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2. South Carolina 1812 House of Representatives, Prince George, Winyah Parish
3. South Carolina 1813 House of Representatives, Charleston City, Special
4. South Carolina 1792 House of Representatives, Spartanburg County
5. South Carolina 1804 House of Representatives, Saint Paul Parish
6. South Carolina 1820 House of Representatives, Saint Paul Parish
7. South Carolina 1824 House of Representatives, Prince George Winyah Parish
8. South Carolina 1824 House of Representatives, Saint Peter Parish
9. South Carolina 1810 House of Representatives, Saint Andrew's Parish
10. South Carolina 1812 House of Representatives, Saint Paul Parish
11. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Saint Matthew Parish
12. South Carolina 1792 House of Representatives, Newberry County
13. South Carolina 1808 House of Representatives, Greenville District
14. South Carolina 1804 House of Representatives, Claremont District
15. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Claremont County
16. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parish
17. South Carolina 1811 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomew Parish, Special
18. South Carolina 1810 House of Representatives, Lexington District
19. South Carolina 1792 House of Representatives, Laurens County
20. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Pendleton County
21. South Carolina 1822 House of Representatives, Saint James Goosecreek Parish
22. South Carolina 1809 House of Representatives, Fairfield County, Special
23. South Carolina 1824 House of Representatives, Horry District
24. South Carolina 1818 House of Representatives, All Saints Parish
25. South Carolina 1816 House of Representatives, Saint Paul Parish
26. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Union District
27. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Saint Luke Parish
28. South Carolina 1821 House of Representatives, Williamsburg District, Special
29. South Carolina 1812 House of Representatives, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parish
30. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Christ Church Parish
31. South Carolina 1806 House of Representatives, Winton District
32. South Carolina 1812 House of Representatives, Saint James Santee Parish
33. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Prince George Winyah Parish
34. South Carolina 1820 House of Representatives, Christ Church Parish
35. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Prince William Parish
36. South Carolina 1804 House of Representatives, All Saints Parish
37. South Carolina 1808 House of Representatives, Prince George Winyah District
38. South Carolina 1804 House of Representatives, Laurens District
39. South Carolina 1790 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomews Parish
40. South Carolina 1824 House of Representatives, Charleston City
41. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
42. South Carolina 1812 House of Representatives, Laurens District
43. South Carolina 1808 House of Representatives, Saint Matthew Parish
44. South Carolina 1816 House of Representatives, Horry District
45. South Carolina 1792 House of Representatives, York County
46. South Carolina 1818 House of Representatives, Marlborough District
47. South Carolina 1816 House of Representatives, Lancaster District
48. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Lexington District
49. South Carolina 1812 House of Representatives, Spartanburg District
50. South Carolina 1792 House of Representatives, Claremont County
51. South Carolina 1822 House of Representatives, Orange Parish
52. South Carolina 1792 House of Representatives, Saint Andrew's Parish
53. South Carolina 1822 House of Representatives, Charleston City
54. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomew Parish
55. South Carolina 1804 House of Representatives, Orange Parish
56. South Carolina 1813 House of Representatives, Abbeville District, Special
57. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Laurens County
58. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Marion District
59. South Carolina 1822 House of Representatives, Pendleton District
60. South Carolina 1820 House of Representatives, Orangeburg District
61. South Carolina 1816 House of Representatives, Saint Luke Parish
62. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Prince William Parish
63. South Carolina 1812 House of Representatives, Saint Stephen Parish
64. South Carolina 1820 House of Representatives, Spartanburg District
65. South Carolina 1808 House of Representatives, Saint Luke Parish
66. South Carolina 1824 House of Representatives, Williamsburg Parish
67. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint Helena Parish
68. South Carolina 1813 House of Representatives, Saint Helena Parish, Special
69. South Carolina 1818 House of Representatives, Sumter District
70. South Carolina 1824 House of Representatives, Saint John Colleton Parish
71. South Carolina 1820 House of Representatives, Saint Andrew Parish
72. South Carolina 1820 House of Representatives, Claremont District
73. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Saint John Berkeley Parish
74. South Carolina 1808 House of Representatives, Prince William Parish
75. South Carolina 1822 House of Representatives, Kershaw District
76. South Carolina 1824 House of Representatives, Saint Stephen Parish
77. South Carolina 1820 House of Representatives, All Saints Parish
78. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Saint Helena Parish
79. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Lancaster District
80. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint Peter's Parish
81. South Carolina 1822 House of Representatives, Prince George Winyaw (Georgetown) Parish
82. South Carolina 1816 House of Representatives, Prince William Parish
