# Fayetteville Convention

The Fayetteville Convention was a meeting by 271 delegates from North Carolina to ratify the US Constitution. Governor Samuel Johnston presided over the convention, which met in Fayetteville, North Carolina, from November 16 to 23, 1789 to debate on and decide on the ratification of the Constitution, which had recommended to the states by the Philadelphia Convention during the summer of 1787. The delegates ratified the Constitution by a vote of 194 to 77, thus making North Carolina the 12th state to ratify the constitution.

## Location

The Fayetteville Convention was held at the State House in Fayetteville, which was a large brick building built in 1788 in anticipation of Fayetteville becoming the capital of North Carolina. Although the North Carolina General Assembly met in the building in 1789, 1789 and 1793, it moved permanently to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1794. The State House, along with most of Fayetteville, was destroyed by a large fire in 1831. The Market House was built on the site in 1832.

## Proceedings

The prior Hillsborough Convention had decided neither to ratify or to reject the Constitution. The Federalists waged a successful campaign in the 1789 elections, which resulted in Anti-Federalists receiving less than one third of the 272 seats at the Fayetteville Convention. One factor leading to the Federalist majority was the election of George Washington as President and the resulting stable government, which dispelled Anti-Federalists' fears about unbridled federal power. Influential Federalists controlled most of the North Carolina newspapers and used them to vigorously support ratification of the Constitution to the demise of Anti-Federalists. The introduction of the Bill of Rights also helped to neutralize the Ant-Federalists' objections. Thus, when the Fayetteville Convention opened on November 16, the outcome for ratification of the Constitution had been almost assured.
As a final compromise, the delegates agreed to present to Congress eight amendments not covered by the proposed Bill of Rights. They included issues such as limits on congressional taxing power and on the enlistment terms for soldiers. On November 20, William Richardson Davie brought the ratification question to the Convention, which it approved with a vote of 195 to 77. As a result, North Carolina became the twelfth state to approve the U.S. Constitution. After the vote, John Huske of Wilmington led a walkout of 68 Anti-Federalists from the chambers. The convention was adjourned on November 23.
The following amendments proposed by James Galloway were unanimously approved by the convention on November 23:
* "That Congress shall not alter, modify, or interfere in the times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, or either of them, except when the Legislature of any State shall neglect, refuse, or be disabled by invasion or rebellion to prescribe the same, or in case when the provision made by the State is so imperfect as that no consequent election is had."
* "That Congress shall not, directly or indirectly, either by themselves or through the Judiciary, interfere with any one of the States in the redemption of paper money already emitted and now in circulation, or in liquidating and discharging the public securities of any one of the States; but each and every State shall have the exclusive right of making such laws and regulations for the above purposes, as they shall think proper."
* "That the members of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be ineligible to and incapable of holding any civil office under the authority of the United States during the time for which they shall respectively be elected."
* "That the journals of the proceedings of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be published at least once in every year, except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances, or military operations, as in their judgment require secrecy."
* "That a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public monies shall be published at least once in every year."
* "That no navigation law, or law regulating commerce, shall be passed, without the consent of two-thirds of the members present in both Houses."
* "That no soldier shall be enlisted for any longer term than four years, except in time of war, and then for no longer term than the continuance of the war."
* "That some tribunal, other than the Senate, be provided for trying impeachments of Senators."

