Charles Pinckney

Charles Pinckney (1757-1824), one of the framers of the U.S. Constitution, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and educated for the bar. A second cousin of Charles Cotesworth and Thomas Pinckney, he was a practicing lawyer when he became a lieutenant of militia during the American Revolution. Captured at Charleston in 1780, he remained a prisoner of the British until 1781. Pinckney served in the Continental Congress in 1777-78, 1778, and 1784-87. At the Constitutional Convention he submitted one of the plans that formed the basis for the Constitution; it has become known as the “Pinckney Draught.” Minister to Spain (1801-5) under President Thomas Jefferson, he tried unsuccessfully to negotiate the acquisition of Florida from that country. Pinckney served four terms as governor of South Carolina and was a member of the U.S. Senate (1798-1801) and the House of Representatives (1819-1821).