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102. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Richland County
103. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parishes
104. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Saint Helena Parish
105. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Saint John Berkeley Parish
106. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Saint Paul's Parish
107. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Saxe Gotha Parish
108. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, Spartanburgh County
109. South Carolina 1798 House of Representatives, York County
110. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, All Saints Parish
111. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Chester, Fairfield and Richland Counties
112. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Claremont and Clarendon Counties
113. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Edgefield County
114. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Laurens County
115. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Prince William Parish
116. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parishes
117. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Saint Helena Parish
118. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Saint John Berkeley Parish
119. South Carolina 1798 State Senate, Spartanburgh County
120. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Charleston City
121. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Laurens County
122. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Newberry County
123. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Orangeburgh Parish
124. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
125. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Saint George Dorchester Parish
126. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Saint Helena Parish
127. South Carolina 1800 House of Representatives, Saint Matthew Parish
128. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Charleston City
129. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Newberry County
130. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Orangeburgh and Saint Matthew Parishes
131. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Prince George Winyah and Williamsburgh County
132. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
133. South Carolina 1800 State Senate, Saint Helena Parish
134. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Charleston City
135. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Prince William Parish
136. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
137. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parishes
138. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Saint Helena Parish
139. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Saint James Santee Parish
140. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Saint John's Berkeley Parish
141. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Saint John's Colleton Parish
142. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Saint Paul's Parish
143. South Carolina 1802 House of Representatives, Winton County
144. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Charleston City
145. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Prince William Parish
146. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
147. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parishes
148. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint Helena Parish
149. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint John's Berkeley Parish
150. South Carolina 1802 State Senate, Saint John's Colleton 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