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52. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Kingston County
53. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Liberty County
54. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Orangeburgh Parish
55. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Pendleton County
56. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Prince William Parish
57. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Richland County
58. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint Andrew's Parish
59. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
60. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint Helena Parish
61. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint James Goosecreek Parish
62. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint James Santee Parish
63. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint Luke's Parish
64. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Saint Paul's Parish
65. South Carolina 1794 House of Representatives, Williamsburgh Parish
66. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Chester, Fairfield and Richland Counties
67. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Clarendon County
68. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Kingston County
69. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Pendleton County
70. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Prince William Parish
71. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Saint Bartholomew's Parish
72. South Carolina 1794 State Senate, Saint Helena Parish
73. South Carolina 1794 U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
74. South Carolina 1794 U.S. House of Representatives, District 5
75. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, All Saints Parish
76. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Charleston City
77. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Claremont County
78. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Clarendon County
79. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Darlington County
80. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Kingston County
81. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Laurens County
82. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Orangeburgh Parish
83. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Prince George Winyah Parish
84. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Richland County
85. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint Bartholomew Parish
86. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint Dennis and Saint Thomas Parishes
87. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint Helena Parish
88. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint James Santee Parish
89. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint John Berkeley Parish
90. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint Paul's Parish
91. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint Peter's Parish
92. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saint Stephen's Parish
93. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Saxe Gotha Parish
94. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Spartanburg County
95. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Union County
96. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Williamsburg County
97. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, Winton County
98. South Carolina 1796 House of Representatives, York County
99. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Abbeville County
100. South Carolina 1796 State Senate, Charleston City
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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