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Edward Rutledge

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Politician

The Resume

    (November 23, 1749-January 23, 1800)
    Born in Charleston, South Carolina
    Delegate to the Continental Congress (1774-76)
    Signed the Declaration of Independence
    Served in the South Carolina Assembly (1776-80,1781-96)
    Governor of South Carolina (1798-1800)
    Brother of Chief Justice John Rutledge

Why he might be annoying:

    He owned slaves.
    He worked to get black soldiers expelled from the Continental Army.
    He was initially against declaring independence, hoping for reconciliation with Britain.
    In his diary, John Adams described him as 'excessively vain, excessively weak, and excessively variable and unsteady.'
    He rejected offers to be appointed to the US Supreme Court (1792), as Secretary of State (1793) and as minister to France (1794).

Why he might not be annoying:

    After South Carolina voted against independence (July 1, 1776), he got the Contintental Congress to hold a re-vote, then persuaded his state's delegates to reverse their vote for the sake of unanimity.
    He was the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence.
    He was a captain of artillery in the South Carolina militia, was captured by the British during the seige of Charleston, and was held as a prisoner of war for over a year.
    His wife and his mother died on the same day (April 22, 1792).
    He died from the effects of a stroke that he allegedly suffered upon hearing the news of George Washington's death.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 19 Votes: 15.79% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 67 Votes: 55.22% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 25 Votes: 52.00% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying