In the 1819 publication of the Journal, John Quincy Adams printed a paper that had been given to him by Pinckney, purporting to be the plan of the Union that Pinckney had suggested on 29th May. The draft can not possibly have been the plan introduced at this point, containing as it does details that had not yet been debated by the Convention. It amounted to a claim by him to have drafted the essentials of the plan of union at this point, though there are considerable differences too that would have affected the operation of the Federal government and which do not appear to have been reflected in debate at the convention in any way. Later editors, including Farrand, have dismissed the 'plan' claimed by Pinckney, and have attempted to reconstruct the sketch that he is likely to have introduced. In our main timeline, the Quill project therefore does not present Pinckney's 1819 claims.

Jared Sparks tried to get to the truth of the matter. The following extracts are taken from Adams, Herbert B. The life and writings of Jared Sparks : comprising selections from his journals and correspondence (Boston, 1893), available online at https://archive.org/details/lifewritingsofja01adamuoft .

His journal for Tuesday, May 4th 1830 reports that:

I mentioned to Mr Adams (J. Q.) what Mr. Madison had said to me respecting Charles Pickney's draft of a Constitution. Mr. Adams said that he prepared the manuscript of the history of the convention published by order of Congress; that the materials in the Department of State were very defective; that Mr Pinckney's draft was not there; that he wrote to him for a copy and received from him the one that is printed, together with a letter, in which he claimed to himself great merit for the part he took in framing the Constitution. Mr. Adams said he spoke once to Mr. Rufus King on the subject of the draft, who replied that Mr Pinckney presented a draft, or sketch of some sort, at the beginning of the convention, which went with the other papers to a committee, and was never afterwards heard of. This accords with what Mr. Madison told me. (p. 567--8)

On April 19th, Sparks had visited Madison, and during an extended interview touching on many aspects of politics in the early Republic, Madison had told him that:

In the recent “History of the Convention for Framing the Constitution,” published by order of the government in connection with the “Secret Journal,” there is a draft of a Constitution said to have been presented by Charles Pinckney. It is remarkable for containing several important features in exact accordance with the Constitution as it was passed. This is the more strange, as some of these very points grew out of the long debates which followed the presentation of the draft.

Mr. Madison seems a good deal perplexed on the subject. He says Charles Pinckney presented a draft at the beginning of the session, that it went to a committee with other papers, and was no more heard of during the convention. It was not preserved among the papers on the files of the convention. When the above-mentioned history was published, Mr. J. Q. Adams was Secretary of State, and prepared the manuscript for the press. He wrote to Mr. Pinckney for a copy of his draft, and received from him that which was printed. How it happened that it should contain such particulars as it does, Mr. Madison cannot tell; but he is perfectly confident that they could not have been contained in the original draft as presented by Mr. Pinckney, because some of them were the results of subsequent discussions. Mr. Madison supposes that Mr. Pinckney must at the time have added certain points as the convention proceeded, particularly such as he approved, and as he thought would make his draft more perfect, and that this altered draft had lain by him till he had forgotten what parts were changed or improved; and thus he copied the whole. But however this may be explained, says Mr. Madison, it certainly is not the draft originally presented to the convention by Mr. Pinckney. It is obvious that Mr. Madison feels some embarrassment on the subject, because in his papers on the convention he has probably ascribed several of these particulars to the Virginia delegates, from whom they originated; and when his papers shall be made public, there will be found a discrepancy between them and Pinckney’s draft. After the draft was printed, he intended to write to Mr. Pinckney asking, and even requiring, an explanation; but Mr. Pinckney died, and the opportunity was lost. It is known that Mr. Madison took down sketches of the debates of the convention, and preserved copies of all the important proceedings. (p. 563--4)

However, for the sake of understanding the reception of the Constitution in the nineteenth century, here is Pinckney's plan as he presented it to Adams, and as it was reprinted by Adams in 1819 and by Jonathan Elliot in 1830:

We the people of the United States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, do ordain, declare, and establish the following constitution for the government of ourselves and posterity.

Article I.

The style of this government shall be the United States of America, and the government shall consist of supreme legislative, executive and judicial powers.

Article II.

The legislative power shall be vested in a Congress, to consist of two separate houses; one to be called the house of delegates; and the other the senate, who shall meet on the ... day of ... in every year.

Article III.

