C. C. Pinckney and the Presidential Election of 1800

C.C. Pinckney (National Archives)

As the 2012 presidential election nears - and the outcome appears too close to call among the pollsters and pundits - it is good to remember that this is not a unique situation.  The controversies surrounding the Elections of 1800, 1876, and 2000 loom large in historic memory.

A Beaufort plantation owner, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746 - 1825), played a key role in how the 1800 election turned out.  C.C. Pinckney refused to change his electoral college vote from John Adams.  It is claimed that Pinckney  would have become the 3rd Vice-President of the United States instead of Thomas Jefferson if he had gone back on his word to support John Adams.  

Read about the ins-and-outs of C.C. Pinckney's role in the Election of 1800 in these resources:

BDC Research Room "He Gave His Word: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and the Presidential Election of 1800," by Steve C. Griffith, Jr.  Carologue Magazine (Fall 2012) vol. 28, no. 2: pp. 10 - 16.  (BDC)

REF 975.73 SOU "Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 1746 - 1825" in the South Carolina Encyclopedia, University of South Carolina Press, 2006, pp. 727 - 728. (ALL)

975.791 ROG Charleston in the Age of the Pinckneys by George C. Rogers, University of South Carolina Press, 1980.  (BDC, BEA, BLU, HHI)

SC B PINCKNEY Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Founding Father by Marvin R. Zahniser, Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Va., by the University of North Carolina Press, 1967.  (BDC, HHI)

SC 920 WIL/ 929.9 WIL (Bluffton Branch) A Founding Family: The Pinckneys of South Carolina by Frances Leigh Williams, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978. (BDC, BLU)

975.799 CHR Biography of an Island: General C.C. Pinckney's Sea Island Plantation by Merrill G. Christophersen, Westburg Associates Publishers, 1976. (BDC, BLU, HHI)

SC 975.5 SOU 1962 "Eleanor Park Lewis to Mrs. C.C. Pinckney," South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. 63, no. 1: pp. 12 - 17.  (BDC, HHI)

Note:  The Beaufort County Library system will be closed on Monday, Nov. 12th to observe Veteran's Day.