Hillsborough Convention

They met in Hillsborough, North Carolina from July 21 to August 4, 1788 to deliberate and determine whether to ratify the Constitution recommended to the states by the General Convention that had been held in Philadelphia the previous summer.

The delegates had won their seats through special elections held in March 1788, as mandated by the North Carolina General Assembly.

One of the major reasons for North Carolina not ratifying the Constitution was its lack of a Bill of Rights.

The delegates, however, proposed a series of amendments to personal liberties and urged the new federal Congress to adopt measures to incorporate a bill of rights into the Constitution.

[7] North Carolina would not join the Union until after it ratified the Constitution, more than a year later, at the November 1789 Fayetteville Convention.

[12][13] The election of delegates from Dobbs County was declared invalid because of violence that led to the loss of the ballot box.

Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of North Carolina in 1788
Governor Samuel Johnston presided
Richard Dobbs Spaight, Craven County delegate
William Richardson Davie, Halifax delegate
later Gov. Benjamin Smith, Brunswick delegate
Willie Jones, Halifax delegate
Benjamin Williams, Craven delegate
William Lenoir, Wilkes delegate
Joseph Graham, Mecklenburg delegate
James Kenan, Duplin delegate
Joseph McDowell, Jr, Burke delegate
Richard Caswell, Dobbs delegate
James Iredell, Edenton delegate
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States , signing is Richard Dobbs Spaight, behind him is William Blount and Hugh Williamson