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Many South Carolinians contributed to the founding documents of our nation and state in writing and discussion, while many more fought for the ideals laid out in them on the battlefield.
For National Poetry Month, we are highlighting how the South Carolinian and American identity have been communicated through these writings since the American Revolution.
Produced in July 1972, this is the second report to the General Assembly for South Carolina by “The Spirit of 1776 Committee,” the first being “Battleground of Freedom, South Carolina and the American Revolution” (which is also in the South Carolina State Documents Collection). Three poems are listed in this report as being among the most famous to commemorate the American Revolution in South Carolina: “Carolina” by Henry Timrod, “Song of Marion’s Men” by William Cullen Bryant, and “At Eutaw Springs the Valant Died” by Philip Freneau.
Archibald Rutledge (1883-1973) was South Carolina’s first poet laureate, serving from 1934 to 1973. He was the author of ninety books of poetry and prose, including Poems: In Honor of South Carolina Tricentennial. In 1984, he was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame. This video from the South Carolina Educational Television Commission honors his life and the legacy he left in the Palmetto State.
This publication, a collection of histories, poetry, and photography, is an outgrowth of a speech delivered by Dr. George L. Vogt, former Director of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, at the dedication of the Middleton Oak as a “Constitution Bicentennial Tree,” on March 9, 1989, in Charleston. This southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) is estimated to be around 1,000 years old and has a circumference of over 37 feet.
Born in Charleston in 1757, Charles Pinckney was a leader in the state legislature and a colonel in the state militia by 1780 at the age of 22. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1784 and attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where he contributed drafts of 31 articles that were incorporated into the final draft of the Constitution. He was a signer of the United States Constitution. Between 1789 and his death in 1824, Pinckney was elected governor four times, served as United States Minister to Spain, was a United States Senator, and served one term in the United States House of Representatives. In 1976, Pinckney was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame.
On May 21, 1988, at the Exchange Building in Charleston, South Carolina, the United States Constitution Bicentennial Commission of Charleston sponsored a symposium, "Issues and Leaders: South Carolina's Role in the Debates on the United States Constitution." The four historical essays that follow were originally presented at that symposium. The United States Constitution Bicentennial Commission of South Carolina voted on April 18, 1989, to fund the publication of these essays to commemorate the significant role played by the South Carolina delegation in the framing of the United States Constitution.
Having rejected Patriot leader Christopher Gadsden’s dramatic appeal for an immediate declaration of independence, the South Carolina Provincial Congress voted, on February 11, 1776, to take under consideration “what regulations” were necessary “for securing peace and good order during the unhappy disputes between Great Britain and the colonies.” On March 26, 1996, this constitution became the second adopted by an American colony and the first to outline a complete system of government.
This publication from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History gives a brief overview of the lives of the four signers of the United States Constitution from South Carolina. The four signers were Pierce Butler (1744-1822), Charles Pinckney (1757-1824), Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825), and John Rutledge (1739-1800).
Forgotten Founder is a historical visualization of the biography of Charles Pinckney, a South Carolinian whose contributions to the birth of our nation and state are largely unknown until now. Through the research of several historians, this documentary explores Pinckney's work as a public servant and his contributions to the United States Constitution, while examining the reasons why his story is all but removed from American history.
In honor of the South Carolina Tricentennial celebration, Archibald Rutledge, Poet Laureate of South Carolina, wrote this collection of poems about his home state. Rutledge (1883-1973) was born in McClellanville and had family ties to many prominent South Carolina families, including the Middletons, Pinckneys, and Horrys. After retiring as an English professor in Pennsylvania, Rutledge returned to South Carolina after being appointed the state’s first poet laureate in 1934. In his poems, Rutledge depicts the natural beauty of South Carolina, inspired by his childhood growing up on his family’s ancestral home of Hampton Plantation in Charleston County.
In 1790, the previous South Carolina Constitution of 1778 was revised as the young nation of the United States of America continued to gain its footing. Some reasons for this revision included the impermanence of the existing constitution, the desirability of completing the process of separating church and state, and the need for a more equitable apportionment of representation.
Please join us for our next Speaker at the Center talk with Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation as she celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition at the South Carolina State Library.
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