The members of the house of delegates shall be chosen every ... year by the people of the several states; and the qualification of the electors shall be the same as those of the electors in the several states for their legislatures. Each member shall have been a citizen of the United States for ... years; shall be of ... years of age, and a resident in the state he is chosen for ... until a census of the people shall be taken in the manner hereinafter mentioned. The house of delegates shall consist of ... to be chosen from the different states in the following proportions: for New Hampshire, ... for Massachssetts, ..., for Rhode Island, ... for Connecticut ..., for New York, ... for New Jersey, ... for Pennsylvania, ... for Delaware, ... for Maryland, ... for Virginia, ... for North Carolina, ... for South Carolina, ... for Georgia ... and the legislature shall hereafter regulate the number of delegates by the number of inhabitants, according to the provisions herein after made, at the rate of one for every ... thousand. All money bills of every kind shall originate in the house of delegates and shall not be altered by the senate. The house of delegates shall exclusively possess the power of impeachment, and shall choose its own officers; and vacancies therein shall be supplied by the executive authority of the state in the representation from which they shall happen.

Article IV.

The senate shall be elected and chosen by the house of delegates; which house, immediately after their meeting, shall choose by ballot ..._ senators from among the citizens and residents of New Hampshire, ... from among those of Massachusetts, ... from among those of Rhode Island, ... from among those of Connecticut, ... from among those of New York, ... from among those of New Jersey, ... from among those of Pennsylvania, ... from among those of Delaware, ... from among those of Maryland, ... from among those of Virginia, ... from among those of North Carolina, ... from among those of South Carolina, and ... from among those of Georgia. The senators chosen from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, shall form one class; those from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, one class; and those from Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, one class. The house of delegates shall number these classes one, two, and three; and fix the times of their service by lot. The first class shall serve for ... years; the second for ... years; and the third for ... years. As their times of service expire, the house of delegates shall fill them up by elections for ... years; and they shall fill all vacancies that arise from death, or resignation, for the time of service remaining of the members so dying or resigning. Each senator shall be ... years of age at least; shall have been a citizen of the United States for four years before his election; and shall be a resident of the state he is chosen from. The senate shall choose its own officers.

Article V.

Each state shall prescribe the time and manner of holding elections by the people for the house of delegates; and the house of delegates shall be the judges of the elections, returns and qualifications of their members.

In each house a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business. Freedom of speech and debate in the legislature shall not be impeached, or questioned, in any place out of it; and the members of both houses shall in all cases, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be free from arrest during their attendance on Congress, and in going to and returning from it. Both houses shall keep journals of their proceedings, and publish them, except on secret occasions; and the yeas and nays may be entered thereon at the desire of one ... of the members present. Neither house, without the consent of the other, shall adjourn for more than ... days, nor to any place but where they are sitting.

Members of each house shall not be eligible to, or capable of holding any office under the union, during the time for which they have been respectively elected, nor the members of the senate for one year after. The members of each house shall be paid for their services by the states which they represent. Every bill, which shall have passed the legislature, shall be presented to the President of the United States for his revision; if he approves it he shall sign it; but if he does not approve it, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house it originated in; which house, if two thirds of the members present, notwithstanding the President's objections, agree to pass it, shall send it to the other house, with the President's objections; where, if two thirds of the members present also agree to pass it, the same shall become a law; and all bills sent to the President, and not returned by him within ... days, shall be laws, unless the legislature, by their adjournment, prevent their return; in which case they shall not be laws.

Article VI

The legislature of the United States shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and expenses;

To regulate commerce with all nations, and among the several states;

To borrow money and emit bills of credit;

To establish post offices;

To raise armies;

To build and equip fleets;

To pass laws for the arming, organizing, and disciplining the militia of the United States;

To subdue a rebellion in any state, on application of its legislature;

To coin money, and regulate the value of all coins, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide such dock yards and arsenals, and erect such fortifications as may be necessary for the United States, and to exercise exclusive jurisdiction therein;

To appoint a Treasurer, by ballot;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court;

To establish post and military roads;

To establish and provide for a national university at the seat of the government of the United States;

To establish uniform rules of naturalization;

To provide for the establishment of a seat of government for the United States, not exceeding ... miles square, in which they shall have exclusive jurisdiction;

To make rules for concerning captures from an enemy;

To declare the law and punishment of piracies and felonies at sea, and of counterfeiting coin, and of all offences against the laws of nations;

To call forth the aid of the militia to execute the laws of the union, enfoce treaties, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions;

And to make all laws for carrying the forgoing powers into execution.

The legislature of the United States shall have the power to declare the punishment of treason, which shall consist only in levying war against the United States, or any of them, or in adhering to their enemies. No person shall be convicted of treason but by the testimony of two witnesses.

