bibliography
NNDB
This is a beta version of NNDB
Search: for

Thomas Pinckney

Thomas PinckneyAKA Thomas Pinckney, Sr.

Born: 23-Oct-1750
Birthplace: Charleston, SC
Died: 2-Nov-1828
Location of death: Charleston, SC
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC

Gender: Male
Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Politician
Party Affiliation: Federalist

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Governor of South Carolina, 1787-89

The American diplomat and statesman, Thomas Pinckney, was born in Charleston, South Carolina on the 23rd of October 1750, a younger brother of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Educated in England, he returned to Charleston in 1773, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. During the War of Independence his early training at the French military college at Caen enabled him to render effective service to General Benjamin Lincoln in 1778-79, to Count d'Estaing (1779), to General Lincoln in the defence of Charleston and afterwards to General Horatio Gates. In the battle of Camden he was badly wounded and captured, remaining a prisoner for more than a year. Subsequently he was governor of South Carolina in 1787-89; presided over the state convention which ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788; was a member of the state legislature in 1791 and was United States Ambassador to Great Britain in 1792-96. During part of this time (1794-95) he was also envoy extraordinary to Spain, and in this capacity negotiated (1795) the important Treaty of San Lorenzo el Real; by that treaty the boundary between the United States and East and West Florida and between the United States and "Louisiana" was settled (Spain relinquishing all claims east of the Mississippi above 31 degrees north latitude), and the United States secured the freedom of navigation of the Mississippi to its mouth with the right of deposit at New Orleans for three years, after which the United States was to have the same right either at New Orleans or at some other place on the Mississippi to be designated by Spain. In 1796 Pinckney was the Federalist candidate for Vice President, and in 1797-1801 he was a Federalist representative in Congress. During the War of 1812 he was a major-general. In 1825 he succeeded his brother as president-general of the Society of the Cincinnati. He died in Charleston on the 2nd of November 1828. Pinckney, like many other South Carolina revolutionary leaders, was of aristocratic birth and politics, closely connected with England by ties of blood, education and business relations. This renders the more remarkable their attitude in the War of Independence, for which they made great sacrifices. Men of Pinckney's type were not in sympathy with the progressive democratic spirit of America, and they began to withdraw from politics after about 1800.

Father: Charles Pinckney (d. 1758)
Mother: Eliza Lucas Pinckney (b. 1722, d. 1793, cancer)
Brother: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (American statesman, b. 1746, d. 1825)
Wife: Elizabeth Motte Pinckney (b. 1762, m. 22-Jul-1779, d. 1794)
Son: Thomas Pinckney, Jr. (b. 1780)
Daughter: Harriot Lucas Pinckney
Daughter: Elizabeth Brewton Pinckney
Daughter: Rebecca Motte Pinckney (b. 1788)
Son: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (b. 1789)
Daughter: Mary Pinckney
Wife: Francis Motte (b. 1763, m. 19-Oct-1797)

    High School: Westminster School
    University: Oxford University
    University: French Military College, Caen, France

    US Congressman, South Carolina 1st (23-Nov-1797 to 3-Mar-1801)
    US Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1792-96)
    US State Department Envoy Extraordinary to Spain (1794-95)
    South Carolina State House of Representatives (1791)
    Governor of South Carolina (1787-89)
    Society of the Cincinnati President-General (1825-28)
    Shot: Battle Battle of Camden (16-Aug-1780)
    Slaveowners
    English Ancestry

Is the subject of books:
Life of General Thomas Pinckney, 1895, BY: C. C. Pinckney


New!
NNDB MAPPER
Create a map starting with Thomas Pinckney
Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.

Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile



Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications