Rut·ledge  (rŭt'lĭj)  American politician and jurist. Governor of South Carolina (1779-1782) and a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention, he advocated slavery and a strong central government. He also served as an associate justice (1789-1791) and the chief justice (1795) of the U.S. Supreme Court. |
Rutledge, John
American legislator who, as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, strongly supported the protection of slavery and the concept of a strong central government, a position then possible, but paradoxical in later times when slavery's defenders sheltered behind the bastion of states' rights.
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