John Rutledge – (September 17, 1739 – July 23, 1800) was an American statesman and judge. Rutledge amassed six electoral votes in the first election. As a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, Rutledge chaired a committee that crafted much of what was contained in the final version of the United States Constitution, which he also signed. He later went on to serve as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He went on to briefly served as the second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from July to December 1795, overseeing only one term of the Court.
Born in 1739 into a large family in the Charleston, South Carolina area, John Rutledge was the older sibling of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. After receiving …show more content…
With the difficulties with Great Britain intensifying around the time of the Stamp Act in 1765, Rutledge sought to maintain a reserved posture and avoid British antagonism.
Rutledge was sent to represent South Carolina in the First Continental Congress in 1774, where he again continued to pursue a conservative course. Following the next year in the Second Continental Congress, he returned to South Carolina and where he helped reorganize its government. This included having a hand in writing the state constitution. That year, he also began to serve as president of the lower house of the state legislature.
Disagreeing with democratic revisions in the state constitution, in 1778 the conservative Rutledge resigned his position. The following year, however, he was elected governor at a time when South Carolina faced increasing difficulties. The military situation had become dire and the British were invading. Charleston was besieged by the time the legislative session adjourned in early 1780. The American army was captured in May, the city fell and the British confiscated Rutledge’s property. He ultimately escaped to North Carolina and where he attempted to rally forces to reclaim South Carolina. Aided by General Nathanael Greene and a new Continental Army force, he reestablished the government in 1781. In January 1782 he resigned as governor and took a seat in the lower