Pinckney, Charles | South Carolina Public Radio

"P" is for Pinckney, Charles [1757-1784]. Planter, legislator, governor, statesman. In 1779, Pinckney began his public service as a member of the General Assembly. During the Revolution he participated in the siege of Savannah and was captured at the fall of Charleston. In 1784, he re-entered the General Assembly and was elected to the Confederation Congress. In 1787 Pinckney was one of South Carolina's delegates to the Constitutional Convention. In Philadelphia he presented what is called the "Pinckney Draft," a proposal calling for a strong central government consisting of three "separate and distinct" branches. He was elected governor—the first of four times—in 1789. From 1801 to 1805, he served as minister plenipotentiary to Spain. Charles Pinckney retired from public life in 1814, but when called upon in 1819, he was elected and served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.