Pinckney as the Minister to Spain, and he held this position until October 1804. He finished out his political career with two terms in the State Assembly, a fourth term as Governor, and a term in the U. S. House of Representatives, retiring in 1821 due to failing health.

In his private life he had married Mary Eleanor Laurens, daughter of Henry Laurens, in April of 1788 and had three children. He inherited the Snee Farm plantation from his father in 1782 and continued using it as a summer home while living full time in Charleston. He hosted President Washington at the plantation when Washington came to town to promote the new Constitution in May 1791. With so much attention to his public life, he found himself in financial trouble and eventually had to sell the plantation to pay debts in 1817. After retiring from politics, he lived another three years, finally dying three days after his 67^th birthday on October 29, 1824.

Back to the Top