Rutledge, Edward (1749-1800), a lawyer and statesman, was a South Carolina signer of the Declaration of Independence. He represented South Carolina in the First and Second Continental Congresses from 1774 to 1776. He defended American rights within the British Empire but accepted independence only reluctantly.
Rutledge was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on Nov. 23, 1749. He studied law in Britain. During the American Revolution (1775-1783), he was a captain of artillery. The British captured him when Charleston fell in 1780 and held him prisoner for about a year. His brother, John Rutledge, was a signer of the Constitution of the United States. From 1782 to 1795, Rutledge was a state representative. He served in the South Carolina Senate from 1796 to 1798 and was governor of South Carolina from 1798 to 1800. He died on Jan. 23, 1800.
