In Search of Charles Pinckney

As you know, I teach the US Constitution every year, but nobody ever really talks too much about Charles Pinckney.  In fact, he is known as the "Forgotten Founder" for a few reasons.  First of all, some people think he is an unreliable source about his own participation in the Convention in Philadelphia.  Pinckney was born in 1757, so would have been 30 years old (or 29 actually since his birthday is in October) during the summer of 1787, and thus NOT the youngest person there.  He always bragged he was the youngest person, that he was only 23 or 24, when he wasn't.  Secondly, there is something called "The Pinckney Draft," which he "lost" by the time John Quincy Adams was compiling all the notes together.  He claimed that he had invented a lot of the ideas that were adopted by the committee members, but the draft was not actually introduced into the convention; instead, they worked from the more well-known "Virginia Plan."  But Pinckney and his supporters said that he had a bunch of ideas at first, like the President being the commander in chief of the armed forces (Pinckney wanted a 7 year term, however), a bicameral legislature (he had both houses with the number of representatives from each state being chosen by population) and other things.  I became a bit of a fan of Pinckney early on because I heard he was the one who inserted the "no religious test" clause in Article 6.  When I mentioned this, some people poo-pooed the idea that Pinckney was the originator of the no religious test idea, and that Jefferson wanted it, of course.  But Jefferson wasn't even there! I insisted.  Yes, I was told, but those southern guys were all friends, and they all knew about it.  I have no evidence of this, and I stand by Pinckney as the originator of this famous and important part of the document.

Pinckney's grave in Charleston

Of course, Pinckney was also a southern slaveholder.  In fact, his father-in-law, Henry Laurens, was one of the wealthiest slave traders in the south (Charleston was the wealthiest place in the colonies at this point, because it was the era of indigo and rice, rather than King Cotton) and a very interesting fellow in his own right (he was captured by the British and held in the Tower of London for a while, then ended up being released and signing the Treaty of Paris in 1783).  Pinckney is credited by some with coming up with (or being a huge supporter of) the whole "three fifths clause" that made enslaved people count as 3/5 of a person for taxation and representation purposes.  Also, later in his career, he was a member of the US Congress (this is after he had been elected Governor of South Carolina like three times, AND been a US Senator) when the Missouri Compromise was being debated in 1820, and he was WAY against it, since he didn't think the Federal Government had the right to tell states whether or not they could have slaves.  He kept using the term "States' Rights," which of course has been used by everyone (including the woman at the B and B in Birmingham who just wearied the crap out of me) and his brother to mean Jim Crow and segretation and all that stuff.  So no, we don't want to forget all that southern gentleman stuff about Pinckney, either.  Nevertheless, I like the Founding Fathers, and stories about them, and it was exciting to go see his grave in Charleston and to stay in a B and B called "Plantation Oaks" which was right on property that used to be owned by Charles Pinckney.

Here is the room in the Customs House where Pinckney made a famous speech in favor of ratification of the Constitution.

It was, of course, kind of weird the way all of Pinckney's stuff was destroyed.  For example, all of his papers, including any kind of "Pinckney Draft" which he said he had lost, was burned up in 1861 in a big fire in Charleston, when his former house was also destroyed.  His original house, Snee Farm, where President Washington came to have breakfast in 1791 was also burned down, or destroyed by a hurricane, in 1820.  So are there no real "Pinckney structures" anywhere to visit, just land he used to own and of course the Custom House where he made a famouse speech in favor of ratification.  He was a huge supporter and friend of Thomas Jefferson, so much so that when his cousin ran against Jefferson, he supported Jefferson and his family didn't speak to him for a while.  Jefferson appointed him ambassador to Spain, and he went off there for a few years, also visiting with the French (who had taken over Spain around that time, if you remember), and allegedly laying the groundwork for the Louisiana Purchase.  What a guy.  

So that was Pinckney.  Charleston was fun, with such delicious seafood that we kept having to eat oysters, scallops, fresh fish and crab at every meal.  Seared, fried, boiled, raw, whatever.  With grits and hushpuppies.  Low Country cuisine at its best.  Beaches here are really great, too, from the "beachy" atmosphere of Folly Beach with its Spring Break partiers to the Nicholas Sparks la-de-dah atmosphere of Isle of Palms, where people all wear boat shoes.  In addition to the obligatory seafood, there is the obligatory Pirate Stuff, tales of Blackbeard and Ann Bonney and "The Gentleman Pirate" Stede Bonnet.  Lots of fun, lots of lovely huge homes, built by ritzy plantation owners and now mostly up for sale by their descendants who can't afford the flood insurance and property taxes any longer.

This lovely home can be yours for only 1.7 million.  But I think the property taxes are like 50,000 dollars a year.  Truly a gracious way of life!