University of Wisconsin Center for the Study of the American Constitution, South Carolina Ratifies the Constitution, 23 May 1788

Ratification easily passed in South Carolina, thanks in part to the active role of the state's delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce Butler, and John Rutledge, who helped broker numerous compromises and ensured that the Constitution would serve the state’s economic interests, securing protections for slave property, the continuation of the slave trade until at least 1808, and the return of fugitive slaves. In addition, representation in the U.S. House of Representatives would be based on the number of free people and three-fifths the number of slaves, which was also an attractive compromise to South Carolinians. Although the South Carolina map appears to be more split between Federalists and Antifederalists than other states, ratification was largely secured by the votes in the small, low-country parishes (an early kind of election district in South Carolina) along the coast.