The proportion of direct taxation shall be regulated by the whole number of inhabitants of every description; which number shall, within ... years after the first meeting of the legislature, and within the term of every ... year after, be taken in the manner to be prescribed by the legislature.

No tax shall be laid on articles exported from the states; nor capitation tax, but in proportion to the census before directed.

All laws regulating commerce shall require the assent to two members present in each house. The United States shall not grant any title of nobility. The legislature shall pass no law on the subject of religions; nor touching or abridging the liberty of the press; nor shall the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus ever be suspended, except in the case of rebellion or invasion.

All acts made by the legislature of the United States, pursuant to this constitution, and all treaties made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and all judges shall be bound to consider them as such in their decsions.

Article VII.

The senate shall have the sole and exclusive power to declare war; and to make treaties; and to appoint ambassadors and other ministers, to foreign nations, and judges of the supreme court.

They shall have the exclusive power to regulate the manner of deciding all disputes and controversies now subsisting, or which may arise, between the states, respecting jurisdiction or territory.

Article VIII.

The executive power of the United States shall be vested in a President of the United States of America, which shall be his style; and his title shall be His Excellency. He shall be elected for ... years; and shall be re-eligable.

He shall from time to time give information to the legislature, of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration the measures he may think necessary. He shall take care that the laws of the United States be duly executed. He shall commission all officers of the United States; and, except as to ambassadors, other ministers, and judges of the supreme court, he shall nominate, and with the consent of the senate, appoint, all other officers of the United States. He shall receive publick ministers from foreign nations; and may correspond with the executives of the different states. He shall have the power to grant pardons and reprieves, except in impeachments. He shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states; and shall receive a compensation which shall not be increased or diminished during his time in office. At entering on the duties of his office he shall take an oath faithfully to execute the duties of a President of the United States. He shall be removed from his office on impeachment by the house of delegates, and conviction in the supreme court, of treason, bribery, or corruption. In case of removal, death, resignation, or disability, the president of the senate shall exercise the duties his office until another president be chosen. And in the case of the death of the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of delegates shall do so.

Article IX.

The legislature of the United States shall have the power, and it shall have the duty, to establish such courts of law, equity and admiralty, as shall be necessary.

The judges of the courts shall hold their offices during good behaviour; and receive a compensation, which shall not be increased or diminished during their continuance in office. One of these courts shall be termed the supreme court, whose jurisdiction shall extend to all cases arising under the laws of the United States, or affecting public ambassadors, or publick ministers and consuls; to the trial of impeachment of officers of the United States; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. In cases of impeachment affecting ambassadors, other publick ministers, this jurisdiction shall be original; and in all other cases appellate.

All criminal offences (except in cases of impeachment) shall be tried in the state where they shall be committed. These trials shall be open and publick, and be by jury.

Article X.

Immediate after the first census of the people of the United States, the house of delegates shall apportion the senate by electing for each state, out of the citizens resident therein, one senator for every ... members such state shall have in the house of delegates. Each state shall be entitled to have at least one member in the Senate.

Article XI.

No state shall grant grant letters of marque and reprisal, or enter into treaty, or alliance, or confederation, nor grant any title of nobility; nor, without the consent of the legislature of the United States, lay any impost on imports; nor keep troops or ships of war in time of peace; nor enter into compacts with other states or foreign powers, or emit bills of credit, or make any thing but gold, silver, or copper, a tender in payment of debts; nor engage in war, except for self defence when actually invaded, or the danger of invasion is so great as not to admit of a delay until the government of the United States can be informed thereof. And to render these prohibitions effectual, the legislature of the United States shall have the power to revise laws of the several states that may be supposed to infringe the powers exclusively delegated by this constitution to Congress, and to negative and annul such as do so.

Article XII.

The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states. Any person, charged with crimes in any state, fleeing from justice to another, shall, on demand of the executive of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, and removed to the state having jurisdiction of the offence.

Article XIII.

Full faith shall be given, in each state, to the acts of the legislature and to the records and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every state.

Article XIV.

The legislature shall have the power to admit new states into the union on the same terms with the original states; provided two thirds of the members present in both houses agree.

Article XV.

On application of the legislature of a state, the United States shall protect it against domestick insurrection.

Article XVI.

If two thirds of the legislatures of the states apply for the same, the legislature of the United States shall call a convention for the purpose of amending the constitution; Or, should Congress, with the consent of two thirds of each house, propose to the states amendments to the same, the agreement of two thirds of the legislatures of the states shall be sufficient to make the said amendments parts of the constitution.

The ratification of the conventions of the states shall be sufficient for organizing this constitution.