## Delegates

There were 271 delegates from 61 counties and six cities/districts of North Carolina. Some counties later became part of the state of Tennessee in 1796. Governor Samuel Johnston from Perquimans County presiding over the convention. Charles Johnson from Chowan County was the vice-president of the Convention. John Hunt and James Taylor were appointed as secretary and assistant secretary, respectively, of the convention. Peter Gooding, James Mulloy, William Murphy, and Nicholas Murphey were appointed as doorkeepers of the convention.:
| County/City | Delegate | Vote (Yea/Nay) |
| Anson County | The Hon. Samuel Spencer | Nay |
| Anson County | Jesse Gilbert | Yea |
| Anson County | Pleasant May | Nay |
| Anson County | Thomas Wade | Yea |
| Anson County | David Jameson | Yea |
| Beaufort County | John G. Blount | Yea |
| Beaufort County | William Brown | Yea |
| Beaufort County | Richard Grist | Yea |
| Beaufort County | Alderson Ellison | Yea |
| Beaufort County | Silas W. Arnett | Yea |
| Bertie County | John Johnston | Yea |
| Bertie County | Francis Pugh | Yea |
| Bertie County | William Johnston Dawson | Yea |
| Bertie County | David Turner | Yea |
| Bertie County | David Stone | Yea |
| Brunswick County | Benjamin Smith | Yea |
| Brunswick County | William E. Lord | Nay |
| Brunswick County | William Gause | Yea |
| Brunswick County | John Hall | Yea |
| Brunswick County | Dennis Hawkins | Yea |
| Bladen County | John Cowan | Yea |
| Bladen County | Thomas Owen | Yea |
| Bladen County | Joseph Gaitier | Nay |
| Bladen County | Thomas Brown | Nay |
| Bladen County | Duncan Stewart | Nay |
| Burke County | Charles McDowall | Yea |
| Burke County | Joseph McDowall | Nay |
| Burke County | Joseph McDowall, Jun. | Yea |
| Burke County | William E. Erwin | Yea |
| Burke County | John Carson | Yea |
| Craven County | Joseph McDowall, Jun. | Yea |
| Craven County | John Allen | Yea |
| Craven County | Richard Nixon | Yea |
| Craven County | Joseph Leech | Yea |
| Craven County | Thomas Williams | Nay |
| Cumberland County | John Ingram | Yea |
| Cumberland County | John Hay | Yea |
| Cumberland County | William B. Grove | Yea |
| Cumberland County | James Moore | Nay |
| Cumberland County | Robert Adam | Yea |
| Carteret County | John Easton | Yea |
| Carteret County | Malachi Bell | Yea |
| Carteret County | John Fulford | Yea |
| Carteret County | Wallace Styron | Yea |
| Carteret County | John Wallace | Yea |
| Currituck County | William Ferebee | Yea |
| Currituck County | Thomas P. Williams | Yea |
| Currituck County | Samuel Ferebee | Yea |
| Currituck County | Andrew Duke | Yea |
| Currituck County | Spence Hall | Yea |
| Chowan County | Stephen Cabarrus | Yea |
| Chowan County | Charles Johnson | Yea |
| Chowan County | Lemuel Creecy | Yea |
| Chowan County | Edmund Blount | Yea |
| Chowan County | William Righton (late attendee) | Yea |
| Camden County | Isaac Gregory | Yea |
| Camden County | Peter Dauge | Yea |
| Camden County | Enoch Sawyer | Yea |
| Camden County | Henry Abbott | Yea |
| Camden County | Charles Grandy | Yea |
| Caswell County | John Wommack | Nay |
| Caswell County | Robert Dickens | Nay |
| Caswell County | John Graves | Nay |
| Caswell County | Robert Payne | Yea |
| Caswell County | Robert Bowman | Yea |
| Chatham County | Robert Edwards | Nay |
| Chatham County | William Vestall | Yea |
| Chatham County | John Thompson | Yea |
| Chatham County | John Ramsay | Yea |
| Chatham County | James Anderson | Yea |
| Dobbs County | Benjamin Sheppard | Yea |
| Dobbs County | Nathan Lassiter | Yea |
| Dobbs County | Simeon Bright (late attendee) | Yea |
| Duplin County | James Pearsall | Nay |
| Duplin County | James Gillespie | Nay |
| Duplin County | Robert Dickson | Nay |
| Duplin County | Lavan Watkins | Nay |
| Duplin County | James Kenan | Nay |
| Davidson County (became part of Tennessee in 1796) | Charles Gerrard | Yea |
| Davidson County | Joel Rice | Yea |
| Davidson County | Robert Ewing | Yea |
| Davidson County | James C. Mountflorence | Yea |
| Davidson County | William Dobbin | Yea |
| Edgecombe County | Etheldred Phillips | Yea |
| Edgecombe County | Thomas Blount | Yea |
| Edgecombe County | Jeremiah Hilliard | Yea |
| Edgecombe County | Etheldred Gray | Yea |
| Edgecombe County | William Fort | Yea |
| Franklin County | Henry Hill | Nay |
| Franklin County | Thomas Sherrod | Yea |
