“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
On this date in 1735, Hugh Williamson, a remarkable founding-era figure from North Carolina, was born. Williamson’s name is seldom mentioned alongside the famous characters of his day, but his life was arguably as significant. He prophetically warned in 1774,...
Today in 1789, North Carolina ratified the Constitution, becoming the 12th state to do so. Prior to this, the state had held a first convention in Hillsborough that decided not to ratify, but left open the possibility of doing so in the future. Prior to North...
Today in History, on July 31, 1788, President of the first North Carolina Ratification Convention, Samuel Johnston, stood in Hillsborough and reluctantly conceded that the convention was unlikely to ratify the Constitution: “We may indeed appoint ambassadors to...