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Hillsborough ratification convention, 1788

North Carolina’s first convention on the federal Constitution, which declined to ratify without a bill of rights (the Fayetteville convention of 1789 ratified).

In briefNorth Carolina's convention on the federal Constitution met at Hillsborough from July 21 to August 4, 1788, with Governor Samuel Johnston presiding. Led by Willie Jones, the majority defeated ratification 184 to 84 on August 1, adopted a declaration of rights and twenty-six amendments to lay before Congress, and fixed the seat of government in Wake County before adjourning. A second convention at Fayetteville ratified in November 1789.

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26 works about Hillsborough ratification convention, 1788 are indexed here. 1 held at OCPL →

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Title page of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina
Title page of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 31 dated events in the chronology →

  1. The Assembly calls a convention on the Constitution to meet at Hillsborough Meeting in joint session at Tarboro, the General Assembly resolved that delegates to a state convention on the federal Constitution be chosen on the last Friday and Saturday of March 1788, five for each county and one for each borough, with taxpaying freemen voting but only freeholders eligible to sit, and that the convention meet at Hillsborough on July 21, 1788. People: Thomas Person Place: HillsboroughInternet Archive: William C. Pool, "An Economic Interpretation of the Ratification of the Federal Constitution in North Carolina, Part I: The Hillsboro Convention, Background and Economic Interests of the Federalists", North Carolina Historical Review 27 (1950), p. 122
  2. Tax lists show the property of Orange County's convention delegates Pool's survey of tax lists, wills and grants found that Jonathan Lindley held a plantation of 2,657 acres and many town lots; William McCauley 822 acres on the New Hope and Haw waters, nine enslaved people, 31 houses and lots in Hillsborough, a tavern and a still; Alexander Mebane 1,181 acres in Orange and 6,400 in Davidson County, Tennessee, and seven enslaved people; William Mebane 500 acres in Orange, 7,200 in Tennessee and twelve enslaved people; William Shepard 584 acres and two Hillsborough lots; and Absalom Tatom, Hillsborough's member, 500 acres in Tennessee. All voted against ratification, and Pool concluded that property did not divide the parties. People: William McCauley, Alexander Mebane, Absalom Tatom Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Jonathan Lindley, William Mebane, William ShepardInternet Archive: William C. Pool, "An Economic Interpretation of the Ratification of the Federal Constitution in North Carolina, Part II: The Hillsboro Convention, Economic Interests of the Anti-Federalists", North Carolina Historical Review 27 (1950), p. 305
  3. Hillsborough Convention declines to ratify the Constitution Meeting at St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough, delegates defeated a motion to ratify the Constitution 184 to 84 on August 1, 1788. On August 2 they voted to neither ratify nor reject it until a declaration of rights and amendments went before Congress. People: Samuel Johnston, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Willie Jones, James Iredell Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: St. Matthew's ChurchColonial and State Records of North Carolina, vol. 22, pp. 1-35: Minutes of the North Carolina Constitutional Convention at Hillsborough
  4. The convention appoints a committee of privileges and elections with three members from each district The convention set up a 27-member committee of privileges and elections, three from each district, which went on to rule on the disputed returns. Alexander Mebane of Orange County sat on it with Thomas Person, William R. Davie and James Iredell. People: Thomas Person, James Iredell, William Richardson Davie, Alexander Mebane Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 20
  5. The convention names a select committee to draft its rules of debate On its first day the convention asked William R. Davie, Thomas Person, James Iredell, Elisha Battle, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Samuel Spencer and a member named McDonald to propose rules for its discussion of the Constitution. People: Thomas Person, James Iredell, Richard Dobbs Spaight, William Richardson Davie, Samuel Spencer Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Elisha BattleDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 19
  6. The ratification convention opens at Hillsborough and elects Governor Samuel Johnston its president A majority of the elected delegates met at the church in Hillsborough and chose Governor Samuel Johnston president without a dissenting vote. They then named John Hunt and James Taylor clerks and appointed doorkeepers. People: Samuel Johnston Place: Hillsborough · Also named: John Hunt, James TaylorDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 19
  7. The convention adopts eighteen rules for the conduct of its members The rules committee reported and the convention agreed to its rules with one article left out. The rules let any two members call for a recorded yea-and-nay vote and excused Quaker members from the ban on wearing hats in the house. Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 20
  8. William Lenoir brings a petition against the Dobbs County election before the convention On Lenoir's motion the convention read the Dobbs County return and a petition from county residents complaining of an illegal election, and sent both to the committee of elections. Richard Dobbs Spaight added the sheriff's deposition and copy of the poll with other depositions, and Stephen Cabarrus two more depositions. People: Richard Dobbs Spaight, William Lenoir Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Stephen CabarrusDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 21
