Christopher Gadsden

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Christopher Gadsden

Christopher Gadsden (born February 16, 1724 in Charleston , Province of South Carolina , † September 15, 1805 ibid) was an American trader, officer and politician of the Province of South Carolina. He was one of the foremost leaders of the South Carolina patriot movement during the American Revolution . Gadsden represented the Province of South Carolina as a delegate to the Continental Congress and was Brigadier General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . He also designed the famous Gadsden flag .

Career

Before the American War of Independence

Christopher Gadsden was the son of Thomas Gadsden, who served in the Royal Navy before becoming a customs officer for the Port of Charleston . Christopher was on a school in Bristol ( England sent). He did not return to America until 1740 and then began an apprenticeship in an office in Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ). Gadsden inherited a large fortune after the death of his parents in 1741. Between 1745 and 1746 he then served in King George's War as a purser on a British warship. He undertook commercial ventures that enabled him to return to South Carolina in 1747. There he bought back his father's land, which he had lost in 1733 as a result of gambling . Gadsden continued to work as a merchant in Charleston. After his trade began to flourish, he built a shipyard that still bears his name to this day. He was a member of an expedition against the Cherokee in 1759 , where he held the rank of captain in a militia company . Gadsden also had a political career. He was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1757 . In 1765 he participated as one of three delegates from the Province of South Carolina to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City , which was convened because of opposition to the Stamp Act . While his fellow delegates Thomas Lynch and John Rutledge served on committees for each one objection to the upper and lower house designing, Gadsden refused such a position, as it considered that the Parliament to have no rights. He spoke openly in favor of the Declaration of Human Rights and Abuses adopted by Congress. His speeches brought him the attention of Samuel Adams of Massachusetts . A long pen friendship developed between the two. Gadsden eventually came to be known as "the Sam Adams of the South". Upon his return from New York, he was a co-founder and leader of the Sons of Liberty in Charleston. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the militia. In 1774 he was elected as a delegate to the first continental congress and re-elected to the second continental congress the following year .

During the American Revolutionary War

Gadsden left Congress in the spring of 1776 to take command of the first South Carolina regiment in the Continental Army. He was also a member of the South Carolina Provincial Congress. In February 1776, South Carolina President John Rutledge appointed him brigadier general in the South Carolina Militia. As British troops prepared to attack Charleston, Major General Charles Lee ordered the outlying positions to be evacuated. Rutledge and the resident officers did not agree. A compromise was reached when William Moultrie prepared the defense of Sullivan's Island . The Gadsden Regiment built a bridge there in case of escape if their position was threatened. However, the British attack was repulsed. As a result, in September 1776, the Continental Congress appointed him Brigadier General in the Continental Army. In 1778 he took part as a delegate to the South Carolina Convention, which drafted a new state constitution. In the same year he was appointed lieutenant governor to fill the vacancy of Henry Laurens, who served on the Continental Congress. Gadsden held the position until 1780. For the first year and a half he was named "Vice President of South Carolina". After the new constitution was passed, the title changed to what it is today. When the British besieged Charleston in 1780, John Randolph fled to North Carolina as council president to ensure a government in exile should the city fall. Gadsden stayed with Governor Rawlins Lowndes . General Benjamin Lincoln turned the garrison over to General Sir Henry Clinton on May 12th . At the same time, Gadsden surrendered the city as a representative of the civil government. He was released home on his word of honor . After Clinton returned to New York, the new British commanding officer in the south, General Cornwallis , changed the rules. On the morning of August 27th, he arrested over 20 of the plainclothes officers who had been released on word of honor. They were then loaded onto a ship as prisoners and to St. Augustine ( Florida brought). Upon their arrival, Governor Tonyn offered them the freedom to move around the city, provided they gave him their word of honor. Most accepted this suggestion. Gadsden refused because the British had already broken their word of honor and he no longer had confidence in this system. As a result of this decision, he spent the next 42 weeks in solitary confinement in a dungeon in the old Spanish fortress Castillo de San Marcos . When they were finally released in 1781, they returned to Philadelphia on a merchant ship. Once there, Gadsden heard of Cornwallis' defeat at Cowpens and his withdrawal to Yorktown . He rushed home to help restore the civil government of South Carolina. Gadsden was re-elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, which met in Jacksonboro . At that meeting, both Governor Randolph and de facto President Rutledge surrendered their offices. Gadsden was elected governor but waived. His health was compromised as a result of his imprisonment and an incumbent governor was required as the British still occupied Charleston. As a result, John Mathews became the new governor of South Carolina.

After the American War of Independence

Gadsden took part as a delegate to the South Carolina Convention in 1788, where he voted for ratification of the US Constitution . He died of a fall on September 15, 1805 in Charleston and was then buried in St. Phillip's Churchyard . Gadsden was married three times and had four children with his second wife. His son Thomas Gadsden (1756-1791) was from February 20, 1787 to January 26, 1789 Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.

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personal data
SURNAME Gadsden, Christopher
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American trader, officer, and Province of South Carolina politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1724
PLACE OF BIRTH Charleston , South Carolina
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1805
Place of death Charleston , South Carolina