© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

"R" is for Rutledge, John (ca. 1739-1800)

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"R" is for Rutledge, John (ca. 1739-1800). Lawyer, jurist, governor. After studying at the Middle Temple in London, Rutledge was admitted to the Charleston bar in 1761 and quickly became one of the colony’s most successful attorneys. He was one of the leaders in the Commons House from 1761 to 1775. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress and the First and Second Continental Congresses. He was elected governor in 1779. When the British overran South Carolina in 1780, he escaped Charleston and functioned as a one-man government in exile. In 1787 he was one of the state’s delegates to the constitutional convention where he played a leading role. John Rutledge was one of the original justices of the United State Supreme Court, but resigned in 1791 to become Chief Justice of South Carolina.

Stay Connected
Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.