Question

Question
What requirements are included in the 1790 South Carolina State Constitution for a person to be elected in the South Carolina House of Representatives:

SECTION 6. No person shall be eligible to a seat in the house of representatives unless he is a free White man, of the age of twenty-one years, and hath been a citizen and resident in this State three years previous to his election. If a resident in the election district, he shall not be eligible to a seat in the house of representatives unless he be legally seized and possessed in his own right of a settled freehold estate of five hundred acres of land and ten negroes, or of a real estate of the value of one hundred and fifty pounds sterling, clear of debt. If a non-resident, he shall be legally seized and possessed of a settled freehold estate therein of the value of five hundred pounds sterling, clear of debt.

Answer 1

Summary of the qualifications set by Section 6 (1790 South Carolina Constitution) for election to the South Carolina House of Representatives:

- Must be a free White man.
- Must be at least 21 years old.
- Must have been a citizen and resident of South Carolina for three years immediately before the election.
- Ownership/wealth requirement (ownership must be “legally seized and possessed in his own right”):
- If a resident of the election district: must own either
- a settled freehold estate of 500 acres plus ten enslaved persons, OR
- real estate worth £150 sterling, clear of debt.
- If a non-resident of the election district: must own a settled freehold estate in that district worth £500 sterling, clear of debt.

(“Ten negroes” in the original text refers to ownership of ten enslaved people.)