  9. The convention has the state and federal founding documents read and receives news of two states' ratifications On James Galloway's motion, seconded by Macon, the clerks read the state Bill of Rights and constitution, the Articles of Confederation, the act naming North Carolina's deputies to Philadelphia and the resolve of Congress sending the Constitution to the states. Johnston then laid before the members official accounts of ratification by Massachusetts and South Carolina. People: Samuel Johnston, James Galloway Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 23
  10. The convention unseats the Dobbs County delegates and voids both of the county's elections The committee of elections reported that a riot at the first Dobbs poll had carried off the ballot box before all the ballots were counted, and that a majority of the county had not approved the second election the governor recommended. The convention agreed that the sitting members vacate their seats and that both elections were void. Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 22
  11. Willie Jones moves that the Hillsborough Convention vote on the Constitution at once Jones moved that the question on the federal Constitution be put immediately, arguing that members had long since made up their minds and that a long sitting would waste public money. Thomas Person seconded him and James Iredell objected. The convention took up the Constitution clause by clause instead, debating it for eleven days. People: Willie Jones, James Iredell, Thomas Person, James Galloway Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Convened at Hillsborough, on Monday the 21st Day of July, 1788
  12. The convention resolves itself into a committee of the whole with Elisha Battle in the chair After David Caldwell's attempt to fix governing maxims for the debate was set aside, the delegates went into committee of the whole, Elisha Battle presiding, and began reading the proposed Constitution clause by clause. The committee sat each day through July 31 except Sunday, July 27. People: James Iredell, Willie Jones, David Caldwell Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Elisha BattleDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, 1788
Show all 31 dated events
  1. Samuel Spencer argues that the Constitution's elections clause strikes at the state legislatures In his first long speech at the Hillsborough convention, Spencer called the clause giving Congress control over the time, place and manner of elections reprehensible because it took from the states a power over elections he believed was theirs, and said it looked toward a consolidated national government. People: Samuel Spencer Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, pp. 71-72
  2. The convention rules that Fayetteville has no right to a delegate and seats Thomas Devane for New Hanover Adopting a second report from the committee of elections, the convention held that the town of Fayetteville had no right of representation, so John Ingram, returned for the town, could not sit. It seated Thomas Devane Sr. for New Hanover County, finding that ballots for him written two ways were meant for the same man. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: John Ingram, Thomas DevaneDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 58
  3. James Galloway speaks on the slave trade clause at the Hillsborough convention In committee of the whole, Galloway said he wished to see the "abominable trade" in enslaved people ended, objected to a federal tax on all immigrants, and warned that freeing enslaved people would destroy the property of the southern states. He said the state could not be happy if freed people stayed among the white population after manumission. People: James Galloway, James Iredell, Richard Dobbs Spaight Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 124
  4. Samuel Spencer objects to the reach of the federal courts at the Hillsborough convention Spencer objected to the federal courts' jurisdiction over all cases arising under the Constitution and federal laws and over suits between citizens of different states, warning that it would be oppressive and would carry people far from home in cases the state courts could decide. People: Samuel Spencer Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 160
  5. Samuel Spencer presses for a bill of rights at the Hillsborough convention Answering a Federalist claim that powers not granted were retained, Spencer argued that without an express bill of rights nothing marked the boundary the new government could not cross, and that the people would want one before accepting the Constitution. People: Samuel Spencer Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 193
  6. Governor Johnston moves in committee that the convention ratify and propose amendments afterward When the committee of the whole reached the seventh article, read without objection, Johnston moved that North Carolina ratify the Constitution and at the same time propose amendments to be made by one of the methods it provides. His motion put the question of ratification before the committee for the first time. People: Samuel Johnston Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 227
  7. William Lenoir speaks against the Constitution at the Hillsborough convention In committee of the whole at Hillsborough, Wilkes County delegate William Lenoir said his constituents had instructed him to oppose the Constitution. He argued that its framers had exceeded their powers, that it secured no rights and lacked protection for trial by jury and the rights of conscience, and that it led to a dangerous aristocracy. People: William Lenoir Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, pp. 227-229
  8. Willie Jones's previous question carries 183 to 84, setting aside Johnston's ratification motion Jones answered Johnston by moving the previous question, meaning to bring in his own resolution calling for amendments before North Carolina adopted the Constitution. After long argument the committee carried it 183 to 84, and its chairman, James Kenan, reported resolutions not yet put in form. People: Willie Jones, Samuel Johnston Place: Hillsborough · Also named: James KenanDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 250
