“P” is for Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth (1746-1825)

“P” is for Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth (1746-1825). Soldier, statesman, diplomat. Born in Charleston, Pinckney was educated at Christ Church College, Oxford, and the Middle Temple. Returning home, he was elected to the Commons House of Assembly. By 1775 Pinckney was a member of all the important revolutionary committees. With the outbreak of hostilities, he was appointed commander of the First Regiment of South Carolina troops. When Charleston fell, he was placed under house arrest and later exchanged. In 1787 Pinckney was an influential delegate to the constitutional convention where he ardently defended the exporting and slaveholding interests of southern planters. In 1796 Pinckney was appointed as American minister to France. In 1801 he helped establish the South Carolina College. In 1804 and 1808 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was the Federalist Party’s candidate for president of the United States.