A Forgotten Founder
Charles Pinckney was a principal author and signer of the United States Constitution. This remnant of his coastal plantation is preserved to tell the story of a "founding father," his life of public service, the lives of enslaved African Americans on South Carolina Lowcountry plantations and their influences on Charles Pinckney.
5 Sept 2015Go ahead and think of some of the names of the Founding Fathers of this country, those that wrote the Constitution or those that went on to become President and Charles Pinckney will not come to mind for most people. Pinckney's role in the Constitutional Convention is controversial. Although one of the youngest delegates, he later claimed to have been the most influential one and contended he had submitted a draft, known as the Pinckney Plan, that was the basis of the final Constitution. This was strongly disputed by James Madison and some of the other Framers. He submitted an elaborate form of the Virginia Plan, submitted by Edmund Randolph, but it was disregarded by the other delegates. Historians assess him as an important contributing delegate. Pinckney boasted that he was 24, allowing him to claim distinction as the youngest delegate, but he was 30 years old that year. He attended full-time, spoke often and effectively, and contributed immensely to the final draft and to the resolution of problems that arose during the debates. He also worked for ratification in South Carolina (1788). The site is no more than the land he owned with a farm house built after he had sold the land. This a good site to take in during a visit to Charleston. A few hours are all that is required to take in this site.
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