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Thomas Pinckney And The Revolutionary War

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Thomas Pinckney (October 23, 1750 – November 2, 1828) garnered 59 votes in the election and was a statesman, diplomat and a veteran of the Revolutionary War as well as the War of 1812. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Pinckney’s father was a prominent colonial official who brought his family to Britain on business when Pinckney was three. When his father died in 1758, Pinckney remained in Great Britain and continued his studies there and later in France. In 1774, Pinckney returned to South Carolina and joined the American efforts in the Revolution. The following year, he accepted a commission as a captain in the Continental Army, 1st South Carolina regiment. He went on to become an aide-de-camp to General Horatio Gates. In the American defeat at the Battle of Camden in 1780, Pinckney was injured and captured by the British. He was later released in a prisoner exchange. He rejoined the Army and fought alongside Lafayette in Virginia. …show more content…

He went on to become Governor of South Carolina, where he presided over the state convention and worked to ratify the new U.S. Constitution. After serving as Governor, he was elected to the state House of Representatives during which time he was selected by President Washington to serve as U.S. Minister (ambassador) to Great Britain. He was not effective in negotiating a cease on British impressment (which in part led to the War of 1812) or the removal of troops from forts that the British failed to relinquish in the Northwest frontiers. As a result, John Jay was sent as a special envoy to negotiate the Treaty of London of 1794 or the Jay Treaty. While a Minister to Britain, Pinckney also served as an Envoy Extraordinary to Spain where he was successful in negotiating the Treaty of San Lorenzo in

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