Pierce Butler Senator

Pierce Butler (July 11, 1744 – February 15, 1822) was a soldier, planter, and statesman, recognized as one of United States' Founding Fathers. He represented South Carolina in the Continental Congress, the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and the U.S. Senate.One of the largest slaveholders in the United States, Butler defended American slavery for both political and personal motives, though he had private misgivings about the institution, and particularly about the African slave trade. He introduced the Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution during the convention, and supported other measures to benefit slaveholders, including counting the full slave population in state totals for the purposes of Congressional apportionment. The compromise measure provided for counting three-fifths of the slave population in state totals, which led to Southern states having disproportionate power.

Personal facts

Pierce Butler
Birth dateJuly 11, 1744
Birth place
County Carlow
Religion
Episcopal Church (United States)
Date of deathFebruary 15, 1822
Place of death
Pennsylvania , Philadelphia
Profession
Soldier

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Politician

military operations
American Revolutionary War
Siege of Savannah
military rank
Adjutant general
Major
officeDelegate from South Carolina to the Congress of the Confederation
party
Democratic-Republican Party
Federalist Party
service start1779
service end1782
successor

Pierce Butler on Wikipedia

External resources

  1. http://books.google.com/books?id=Td0DAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r#PPA162,M1
  2. http://www.history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/butler.htm