83. South Carolina 1807 House of Representatives, Prince William Parish, Special Election
84. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Kingston County
85. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Richland County
86. South Carolina 1810 House of Representatives, York District
87. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint Andrew's Parish
88. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Saint Paul's Parish
89. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Charleston City, Special
90. South Carolina 1814 House of Representatives, Darlington District
91. South Carolina 1806 House of Representatives, Saint John's Berkeley Parish
92. South Carolina 1808 House of Representatives, Saint Paul Parish
93. South Carolina 1806 House of Representatives, Kershaw District
94. South Carolina 1804 House of Representatives, Saint Andrew Parish
95. South Carolina 1812 House of Representatives, Prince George, Winyah Parish, Special
96. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Charleston City
97. South Carolina 1823 House of Representatives, Charleston City, Special
98. South Carolina 1824 House of Representatives, Chesterfield District
99. South Carolina 1820 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomew Parish
100. South Carolina 1822 House of Representatives, Marlborough District
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On May 23, 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the Federal Constitution. Although there was considerable opposition from the backcountry region, representatives from the capital, Charleston, and the surrounding lowcountry regions prevailed. This division in state politics would continue until a series of compromises were completed in 1808 balancing the representation of the two regions.
A new state constitution was adopted by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1790. This document preserved the weak executive structure that dated back to before the American Revolution. For example, the governor did not possess veto power after 1790. The governor and lieutenant governor were each elected to a two-year term and were then required to not hold the office for four years before being eligible for election again. The General Assembly was comprised of two branches, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both bodies were elected by popular vote. Members of the House of Representatives served two-year terms. There were a total of 124 members whose districts were determined by a combination of population and the amount of taxes generated. It was through electoral innovations like this that the lowcountry region maintained its political dominance even though it possessed a minority of the state’s white population. Senators were elected to four year terms.
The most significant political issue in the state during this period was balancing the interests of the lowcountry and the backcountry. Under the Constitution of 1790, the state capital was moved from Charleston, on the coast, to Columbia in the interior. Eventually, the lowcountry representatives agreed to other Constitutional amendments which increased the number of electoral districts in the backcountry region and led to a greater balance of political power.
The Federalist Party dominated South Carolina in the 1790s as it could count a number of prominent lowcountry planters among their ranks. Many South Carolinians played important roles for the Federalist Party at the national level. The Jeffersonian-Republicans, however, were rising in prominence, especially as Charles Pinckney and Pierce Butler, both of whom signed the Constitution for South Carolina, joined the rival party. Although the Federalists dominated the state until 1800, by 1804 there were no Federalists in power. South Carolina would remain a one-party state until the start of the Civil War.
The Constitution of 1790 eliminated the religious qualification for voting and holding political office in South Carolina. All free, white men who were 21 years of age, had lived in the state for two years, was a resident of the district in which he was voting, owned fifty acres of land or a town lot and paid taxes were eligible to vote. In 1810 an amendment to the state constitution eliminated the property qualification for voting, extending suffrage to all white men who had lived in the state for six months. Thus, South Carolina was among the very first states to allow universal white male suffrage.
Bibliography
- James Banner
“The Problem of South Carolina” in Stanley Elkins and Eric McKittrick,The Hofstadter Aegis: A Memorial. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974) 60-93. - Walter Edgar,
South Carolina: A History (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1998) - Lacy K. Ford,
The Origins of Southern Radicalism: The South Carolina Upcountry, 1800-1860 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991) - Rachel Klein,
Unification of a Slave State: The Rise of the Planter Class in the South Carolina Backcountry, 1760-1808 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990). - George C. Rogers,
Evolution of a Federalist: William Loughton Smith of Charleston , (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1962). - C. Blease Graham, South Carolina’s Constitutions
- South Carolina Information Highway – Governors
House of Representatives
House of Representatives: the lower or popular house of the United States Congress or of a State legislature. The name of the lower house in all states prior to 1825 except for Maryland and Virginia, (House of Delegates), New Jersey and New York (Assembly) and North Carolina (House of Commons).
Oxford English Dictionary
1787 - 1825: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont
Office Scope: State
Role Scope: County / District / Town(ship) / Parish