David Oliphant, Pinckney excelled in the sciences of government, philosophy, and history, and the languages of Latin, Greek, Italian, French, and Spanish. Education and Marriage He studied law under his father in Charleston and was admitted to the bar at 16 years of age. However, Pinckney practiced little private law. Pinckney knew from an early age that he wanted to serve in public office like those men. This career choice netted nearly fifty years of substantial civic service.
He married Mary Eleanor Laurens called Polly on April 27, , and together they had three children. Polly was the daughter of Henry Laurens. Polly died in He also served as a captain in the Charleston Regiment and fought during the siege of Savannah. Later, after the siege of Charleston, Pinckney and other Lowcountry patriots were arrested by the British and imprisoned until While there, he was appointed as a delegate to the Congress of Confederation and reappointed to that post over the next two years.
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Learn more about the different ways you can partner with the Bill of Rights Institute. The Bill of Rights Institute engages, educates, and empowers individuals with a passion for the freedom and opportunity that exist in a free society. Mary's wealth, combined with his own fortune, aided Pinckney's public service career and lifestyle. Landholdings of Pinckney included property inherited from his father and that which his wife owned.
A plantation in Georgetown included acres of tidal swamp and acres of high land. Pinckney also owned a acre tract of land at Lynches Creek, acre Snee Farm, a house and 4-acre lot at Haddrell's Point called Shell Hall given to him by his mother, Francis Brewton , and a house and lot in Charleston on 16 Meeting Street.
From his wife, Mary Eleanor Laurens, Pinckney acquired a plantation called Wrights Savannah on the Carolina side of the Savannah River and a tract of land, including a rice mill and ferry, called Mount Tacitus. Pinckney's townhouse on Meeting Street was the former Fenwick home, a three-storied Palladian mansion which housed his , volume library.
So posh was the home that in a letter dated 28 March to James Madison he bragged, "I think the house I have lately bought is not only a handsomer and better house than any in New York which it might very easily be but that the situation is as airy and the prospect as fine as any they have. The following year, in , Pinckney served as president of the South Carolina State Constitutional Convention and while serving in the legislature was elected governor.
Charles Pinckney would serve a total of four terms as South Carolina's governor, the only person to do so in state history. After completing his first term ; he was immediately reelected and served from At the end of his second term, the people of Christ Church Parish once again returned Pinckney to the General Assembly as their representative.
During these formative years of the new nation, Charles and C. Pinckney, were leaders of the Federalist Party. However with time, Pinckney's views began to change. By he had cast his lot with the Democratic-Republican philosophies of Thomas Jefferson and the rapidly-growing Carolina back-country. With the rise of a new political party, Pinckney recognized the opportunity for advancement in a new power base. The rest of his family remained loyal to the Federalist Party of the eastern aristocracy.
In , Pinckney supported the Virginian for president, and did not support his Federalist cousin, Thomas Pinckney, who sought the vice-presidency. John Adams won the presidency with Jefferson as vice-president. Pinckney solidified his support of Thomas Jefferson during the Fifth Congress , became the founding father of the Democratic-Republican Party in South Carolina, and helped establish it firmly on the national scene. These actions widened the gap between Pinckney, his Federalist family, and other established lowcountry families that had always controlled the state, politically and economically.
In , after rejecting an offer to run for the US Senate, Charles Pinckney ran for his third term as governor, beating his Federalist brother-in-law, Henry Laurens, Jr. Upon completion of the two year term he was returned to the General Assembly, representing Christ Church Parish. However, he could not accept the post as he had been appointed to fill an unexpired term in the United States Senate on December 6, In the Presidential election of , General C.
Pinckney was on the Federalist's ticket for the office of vice-president. However, Charles Pinckney remained loyal to presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson, serving as his campaign manager in South Carolina and helping to carry the state for Jefferson. He accepted and subsequently resigned from his seat in the Senate. Minister Pinckney served abroad from He attempted to smooth relations between Spain and the United States, particularly with regard to problems which arose from the seizure and plundering committed by Spanish and French vessels on American shipping.
In addition, he made an unsuccessful, but valiant attempt to win cession of the Floridas to the United States. He also worked toward the transfer of Louisiana from France to the United States in Charles Pinckney returned to Charleston in January , and again took up the mantle of public service in the South Carolina General Assembly.
In December of that year he was elected to his fourth and final term as governor. After completing his term as governor, Pinckney was returned to the General Assembly and served until In his Ph.
That all denominations of Christian Protestants … shall enjoy equal religious and civil privileges. Unfortunately, it is likely we will never know for sure why Pinckney felt church and state should be separated. This may explain why many Americans seem to have imposed a de facto religious test for public office. Indeed, a Gallup Poll found that 42 percent of Americans said they would not vote for an atheist political candidate. While voters are free to impose such tests in their minds, a number of states still have laws on their books stating non-believers have no right to public office.
A total of seven states — North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas — prohibit atheists from holding public office to this day. Fortunately, a Supreme Court case, Torcaso v. Watkins , made all of these statewide bans unenforceable. But if more Americans would look at the intent of the Founding Fathers — including men like Pinckney — and remember that they wanted church and state to be separate, perhaps religious prejudice would be dealt a fatal blow and candidates would be chosen based on their qualifications rather than their faith.
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