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602. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Caswell County
603. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Chatham County
604. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Chowan County
605. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Fayetteville Borough
606. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Granville County
607. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Guilford County
608. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Johnston County
609. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Lincoln County
610. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, New Hanover County
611. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Orange County
612. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Pitt County
613. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Randolph County
614. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Wake County
615. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Wilkes County
616. North Carolina 1817 House of Commons, Wilmington Borough
617. North Carolina 1817 Public Printer
618. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Caswell County
619. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Chowan County
620. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Granville County
621. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Guilford County
622. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Johnston County
623. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Lincoln County
624. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, New Hanover County
625. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Orange County
626. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Randolph County
627. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Wake County
628. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Wilkes County
629. North Carolina 1817 State Senate, Wilkes County, Special
630. North Carolina 1818 Governor
631. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Buncombe County
632. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Burke County
633. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Cabarrus County
634. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Chowan County
635. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Craven County
636. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Franklin County
637. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Granville County
638. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Guilford County
639. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Haywood County
640. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Hyde County
641. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Johnston County
642. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Lincoln County
643. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Mecklenburg County
644. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, New Bern Borough
645. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Orange County
646. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Pasquotank County
647. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Perquimans County
648. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Person County
649. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Pitt County
650. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Randolph County
651. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Robeson County
652. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Wake County
653. North Carolina 1818 House of Commons, Warren County
654. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Buncombe County
655. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Burke County
656. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Cabarrus County
657. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Chowan County
658. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Craven County
659. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Franklin County
660. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Granville County
661. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Guilford County
662. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Haywood County
663. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Hyde County
664. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Johnston County
665. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Lincoln County
666. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Mecklenburg County
667. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Orange County
668. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Pasquotank County
669. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Perquimans County
670. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Person County
671. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Pitt County
672. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Randolph County
673. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Robeson County
674. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Wake County
675. North Carolina 1818 State Senate, Warren County
676. North Carolina 1819 Governor
677. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Beaufort County
678. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Cabarrus County
679. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Carteret County
680. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Chowan County
681. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Craven County
682. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Duplin County
683. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Edgecombe County
684. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Granville County
685. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Guilford County
686. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Hillsborough Borough
687. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Johnston County
688. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Mecklenburg County
689. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, New Hanover County
690. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Newbern Borough
691. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Orange County
692. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Perquimans County
693. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Robeson County
694. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Rowan County
695. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Wake County
696. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Warren County
697. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Wilkes County
698. North Carolina 1819 House of Commons, Wilmington Town
699. North Carolina 1819 Judge
700. North Carolina 1819 Judge of the Superior Courts of Law and Equity
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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