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102. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Johnston County
103. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Mecklenburg County
104. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Montgomery County
105. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Nash County
106. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Orange County
107. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Richmond County
108. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Rutherford County
109. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Wake County
110. North Carolina 1805 State Senate, Warren County
111. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Brunswick County
112. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Chatham County
113. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Franklin County
114. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Granville County
115. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Halifax Borough
116. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Halifax County
117. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Johnston County
118. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Martin County
119. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Mecklenburg County
120. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Orange County
121. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Person County
122. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Rutherford County
123. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Stokes County
124. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Wake County
125. North Carolina 1806 House of Commons, Warren County
126. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Brunswick County
127. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Chatham County
128. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Franklin County
129. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Granville County
130. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Halifax County
131. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Johnston County
132. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Martin County
133. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Mecklenburg County
134. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Orange County
135. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Person County
136. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Rutherford County
137. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Stokes County
138. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Wake County
139. North Carolina 1806 State Senate, Warren County
140. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Anson County
141. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Bladen County
142. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Buncombe County
143. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Franklin County
144. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Halifax County
145. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Mecklenburg County
146. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Pasquotank County
147. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Richmond County
148. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Rockingham County
149. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Rowan County
150. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Salisbury Borough
151. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Wake County
152. North Carolina 1807 House of Commons, Warren County
153. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Anson County
154. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Bladen County
155. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Franklin County
156. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Halifax County
157. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Mecklenburg County
158. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Pasquotank County
159. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Richmond County
160. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Rockingham County
161. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Rowan County
162. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Wake County
163. North Carolina 1807 State Senate, Warren County
164. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Cabarrus County
165. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Chatham County
166. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Duplin County
167. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Edenton Borough
168. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Edgecombe County
169. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Franklin County
170. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Granville County
171. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Halifax County
172. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Mecklenburg County
173. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Newbern Borough
174. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Orange County
175. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Richmond County
176. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Rowan County
177. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Salisbury Borough
178. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Sampson County
179. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Wake County
180. North Carolina 1808 House of Commons, Warren County
181. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Cabarrus County
182. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Chatham County
183. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Duplin County
184. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Edgecombe County
185. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Franklin County
186. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Granville County
187. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Halifax County
188. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Mecklenburg County
189. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Orange County
190. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Richmond County
191. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Rowan County
192. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Sampson County
193. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Wake County
194. North Carolina 1808 State Senate, Warren County
195. North Carolina 1809 House of Commons, Chatham County
196. North Carolina 1809 House of Commons, Chowan County
197. North Carolina 1809 House of Commons, Edenton Borough
198. North Carolina 1809 House of Commons, Franklin County
199. North Carolina 1809 House of Commons, Halifax County
200. North Carolina 1809 House of Commons, Hillsborough Borough
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Established in 1663, the proprietary colony of Carolina became the state of North Carolina during the American Revolution. In December of 1776, the North Carolina Provincial Congress ratified the state's first constitution, which established three branches of government: a bicameral General Assembly comprising a Senate and a House of Commons; a judiciary; and a weak executive. Representatives to the legislature were chosen by ballot annually, with each county electing one senator and two members to the House of Commons. Landholding, age, and residency restrictions limited the size of the electorate. The legislature appointed supreme court judges and annually elected the governor and representatives to the United States Congress.
Following the Revolution, Federalists and Anti-Federalists fought for control over the state government. This "critical period" laid the foundation for the clash over ratification of the United States Constitution. North Carolina's delegation to the 1787 Constitutional Convention favored strengthening the central government, but not at the expense of individual liberties or their state's sovereignty. Anti-Federalist representatives to the state's 1788 constitutional convention blocked ratification of the Constitution, but Federalists eventually forced the convening of a second convention. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the twelfth state to ratify the Constitution. Anti-Federalists chipped away at Federalist dominance during the next decade and, by 1792, secured a majority in the legislature. The efforts of Federalists such as James Iredell and influential easterners allowed the party to continue to elect candidates to the United States Congress and the governorship, but by 1799, distrust of the central government and growing resentment over the Federalist Party's alliance with the state's eastern elite led to the party's demise.
Swept into power by their platform of state hegemony, strict constitutional construction, tax restraint, and the promotion of smallholder interests, Republicans controlled the state's political future. Republicans confronted a series of problems that included currency inflation, unstable banking, Amerindian resistance to western expansion, inadequate internal improvements, educational deficiencies, economic stagnation, and an undemocratic political system. Despite the progressive efforts of Orange County’s Senator Archibald Murphey, resistance from the state's conservatives and easterners derailed proposed reforms. Despite state Republican support for Jefferson's acquisition of Louisiana Territory and for "Mr. Madison's War," North Carolina increasingly found itself isolated from the rest of the nation, earning the moniker the "Rip Van Winkle State."
The 1820s proved to be a transformative period as divisions emerged within the Republican ranks and a wave of democratization swept the state in the wake of Andrew Jackson's rise to prominence. The Missouri Compromise further fractured the Republican Party, and the 1824 presidential election cemented the state's political realignment. Republican leaders nominated William H. Crawford, alienating many Republicans. That decision led to the formation of a splinter party whose "People's Ticket" nominated Jackson for president and John C. Calhoun for vice president. Jackson won the popular vote in North Carolina, but the state's electoral votes went to Crawford. The 1824 election loosened the political grip of the eastern elite, and the continued political democratization propelled Jackson to victory in the 1828 election.
Bibliography
- Broussard, James H.
"The North Carolina Federalists, 1800–1816." North Carolina Historical Review, 55 (1978): 18–41. - Butler, Lindley S. and Alan D. Watson, eds.
The North Carolina Experience: An Interpretive and Documentary History. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984. - Cavanagh, John C.
Decision at Fayetteville: The North Carolina Ratification Convention and the General Assembly of 1789. Raleigh, NC: Division of Archives and History, 1989. - Gilpatrick, Delbert H.
Jeffersonian Democracy in North Carolina, 1789–1816. New York: Octagon Books, 1967. - Jeffrey, Thomas E.
State Parties and National Politics: North Carolina, 1815–1861. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1989. - Lefler, Hugh Talmage and Albert Ray Newsome.
North Carolina: A History of a Southern State, 3rd ed. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1973. - Powell, William S.
North Carolina: Through Four Centuries. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989. - Risjord, Norman K.
Chesapeake Politics, 1781–1800. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978. - Trenholme, Louise Irby.
The Ratification of the Federal Constitution in North Carolina. New York: Columbia University Press, 1932. - Wheeler, John Hill.
Historical Sketches of North Carolina: from 1584 to 1851, compiled from original records, official documents and traditional statements ; with biographical sketches of her distinguished statemen, jurists, lawyers, soldiers, divines, etc. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Grambo and Co., 1851. - North Carolina History Project
- 1776 North Carolina ConstitutionThe Avalon Project at Yale Law School