Charles Pinckney

Charles Pinckney. 42 Years as a Public Servant. , Charles Pinckney, like most other members of the plantation elite, was educated and trained for public service. In 1779, at the age of 21, he was elected to represent Christ Church Parish in the General Assembly of South Carolina. Over the next 42 years, he held many offices at the local, state, and national level. Pinckney retired from public life in 1821 when his term as a member of the United States House of Representatives ended. This is a list of some of the public offices that he held:, . Admitted to the bar and commenced practice in 1779 , . Member of the State house of representatives 1779-1780, 1786-1789, 1792-1796, 1805, 1806, 1810-1814 , . Fought in the Revolutionary War and was taken prisoner by the British in 1780 , . Member of the Continental Congress 1785-1787 , . Member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 , . Member of the State constitutional conventions in 1788 and 1790 and served as president , . Governor of South Carolina 1789-1791, 1791-1792 and 1796-1798 , . United States Senator 1798-1801 , . Minister to Spain 1801-1804 , . Governor of South Carolina 1806-1808 , . Sixteenth Congress (March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1821), “I always loved Politics and I find as I grow older I become more fond of them.” , -- An excerpt taken from a letter written by Charles Pinckney to James Madison, a fellow statesman and the fourth president of the United States., “Charles Pinckney grew up in a society where there was a spirit of public service. When individuals believed in something greater than themselves; they believed in a public good. Many were willing, as stated so boldly in the Declaration of Independence to ‘pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred Honor’ to create a new nation. Charles Pinckney of Snee Farm was one of those individuals. For all but four years of his adult life, he was involved in public service. He served his state as a legislator, as an officer during the Revolutionary War, as governor [elected four times], as president of the state constitutional convention, and was a member of the state convention that ratified the United States Constitution. He represented South Carolina in the Articles of Confederation Congress, in the Constitutional Convention, and in the United States Congress as a representative and senator. He served the national as a minister plenipotentiary to Spain. Charles Pinckney was an old-fashioned patriot who was willing to serve the people of South Carolina and the United Stated when asked. He did his duty,. For him public service was a sacred trust. And, for him, public service was not without great personal sacrifice.”, Dr. Walter Edgar , Claude Henry Neuffer Professor of Southern Studies , Director, Institute for Southern Studies , Director, Graduate Studies, Dept. of History , University of South Carolina