Happy Constitution Day! On September 17, we celebrate the signing of the United States Constitution. Here at the State of Oregon Law Library, we have an unexpected connection to one of the signers – Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina.
SOLL has a large collection of rare and historic law books, primarily from early America and the British Isles. One of these, Reports of Cases Concerning the Revenue, Argued and Determined (dated 1776), bears a strikingly similar signature!
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney – not to be confused with his second cousin and fellow-Constitution signer Charles Pinckney – “was an influential member of the constitutional convention of 1787, advocating the counting of all slaves as a basis of representation and opposing the abolition of the slave trade. He opposed as ‘impracticable’ the election of representative by popular vote, and also opposed the payment of senators, who, he thought, should be men of wealth. Subsequently Pinckney bore a prominent part in securing the ratification of the Federal constitution in the South Carolina convention called for that purpose in 1788 and in framing the South Carolina State Constitution in the convention of 1790.” (Encyclopædia britannica, 1911, p. 616)
In the new U.S. government, Pinckney succeeded James Monroe as minister to France, and was involved in the diplomatic incident known as the XYZ Affair, where French agents tried to ask for bribes. According to popular legend, Pinckney vehemently rebuffed them with the response, “No! No! Not a sixpence!”
Pinckney went on to become the Federalist candidate for Vice President in 1800, and for President in 1804 and 1808, with all campaigns bein unsuccessful. According to the National Archives, “For the rest of his life, Pinckney engaged in legal practice, served at times in the legislature, and engaged in philanthropic activities” – perhaps occasionally using this very book.
-Carin Yavorcik, Technical Services Librarian
Editor's Note: This post was originally published in September 2017 and has been updated with links and photos for accuracy and comprehensiveness on 9/13/2021
References
The Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed., Vol. XXI). (1911). Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press.
The Founding Fathers: South Carolina. (2016, September 29). Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers-south-carolina
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