  9. The committee of the whole adopts Willie Jones's resolution for a declaration of rights and amendments before ratification After a day of debate on the resolution, Davie asked that the amendments be taken one at a time, but the committee approved the resolution as it stood by a large majority. Kenan reported it to the convention, which ordered it to lie on the table overnight. People: Willie Jones, William Richardson Davie Place: Hillsborough · Also named: James KenanDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 268
  10. Iredell's motion to ratify and recommend amendments afterward is defeated 184 to 84 Declaring all debate at an end and the majority irresistible, James Iredell moved that the convention ratify the Constitution and recommend amendments afterward, so that the minority's view would stand on the journal. The yeas and nays were taken and the motion lost, 84 to 184. People: James Iredell, Willie Jones Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, 1788
  11. Orange County's delegates vote against ratifying the Constitution before amendments In the 184 to 84 roll call that defeated Iredell's amendment to ratify, Alexander Mebane, William Mebane, William McCauley, Jonathan Lindley and William Shepperd of Orange all voted no, as did A. Tatom. The next day the same members voted to concur in the declaration of rights and amendments. People: William McCauley, Alexander Mebane, Absalom Tatom Place: Hillsborough · Also named: William Mebane, Jonathan Lindley, William ShepperdDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 278
  12. The majority votes to keep Iredell's ratification motion off the journal, then agrees to let it be offered as an amendment When Samuel Spencer moved to concur with the committee's report, Iredell moved to postpone it for his own resolution, and the house fell into confusion, with Whitmill Hill warning that the minority would secede. Willie Jones carried a motion that Iredell's motion had no right to a place on the journal, but while the yeas and nays were being taken the two sides agreed that Spencer would withdraw and Iredell would offer his resolution as an amendment. People: James Iredell, Willie Jones, Samuel Spencer Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Whitmill HillDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 275
  13. The convention adopts a declaration of rights and twenty-six amendments to be laid before Congress before ratification On Thomas Person's motion the convention concurred with its committee of the whole, resolving that a declaration of rights of twenty articles and twenty-six amendments to the most ambiguous and exceptionable parts of the Constitution be laid before Congress and a convention of the states before North Carolina would ratify. On Willie Jones's motions it also recommended a state impost matching whatever Congress laid, urged redemption of the paper currency, and ordered the resolutions sent to Congress and the twelve other states. People: Willie Jones, Archibald Maclaine, Thomas Person, William Richardson Davie, James Galloway Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, 1788
  14. The convention directs its president to send its resolutions to Congress and the other twelve states A unanimous resolution asked Samuel Johnston to forward the resolution on the Constitution, with the impost and paper money resolutions, to Congress and to the executives of the twelve other states. People: Samuel Johnston, Willie Jones, James Galloway Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 280
  15. The convention recommends that North Carolina collect an impost for the use of Congress Having neither ratified nor rejected the Constitution, the convention adopted by a large majority Willie Jones's resolution asking the legislature to lay a duty on goods imported into North Carolina whenever Congress laid an impost in the ratifying states, and to pay the money to Congress. People: Willie Jones, James Galloway Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 279
  16. The convention unanimously urges the Assembly to redeem the state's paper currency On Willie Jones's motion, seconded by James Galloway, the convention asked the General Assembly to retire the state's paper currency as quickly as the people's circumstances allowed. People: Willie Jones, James Galloway Place: HillsboroughDocumenting the American South: Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788, p. 280
  17. The convention adjourns sine die after fixing the seat of government at Isaac Hunter's in Wake County With the Constitution neither ratified nor rejected, the convention turned to its second charge, the seat of government. A ballot on August 2 fixed it at Isaac Hunter's in Wake County, and on Monday, August 4, after approving the ordinance for it, the convention adjourned sine die. People: Samuel Johnston Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Isaac HunterDocumenting the American South: Minutes of the North Carolina Constitutional Convention at Hillsborough
  18. A second convention at Fayetteville ratifies the Constitution 195 to 77 Sixteen months after the Hillsborough convention withheld ratification, a second convention that opened at Fayetteville on the third Monday of November 1789 voted to adopt and ratify the Constitution, 195 to 77, and adjourned the next day. Congress had by then sent the states the amendments that became the Bill of Rights. People: Samuel Johnston, Willie Jones Place: FayettevilleDocumenting the American South: Minutes of the North Carolina Constitutional Convention at Fayetteville
  19. Hillsborough marks the bicentennial of the 1788 convention with a reenactment Hillsborough celebrated two hundred years since the 1788 state convention that declined to ratify the U.S. Constitution with a reenactment in which the Antifederalists sharply criticized the Federalists, a day of music, dancing, food and crafts on the court house square, and the play The 12th Lantern at Orange High School. A ceremony to dedicate a historical marker on the convention site was scheduled that afternoon at the Orange County Museum. Place: Old Court House square and Orange County Museum, Hillsborough · Also mentions: Orange High SchoolThe Daily Tar Heel, August 29, 1988, p. 6

