South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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Bill 318

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AMENDED--NOT PRINTED IN THE HOUSE

Amt. No. 1 (Doc. Path council\gjk\20104sd07)

January 31, 2007

S. 318

Introduced by Senators Pinckney, Grooms, Matthews and Campsen

S. Printed 1/30/07--H.

Read the first time January 30, 2007.

            

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

TO COMMEMORATE THE CONVENING OF THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN JACKSONBOROUGH, SOUTH CAROLINA, IN JANUARY OF 1782, AS A RESULT OF THE CONTINUED BRITISH OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON, SUBSEQUENT TO THE DEFEAT OF THE BRITISH AT YORKTOWN IN OCTOBER OF 1781, BY CONVENING IN JACKSONBORO ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16th, TO HONOR AND CELEBRATE THE JACKSONBOROUGH ASSEMBLY.

Amend Title To Conform

Whereas, the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1775, after which the Revolutionary War erupted between American Patriots and forces of the British Crown; and

Whereas, during the course of the Revolution, the City of Charleston, the capital of South Carolina, was surrendered to the British on May 12, 1780, after a six-week battle; and

Whereas, a series of battles pivotal to the outcome of the Revolutionary War were waged in South Carolina, commencing with the Battle of Ninety Six in November of 1775, culminating in the Battle of King's Mountain in October of 1780, and the Battle of Cowpens in January of 1781, and concluding with the Battle of Eutaw Springs in September 1781; and

Whereas, in an attempt by the British occupation forces to regain control of the Revolutionaries in South Carolina, Colonel Isaac Hayne of the Militia was executed in Charleston on August 4, 1781, for acts of treason against the Crown; Colonel Hayne's primary residence was Hayne Hall, located four miles from Jacksonborough; and

Whereas, led by General George Washington, the Battle of Yorktown was won by the Americans and French on October 19, 1781, when Major General Lord Cornwallis surrendered; and

Whereas, during the British occupation of South Carolina, the Honorable John Rutledge served as Governor from 1779 until January 1782; and

Whereas, in November of 1781, as part of Governor Rutledge's plan to restore civil authority to South Carolina, he called for a Joint Session of the General Assembly to convene in Jacksonborough on the banks of the Edisto River, thirty-five miles from British-occupied Charleston; and

Whereas, the Fourth Session of the General Assembly convened in Jacksonborough on January 18, 1782: the House of Representatives met at the local Masonic Lodge and the Senate met at DuBose Tavern during this legislative session; thereby, Jacksonborough became the provisional capital of South Carolina; and

Whereas, in Governor Rutledge's message to the joint session held in the Masonic Lodge, he called upon the General Assembly to attend to such progressive matters as raising and organizing a State Militia, devising a plan to punish those citizens disloyal to the Revolution in accordance with the degree of disloyalty, repealing the use of the Crown's tender and any monies in circulation at that time, formulating a debt-management plan and suspending taxation, and restoring civil, criminal, and admiralty forms of justice; and

Whereas, Governor Rutledge praised General Francis Marion, General Andrew Pickens, and General Thomas Sumter whose "enterprising spirit and unremitted perseverance under many difficulties are deserving of great applause . . ."; and Governor Rutledge also congratulated General Nathanael Greene "on the pleasing change of affairs, which under the blessing of God, . . . and bravery of the great and gallant General Greene and the intrepidity of the officers and men under his command, have happily effected"; and

Whereas, Governor Rutledge, from his own lips, on January 18, 1782, issued a challenge to the Fourth Session of the General Assembly to conduct the business of that historic session on which "the interest and honor, the safety and happiness of our country depend, so much on the result of your deliberations that I flatter myself you will proceed in the weighty business before you, with firmness and temper, with vigor, unanimity and dispatch"; and

Whereas, the city of Charleston was not fully abandoned by the British and the Loyalists until December of 1782; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly today, over two hundred years after that fateful session, would like to remember those who stood as leaders of our beloved State in its infancy. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, commemorate the convening of the Fourth Session of the South Carolina General Assembly in Jacksonborough, South Carolina, in January of 1782, as a result of the continued British occupation of Charleston, subsequent to the defeat of the British at Yorktown in October of 1781, by convening a statewide legislative day to meet in joint session in Jacksonboro, South Carolina, on Friday, February 16, 2007, for the sole purpose of honoring and celebrating the Jacksonborough Assembly.

This session must be held at a time and place to be determined by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

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