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2. South Carolina 1792 State Senate, Saint James Santee Parish
3. South Carolina 1792 State Senate, Williamsburg County
4. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Chester, Fairfield and Richland Counties
5. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Clarendon County
6. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Kingston County
7. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Pendleton County
8. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Prince William Parish
9. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
10. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Saint Helena Parish
11. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Abbeville County
12. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Charleston City
13. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Orangeburgh Parish
14. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Prince George Winyah Parish
15. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Saint James Santee Parish
16. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Saint Luke's Parish
17. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Saint Paul Parish
18. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Saint Peter's Parish
19. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Saint Stephen's Parish
20. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Saxe Gotha Parish
21. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Union County
22. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Williamsburg Parish
23. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, York County
24. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, All Saints Parish
25. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Chester, Fairfield and Richland Counties
26. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Claremont and Clarendon Counties
27. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Edgefield County
28. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Laurens County
29. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Prince William Parish
30. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parishes
31. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Saint Helena Parish
32. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Saint John Berkeley Parish
33. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Spartanburgh County
34. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Charleston City
35. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Newberry County
36. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Orangeburgh and Saint Matthew Parishes
37. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Prince George Winyah and Williamsburgh County
38. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
39. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Saint Helena Parish
40. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Charleston City
41. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Prince William Parish
42. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
43. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parishes
44. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint Helena Parish
45. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint John's Berkeley Parish
46. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint John's Colleton Parish
47. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Winton County
48. South Carolina 1804 State Senate, Kershaw and Lancaster Districts
49. South Carolina 1804 State Senate, Saint Andrew Parish
50. South Carolina 1804 State Senate, Saint James, Goose Creek Parish
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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
State Senate
The upper house of the State Legislature. Until 1792, the upper house in Delaware was the Council. Until 1819, the upper house in Connecticut was the Council of Assistants. By 1825, all of the states had an upper house called the State Senate except New Jersey, whose upper house was the Legislative Council and Vermont, which had a unicameral legislature.
1787 - 1825: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
Office Scope: State
Role Scope: State (Connecticut) / County / District / City / Parish