Places in this history

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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Indexed works

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

Filter these works by material, period, or place. Counts refer to works, not individual copies. A work may appear under more than one period or place.

Material

Histories 22Letters & correspondence 12Drama 1

Period

18th century 2419th century 23

Place

Hillsborough 26North Carolina (statewide) 25Orange County 22Chapel Hill 1

The Twelfth Lantern

Henderson, Nancy Wallace · 1990

Nancy Wallace Henderson's play, staged and filmed as a dramatic reenactment for the bicentennial of the 1788 convention at Hillsborough, where North Carolina's delegates met from July 21 to August 4 to consider the new federal Constitution and declined to ratify it without a bill of rights. The 1990 recording is a filmed performance on constitutional history and Hillsborough's part in it.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OCPL record: North Carolina. Constitutional Convention (1788) -- Drama.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 812.54 HEN NC Cardinal Durham

The Ratification of the Federal Constitution in North Carolina

Trenholme, Louise Irby · 1932 · Columbia University Press; P. S. King

Louise Irby Trenholme's study of how North Carolina came to ratify the United States Constitution, covering the Hillsborough convention of 1788, which declined to ratify, and the Fayetteville convention of 1789, which did. Published in 1932 by Columbia University Press as number 363 in its studies in the social sciences and also issued as her Columbia thesis. 282 pages with two folding maps and a bibliography.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NCCU record: North Carolina Constitutional Convention (1788).

Reviewed in Journal of American History (1932), Social Forces (1933).

Duke NC State NC Cardinal Durham NCCU UNC Library of Congress

Elizabeth Henderson Cotten papers, 1926-1964 (bulk 1950-1964).

Cotten, Elizabeth Henderson · 1926

Elizabeth Henderson Cotten's papers, dated 1926 to 1964 with most falling between 1950 and 1964, run to 3,150 items across 7.5 linear feet in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 1650. The work describes a woman historian at work on Hillsborough, historic buildings, the Nash and Kollock School, Tryon Palace and New Bern, Saint John's Church at Williamsboro, and figures such as Virginia Dare.

Included because: The record names this subject alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

UNC

Session of December 1793-January 1794: House Committee Reports

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1793

Committee reports of the North Carolina House of Commons, December 1793 to January 1794, 91 images. They open with the memorial of John Taylor and the petition of William Taylor before the Committee of Privileges and Elections, and a rejected petition from Randolph County residents. Rivers and navigation, elections, lawyers, ferries and the University of North Carolina recur, with the Haw River among the waterways.

Included because: The record names this subject alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Session of December 1793-January 1794: Senate Committee Reports

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1793

Reports of North Carolina Senate committees, December 1793 to January 1794, 91 images, on the militia bill, public bills, a petition from Blackledge, disease in Fayetteville and the work of a Committee of Emancipation. Quakers, sheriffs and Richard Dobbs Spaight figure in the papers, with Hillsborough among the places tied to them.

Included because: The record names this subject alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Session of December 1791-January 1792: House Bills: December 22

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1791

House bills introduced on 22 December 1791 in the North Carolina General Assembly, 16 images: incorporating a fire company in Fayetteville, confirming James Iredell's revision of the state's laws, and amending an earlier act. Other matters include canals, river navigation, tolls, escheats and the University of North Carolina, which ties the papers to Chapel Hill.

Included because: The record names this subject alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

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Governor Samuel Johnston Correspondence: December 29, 1878-December 10, 1789, n.d.

