Constitution of South Carolina
Influenced by philosophers such as James Harrington, the two men wrote a document which espoused religious toleration (except for Catholics) and establishing a system of government based on ownership of land.
[4] In 1729, the British royal government assumed control of the colony, de facto abrogating the Fundamental Constitutions.
[5] The preamble of the new constitution listed out several acts by the British considered tyrannical by the colonists in a manner similar to the later Declaration of Independence.
After a significant debate in the legislature, the support of Christopher Gadsden and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney swayed the members of the body to vote to unanimously disestablish the Church of England in South Carolina as it existed at the time.
[9] Even so, a form of religious establishment was created, with all of the preexisting Protestant congregations being amalgamated into a single denomination but denied financial support.
[1] Additionally, ministers were forbidden from serving in public office, though the constitution asserted that doing so prevented them from being "diverted from the great duties of their function.
Once again, the Lowcountry benefited from imbalanced legislative apportionment, though the state capital was moved to Columbia as a token concession.
[11] Provisions also included requiring the ownership of land and slaves to hold public office, and separation of church and state was formally achieved.
In 1794, a number of prominent Upstate residents, including Wade Hampton I and John Kershaw, formed the Representative Reform Association to challenge the system.
[13] In 1808, the constitution was amended to create an apportionment system based on the total white population, substantially alleviating many of the issues.
Scholar C. Blease Graham argues that, due to South Carolina's secession in 1861, a new constitution should be considered as having been adopted at that time.
It abolished debtors' prison, created counties, gave some rights to women, and provided for public education.
Known as Redeemers or Bourbon Democrats, these men consisted of the former plantation elite and set about undermining the Reconstruction-era document.
As a result, in 1894, Governor John Gary Evans, and his mentor, Senator Benjamin Tillman, called for a new constitutional convention to be held in the state.
According to the state's Democratic Party-leaning newspapers, the motivations behind changing the constitution were clear: We can trust white men to do right by the inferior race, but we cannot trust the inferior race with power over the white man.Women's suffrage advocates also lobbied the convention to grant them the right to vote.
Tillman, however, suffered a minor defeat on women's issues when the convention rejected his proposal to legalize divorce.
[24] The new document also provided funding for primary education and established a system of liquor control in the state, known as the Dispensary.
When adopted in 1895, "the people" was envisioned not as the whole of South Carolina's population but of the white male elites who had the suffrage at the time.
"[34] The latter was part of a wave of similar state constitutional amendments promoted by the gun-rights lobby National Rifle Association of America.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. Sims overruled these provisions, requiring state legislative districts to be equal in population.
For example, in 1997, voters approved a prohibition on convicted felons serving in the legislature in response to Operation Lost Trust.
[39] A year later, voters removed a provision outlawing interracial marriage, already overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v.
Specific offices created by the article include the Secretary of State, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Comptroller General.
Originally, the article also provided for an elected Adjutant General to head the South Carolina National Guard.
The State Supreme Court held in 1999 that the Constitution required a "minimally adequate" education to be granted to children in the case of Abbeville County School District v. South Carolina (335 S.C. 58 (1999)).
In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, conservative legal commentators suggested these provisions may be unconstitutional.
[63] Article XII is entitled "Functions of Government" but primarily deals with the incarceration of convicted criminals, including juveniles.
[65] In practice, this provision refers to the South Carolina National Guard and other military reserve units within the state.
Due to extremely strict annexation laws passed by the General Assembly in 1976, incorporated municipalities in South Carolina are usually much smaller in area and population than those elsewhere in the fast-growing Southeast.
However, when adjacent suburbs which would be annexed elsewhere are added in, they exhibit sizes and rates of growth similar to many municipalities in neighboring states, such as Georgia and North Carolina.
