South Carolina Hall Of Fame: Thomas Pinckney

Thomas Pinckney served South Carolina and the nation as a Revolutionary War patriot, statesman, and diplomat. Pinckney was born in Charleston, South Carolina and educated in England. He participated in Revolutionary War battles and was captured at the Battle of Camden and held as a prisoner of war. Pinckney served in the General Assembly and was elected governor of South Carolina in 1787. In 1792 he was named minister to the Court of St. James, and in 1795 was appointed envoy to Spain, where he resolved differences between the two countries and gained the right of American navigation on the lower Mississippi River. Pinckney served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1797-1799.