Forgotten Founder: The Life and Times of Charles Pinckney by Marty D. MatthewsMy rating: 0 of 5 stars
Another DNF for me. I read 50 pages, and then started asking myself if he was worth pursuing. Up to this point these were my notes:
Apparently he was 29 at the constitutional convention, but told everyone he was 24 so he could be counted as the youngest. The book says it could be an oversight, but apparently he kept repeating this as a fact many years later.
It's not really a hagiography, but to me it reads almost like a proud parent writing about their son. An example:
"Despite the maturity and experience of Gorham and Grayson, they allowed the junior member of their committee (Pinckney) to deliver the major address to the New Jersey Legislature" (p. 33)
He submitted a plan at the constitutional convention, which wasn't adopted, but years later (1818), at John Adams' request, he sent him what he recollected as being his plan, which basically contained many ideas in the constitution. James Madison said most of these points were not correct and that Pinckney hadn't originally mentioned them. The author states Madison had beef with him, but I'm not really convinced. (pp 42-43)
Anyway, then I read on wikipedia that he introduced the Fugitive slave clause and didn't accomplish too much else, so I figured life is too short to keep reading about his.
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