| Franklin County | Jordan Hill | Yea |
| Franklin County | William Lancaster | Yea |
| Franklin County | William Christmas | Yea |
| Guilford County | John Hamilton | Nay |
| Guilford County | William Gowdy | Nay |
| Guilford County | Richard D. Caldwell | Nay |
| Guilford County | Daniel Gillespie | Nay |
| Granville County | Elijah Mitchell | Nay |
| Granville County | Thomas Person | Nay |
| Granville County | Thorton Yancey | Nay |
| Granville County | Peter Bennett | Nay |
| Granville County | Edmund Taylor Jr. | Nay |
| Gates County | David Rice | Yea |
| Gates County | Joseph Riddick | Yea |
| Gates County | John Baker | Yea |
| Greene County (became part of Tennessee in 1796) | John Sevier | Yea |
| Greene County | Alexander Outlaw | Yea |
| Greene County | John Allison | Yea |
| Greene County | George Doherty | Yea |
| Greene County | James Wilson | Yea |
| Halifax County | Lunsford Long | Yea |
| Halifax County | John Baptista Ashe | Yea |
| Halifax County | Peter Qualls | Yea |
| Halifax County | John Whitaker | Yea |
| Halifax County | Marmaduke Norfleet | Yea |
| Hertford County | Thomas Wynns | Yea |
| Hertford County | Robert Montgomery | Yea |
| Hertford County | Hardy Murfee | Yea |
| Hertford County | Henry Hill | Yea |
| Hertford County | Henry Baker | Yea |
| Hyde County | John Eborn | Yea |
| Hyde County | James Watson | Yea |
| Hyde County | John Anderson | Yea |
| Hyde County | James Jasper | Yea |
| Hyde County | Michael Peters | Yea |
| Hawkins County (became part of Tennessee in 1789) | Nathaniel Henderson | Yea |
| Hawkins County | James White | Yea |
| Hawkins County | John Hunt | Yea |
| Hawkins County | Elijah Chessen (late attendee) | Yea |
| Iredell County | Adlai Osborne | Yea |
| Iredell County | Adam Brevard | Yea |
| Iredell County | Musentine Matthews | Yea |
| Iredell County | John Nesbitt (Nisbet) | Yea |
| Iredell County | David Caldwell | Yea |
| Johnston County | Samuel Smith | Yea |
| Johnston County | Hardy Bryan | Yea |
| Johnston County | William Bridgers | Yea |
| Johnston County | William Hackney | Yea |
| Johnston County | Matthias Handy | Yea |
| Jones County | Frederick Hargett | Yea |
| Jones County | Edward Whitty | Yea |
| Jones County | John H. Bryan | Yea |
| Jones County | Jacob Johnston | Yea |
| Lincoln County | Joseph Dickson | Yea |
| Lincoln County | John Moore | Yea |
| Lincoln County | William MacLaine | Yea |
| Lincoln County | Robert Alexander | Nay |
| Lincoln County | John Caruth | Yea |
| Moore County | William Martin | Nay |
| Moore County | Thomas Tyson | Yea |
| Moore County | Donald MacIntosh | Nay |
| Moore County | Neill McLeod | Nay |
| Moore County | Cornelius Doud (late attendee) | Nay |
| Martin County | John Stewart | Yea |
| Martin County | William Williams | Yea |
| Martin County | Nathan Mayo | Yea |
| Martin County | Thomas Hunter (late attendee) | Yea |
| Mecklenburg County | Zachias Wilson | Nay |
| Mecklenburg County | Joseph Douglass | Nay |
| Mecklenburg County | Caleb Phifer | Nay |
| Mecklenburg County | Joseph Graham | Nay |
| Mecklenburg County | James Porter | Nay |
| Montgomery County | William Johnston | Yea |
| Montgomery County | James Turner | Yea |
| Montgomery County | James Tindall | Yea |
| Montgomery County | David Nesbitt | Yea |
| Montgomery County | James Crump | Yea |
| Northampton County | John M. Benford | Yea |
| Northampton County | Halcott B. Pride | Nay |
| Northampton County | Samuel Tarver | Yea |
| Northampton County | Robert Peebles | Nay |
| Northampton County | Samuel Peete | Yea |
| New Hanover County | Timothy Bloodworth | Nay |
| New Hanover County | John G. Scull | Nay |
| New Hanover County | John Huske | Nay |
| New Hanover County | John A. Campbell | Nay |
| Nash County | Howell Ellin | Yea |
| Nash County | Wilson Vick | Yea |
| Nash County | William S. Marnes | Yea |
| Nash County | John Bonds | Yea |
| Nash County | Hardy Griffin | Yea |
| Onslow County | Robert W. Sneed | Yea |
| Onslow County | John Spicer | Yea |
| Onslow County | Daniel Yates | Yea |
| Onslow County | George Mitchell | Yea |
| Onslow County | Edward Ward | Yea |
| Orange County | James Christmass | Yea |
| Orange County | Thomas H. Perkins | Nay |
| Orange County | William F. Strudwick | Nay |
| Orange County | Joseph Hodge | Nay |
| Orange County | Alexander Mebane | Nay |
| Pasquotank County | Edward Everegain | Yea |
