Pierce Butler was a soldier, planter, and statesman, recognized as one of United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

' Founding Fathers

Founding Fathers of the United States

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...

. He represented South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 in the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

, the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and the U.S. Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

. One of the largest slaveholders in the United States, Butler defended American slavery for both political and personal motives, though he had private misgivings about the institution, and particularly about the African slave trade. He introduced the Fugitive Slave Clause

Fugitive Slave Clause

The Fugitive Slave Clause is the name given to a provision in Article Four of the United States Constitution, Section 2, Clause 3, that requires that slaves that escaped to another state be returned to the owner in the state from which they escaped...

 – Article 4, Section 2 – of the U.S.