After the American Revolution, Pinckney served his new country as a political leader and diplomat to Spain. His “Pinckney Plan” is often cited as playing a large role in framing the U.S. Constitution in 1787, though scholars continue to debate its significance.
During his 1791 visit to Charleston, George Washington stopped by Pinckney’s Snee Farm plantation, today a National Park Service site in Mt. Pleasant, during his visit to Charleston in 1791. The grounds are open to the public Wednesday through Sunday.
Pinckney represented Christ Church Parish in the S.C. House of Representatives for three terms between 1779 and 1796. He also served as the state’s Governor for three terms: 1789-1792, 1796-1898 and in 1808. In 1819, Pinckney was elected to represent South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he is perhaps best remembered for his bitter opposition to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which proposed restrictions on slavery.
Panicked, Pinckney jumped out of a window to escape. Yet by this time in his career, Pinckney was no longer a young man, and the butcher’s posse easily caught up to him. Realizing they had captured the wrong man, they released him, and this incident in the life of Charles Pinckney quietly faded into history.