Robertson, Elijah · 1789

Samuel Johnston's correspondence as governor, December 1787 to 10 December 1789, with undated items, in 109 images. Johnston presided over the 1789 convention at which North Carolina ratified the federal Constitution. Topics include commerce, tobacco, debts, enemy property and Indian wars. Elijah Robertson is among the correspondents, and Hillsborough and Orange County appear.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Samuel Johnston, Correspondence, April 1789

McDowell, Charles · 1789

Correspondence of Samuel Johnston, the state's sixth governor, for April 1789, the year he presided over the convention that ratified the federal Constitution. Charles McDowell is among the writers, and Cherokee, Chickasaw and Creek affairs and the State of Franklin recur. Hillsborough is named. Fourteen images.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Samuel Johnston, Correspondence, January 1789

Philips, Etheldred · 1789

Samuel Johnston, governor of North Carolina from late 1787 to late 1789, received and wrote these letters in January 1789. Etheldred Philips is among the writers. Topics include the State of Franklin and the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Creek nations, and Hillsborough is named. Sixteen images.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Samuel Johnston, Correspondence, June 1789

Child, Francis · 1789

Governor Samuel Johnston's correspondence for June 1789, 14 images. Francis Child is among the writers, and George Washington, newly inaugurated as president, is named. Bertie County, Hillsborough, the State of Franklin and Cherokee, Chickasaw and Creek matters also appear.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Samuel Johnston, Correspondence, March 1789

Williamson, Hugh, 1735-1819 · 1789

Hugh Williamson, one of North Carolina's delegates in Congress, writes in these March 1789 letters of Governor Samuel Johnston. The 18 images also concern the State of Franklin and the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Creek nations, with Hillsborough among the places named.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Certificate of Election, North Carolina Convention of 1788

North Carolina. Convention (1788) · 1788

Certificates of election for delegates to the North Carolina convention of 1788, which met at Hillsborough to consider ratifying the federal Constitution. The group also takes in records of the 1787 federal convention and journals and ordinances of the Hillsborough and 1789 Fayetteville conventions. 57 images.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Search all 26 indexed works →

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this storyline. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled. Books marked Wider context cover the broader subject rather than this storyline itself.

Show 4 more
  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 812.54 HEN The Twelfth Lantern Henderson, Nancy Wallace · 1990

    Nancy Wallace Henderson's play, staged and filmed as a dramatic reenactment for the bicentennial of the 1788 convention at Hillsborough, where North Carolina's delegates met from July 21 to August 4 to consider the new federal Constitution and declined to ratify it without a bill of rights. The 1990 recording is a filmed performance on constitutional history and Hillsborough's part in it.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 285 ARN David Caldwell Arnett, Ethel Stephens · 1976

    Ethel Stephens Arnett's life of David Caldwell (1725 to 1824), pastor of the Buffalo and Alamance Presbyterian churches in Guilford County, who opened a log college in 1767 and practiced medicine he had taught himself. He was present at the Battle of Alamance in 1771, represented Guilford at the Halifax congress that adopted the state constitution in 1776, and sat in the Hillsborough convention of 1788. Greensboro, 1976, 106 pages with an index.

  • Wider context · NC 973.313 MIT North Carolina's Signers: Brief Sketches of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution Mitchell, Memory F. · 1964

    Six North Carolinians signed the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, and Memory F. Mitchell gives each a short illustrated sketch: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes and John Penn for the Declaration, William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight and Hugh Williamson for the Constitution. Hooper's home, the Nash-Hooper House, stands in Hillsborough. Published by the state archives agency in Raleigh in 1964, 61 pages with portraits and a brief bibliography.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC BIO IREDELL MCR Life and Correspondence of James Iredell: One of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States McRee, Griffith J. · 1857

    Griffith J. McRee's life of James Iredell, the North Carolinian whom George Washington appointed to the first United States Supreme Court, where he served from 1790 until his death in 1799, combining a narrative of his career with his correspondence. Published by D. Appleton of New York in two volumes, the first dated 1857.

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The founding of the University and Chapel Hill, 1789–1795 →UNC & Campus Life →Law, Courts & Justice →General Assembly sessions at Hillsborough, 1778–1784 →

Picture: Title page of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina. Public domain. Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North-Carolina, Hillsborough, 1788 (Edenton, 1789); via the Internet Archive

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