(Above) A British political cartoon depicting the XYZ Affair: The United States is represented by the woman, who is being plundered by f ive Frenchmen. The f igures grouped off to the right are other European countries; John Bull, representing Great Britain, sits laughing on a hill.
With tensions mounting and calls for rebellion, he was elected to the Committee of Safety, and began working on plans for an interim government for South Carolina. When war broke out, he joined the Continental Army as a captain. His skill as an officer, and no doubt his family prestige, soon advanced him to the rank of colonel. In 1780, his regiment aided in the defense of Charleston against the British siege under the command of Major General Lincoln. He became a prisoner of war for two years when Lincoln surrendered his 5,000 men to the British and even while a prisoner he was integral in keeping the troops loyal to the Patriot’s cause. In 1782 a grateful nation honored Pinckney by promoting him to the rank of Brevet Brigadier General. Following the Revolution he returned to work with the government of South Carolina, and in 1789 he was sent to the Philadelphia convention to help revise the existing Articles of Confederation. When it became obvious that revisions would not be enough, the delegates began debate on a new constitution. Pinckney advocated that African-American slaves be counted as a basis of representation. He was influential in inclusion in the Constitution that slaves “may be lawfully reclaimed from free states and territories.” Pinckney wanted a strong national government with a system of checks and balances to replace the current, weak one. He supported the Electoral College and opposed paying senators (who he envisioned as men of independent wealth). Pinckney was a key part in requiring treaties to be ratified by the Senate and in the compromise that resulted in the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, but it stopped short of emancipation. He also opposed placing a limitation on the size of a federal standing army. President Washington was grateful for Pinckney’s work in helping
secure the new Constitution and offered him a position on the Supreme Court or the office of Secretary of War, but Pinckney preferred to work in the South Carolina Legislature. Near the end of Washington’s second term Pinckney accepted the offer to replace James Monroe as America’s minister to France. The King Louis XVI was gone, replaced in a bloody rebellion by a committee known as The Directory. There was an undeclared sea war between England and France, and the French objected to the Jay Treaty, which they interpreted as an alliance between England and America. The Directory refused to see Pinckney. He wrote a letter to the president complaining that he had not received the proper respect of a visiting foreign diplomat, then traveled to the Netherlands to await further instructions. In 1797 President John Adams sent future Chief Justice John Marshall and future Vice President Elbridge Gerry to join Pinckney in another attempt to establish diplomatic relations with France. The American diplomatic trio was met by French Foreign Minister Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. He informed them that a meeting with The Directory could be arranged if certain monetary obligations could be met: $250,000 for himself, and a promise of a $10,000,000 loan for the nation of France. It was reported that Charles C. Pinckney’s angry retort was, “No, no! Not a sixpence!” When this reached America it became known as the “XYZ Affair.” This led to an undeclared war or “quasi-war” with France, which did not end until 1800. Following his return to America, Pinckney retired from politics to his law practice and plantations. Courtesy of the Junto Society.
The Breeze JANUARY 2016
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