| Pasquotank County | John Swan | Yea |
| Pasquotank County | Thomas Banks | Yea |
| Pasquotank County | Devotion Davis | Yea |
| Perquimans County | His Excellency, Samuel Johnston | Yea |
| Perquimans County | John Skinner | Yea |
| Perquimans County | Joseph Harvey | Yea |
| Perquimans County | Benjamin Perry | Yea |
| Perquimans County | Asbury Sutton | Yea |
| Pitt County | William Blount | Yea |
| Pitt County | Shadrick Allen | Yea |
| Pitt County | James Armstrong | Yea |
| Pitt County | Samuel Simpson | Yea |
| Pitt County | Benjamin Bell | Yea |
| Rowan County | George H. Berger | Nay |
| Rowan County | Bazel Gaither | Yea |
| Rowan County | John Stokes | Yea |
| Rowan County | Maxwell Chambers | Yea |
| Rowan County | Matthew Lock | Nay |
| Randolph County | Zebedee Wood | Nay |
| Randolph County | Reuben Wood | Yea |
| Randolph County | Nathan Stedman | Yea |
| Randolph County | William Bailey (late attendee) | Yea |
| Richmond County | Edward Williams | Yea |
| Richmond County | Alexander Watson | Nay |
| Richmond County | William Robinson | Nay |
| Richmond County | Duncan M'Farland | Nay |
| Richmond County | Darby Harragan (late attendee) | Nay |
| Rutherford County | William Porter | Yea |
| Rutherford County | James Holland | Yea |
| Rutherford County | Richard Lewis | Yea |
| Rutherford County | William Johnson | Yea |
| Rockingham County | William Bethell | Nay |
| Rockingham County | James Gallaway | Nay |
| Rockingham County | Isaac Clarke | Nay |
| Rockingham County | Abram Phillips | Nay |
| Rockingham County | John Dabney | Nay |
| Robeson County | John Willis | Yea |
| Robeson County | Elias Barnes | Yea |
| Robeson County | Neill Brown | Yea |
| Robeson County | John Cade | Yea |
| Robeson County | Alford Sion | Yea |
| Surry County | Joseph Winston | Yea |
| Surry County | Gideon Edwards | Nay |
| Surry County | Absalom Bostwick | Nay |
| Surry County | Edward Lovell | Yea |
| Surry County | George Houser | Yea |
| Sullivan County (became part of Tennessee in 1796) | John Rhea | Yea |
| Sullivan County | William Nash | Nay |
| Sullivan County | John Scott | Nay |
| Sullivan County | Joseph Martin | Yea |
| Sampson County | Richard Clinton | Nay |
| Sampson County | James Spiller | Yea |
| Sampson County | James Thompson | Nay |
| Sampson County | Hardy Holmes | Nay |
| Sampson County | William King | Nay |
| Sumner County (became part of Tennessee in 1796) | Daniel Smith | Yea |
| Sumner County | David Wilson | Yea |
| Sumner County | Samuel Mason | Yea |
| Sumner County | Edward Douglass | Yea |
| Sumner County | John Overton | Yea |
| Tennessee County (became Montgomery County, Tennessee and Robertson County, Tennessee in 1796) | John Montgomery | Yea |
| Tennessee County | John Drew | Yea |
| Tennessee County | Thomas Johnston | Yea |
| Tennessee County | William Blount | Yea |
| Tennessee County | Benjamin Menees | Yea |
| Tyrrell County | Thomas Stewart | Yea |
| Tyrrell County | Hugh Williamson | Yea |
| Tyrrell County | Jeremiah Frazier | Yea |
| Tyrrell County | Simeon Spruill | Yea |
| Tyrrell County | Samuel Chesson | Yea |
| Washington County (became part of Tennessee in 1796) | Landon Carter | Yea |
| Washington County | Robert Love | Yea |
| Washington County | John Blair | Yea |
| Washington County | William Houston | yea |
| Washington County | Andrew Green | Yea |
| Warren County | Benjamin Hawkins | Yea |
| Warren County | Philemon Hawkins | Yea |
| Warren County | Solomon Green | Yea |
| Warren County | Wyatt Hawkins | Nay |
| Warren County | Thomas Christmass | Nay |
| Wayne County | Richard McKinnie | Yea |
| Wayne County | Burwell Mooring | Nay |
| Wayne County | David Cogdell | Nay |
| Wayne County | Josiah Jernigan | Yea |
| Wayne County | James Handley | Yea |
| Wake County | Joel Lane | Yea |
| Wake County | Thomas Hines | Yea |
| Wake County | Henry Lane | Yea |
| Wake County | Brittain Sanders | Nay |
| Wake County | William Hayes | Yea |
| Wilkes County | John Brown | Nay |
| Wilkes County | William Lenoir | Nay |
| Wilkes County | Joseph Herndon | Nay |
| Wilkes County | Benjamin Jones | Nay |
| Wilkes County | William Nall | Nay |
| Town of Salisbury | John Steele. | Yea |
| Town of Edenton | John Mare | Yea |
| Town of Hillsboro | Samuel Benton | Yea |
| Town of Newbern | Isaac Guion | Yea |
| Town of Halifax | William Richardson Davie. | Yea |
| Town of Wilmington | William N. Hill | Yea |