Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress
The Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress was the last of five extra-legal unicameral bodies that met beginning in the summer of 1774. They were modeled after the colonial lower house (House of Commons). These congresses created a government structure, issued bills of credit to pay for the movement, organized an army for defense, wrote a constitution and bill of rights that established the state of North Carolina, and elected their first acting governor in the fifth congress that met in 1776. These congresses paved the way for the first meeting of the North Carolina General Assembly on April 7, 1777 in New Bern, North Carolina.[3] The Fifth Congress met in Halifax from November 12 to December 23, 1776. Richard Caswell served as president, with Cornelius Harnett as vice-president.[3][4][5][6]
| Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress (1776) | |||||
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| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | North Carolina Provincial Congress | ||||
| Jurisdiction | North Carolina, United States | ||||
| Meeting place | Halifax, North Carolina | ||||
| Term | 1776 | ||||
| Members | 187 Delegates (35 counties, 10 Districts) | ||||
| President | Richard Caswell[1] | ||||
| Vice-President | Cornelius Harnett[1] | ||||
| Secretary | James Green, Jr.[1][2] | ||||
| Assistant Secretary | James Glasgow | ||||
| Sessions | |||||
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Richard Caswell
Legislation
This congress approved the first Constitution of North Carolina, along with a "Declaration of Rights" on December 18, 1776. It elected Richard Caswell to serve as acting governor until the province's first General Assembly in 1777 could meet to elect a governor. The congress dealt extensively with raising a militia of 5, 000 men. They also discussed the Cherokee War in the western region of the state.[1][4][6][7]
Delegates
James Kenan
Allen Jones
William Hooper
John Sevier
Joseph Hewes
AbnerNash
Willie Jones
Thomas Amis, Halifax County
Each county was authorized five delegates to this congress. Some counties only had four delegates. In addition, nine districts or borough towns were also authorized a single delegate. These districts were the larger towns and population centers of the state. The concept of district representation was a hold over from the Province of North Carolina in colonial times. Washington District, in the western end of the state and later became a county, elected four delegates to the congress. The following list shows the names of the delegates and the counties or districts that they represented:[5][6][8]
Notes:
- Cornelius Harnett was a representative to the 2nd Continental Congress (1777–1779)
- Richard Caswell was a North Carolina Representative to the Continental Congress (1774)
- James Hogun resigned his position after being commissioned in the North Carolina Line, replaced by Egbert Haywood
- Possibly the father of William Murfree
- Whitmell Hill was a representative to the 2nd Continental Congress (1778–1780)
- James Ingram was commissioned in the North Carolina Line and replaced by Thomas Parker, who was elected to replace him.
- Allen Jones was a representative to the 2nd Continental Congress (1779–1780)
- Thomas Burke was a representative to the 2nd Continental Congress, 1777–1781
- Seated on December 16, due to voting irregularities in a first pole
- William Hooper was a representative to the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress (1774–1777) and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
- William Sharpe was a representative to the Continental Congress (1779–1781) and elected to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1781 and 1782
- James Jones was deemed ineligible due to service in the Light Horse. He resigned his commission on October 25, 1776 and was re-elected to serve in the congress.
- The Congress Journal shows that it was John Rice as delegate for Wake County. William Brown was the delegate for Bath. This appears to be an error in the Lewis delegate listing.
- Joseph Hewes was a Representative to the 1st Continental Congress (1774), 2nd Continental Congress (1775–1776; 1779), and signer of the Declaration of Independence
- Willie Jones was a representative to the 2nd Continental Congress (1780)
- Abner Nash was a representative to the Confederation Congress (1782–1783)
References
- Congress (1776). Minutes of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, North Carolina. Provincial Congress, November 12, 1776 - December 23. Vol. 10. pp. 913–1003.
- Reidinger, Martin (1986). "James Green, Jr". NCPEDIA. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- Butler, Lindley (2006). Powell, William Stevens (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina, Provincial Congresses. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 917–918. ISBN 0807830712.
- "State Library of North Carolina. Information page for Tryon Palace". Archived from the original on 2008-05-03.
- Lewis, J.D. "5th Provincial Congress". The American Revolution in North Carolina. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
- Connor, Robert Diggs Wimberly, ed. (1913). A Manual of North Carolina Issued by the North Carolina Historical Commission for the Use of Members of the General Assembly Session 1913. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
- Orth, John V. (2006). "Declaration of Rights". NCPEDIA. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
- Norris, David A. (2006). "Borough Towns". NCPEDIA. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- Starnes, Sam (2013). "Thomas Amis". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- Powell, William S. (1991). "Thomas Owen". Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- Powell, William S. (1988). "Thomas Jones". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- Powell, William S. (1996). "James White". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- Ingram, Charles M. (1986). "William Dickson". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- Powell, William S. (1996). "William Taylor". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- Taylor, R. Hargus (1979). "Elisha Battle". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- Johnston, Hugh Buckner (1988). "Johnston, Jonas | NCpedia". Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- Bell, John L. Jr. (1986). "Ralph Gorrell". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
His grandfather was Ralph Gorrell, Jr. (1735–1816), … Ralph, Jr., was a member of the Halifax Provincial Congresses of April and December 1776,
- Cotton, Jerry W. (1979). "Henry Abbot". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- Lewis, J.D. "William Brown". Carolana.com. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
Further reading
- Lamm, Alan (2006). Powell, William Stevens (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina, First North Carolina Conflicts and the Establishment of a Provincial Government. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 0807830712.
- Kughler, Frances Vandeveer. "Murals at the UNC School of Government, including a depiction of the 4th Provincial Congress". UNC School of Government. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
- Powell, William S. (1988). North Carolina: A History. University of North Carolina Press. p. 248. ISBN 0807842192.
 North Carolina General Assemblies by year convened and order | |
|---|---|
| List of North Carolina state legislatures Senate President pro tempore of the Senate House of Commons House of Representatives Speakers of the House of Representatives (see Note) |
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| Other | Executive Branch: Governor of North Carolina (List), Lieutenant Governor (since 1868), Cabinets, Council of State, Attorney General |
| Conventions | |
| Provincial Congresses and Constitution | North Carolina Provincial Congress (1774–1776: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th), Constitution of North Carolina (1776, 1835 Convention, 1861 Convention, 1868 redraft, 1875 Convention, Constitution of 1971) |
Notes: Prior to the Constitution of 1868: the lower house of the North Carolina Legislature was known as the House of Commons and the leader of the Senate was called the Speaker of the Senate. | |
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