Colonial Origins of the American Constitution

73. Act Relating to the Biennial and Other Assemblies and Regulating Elections and Members in North Carolina, 1715

Origins_301-350.indd 345 2/17/12 6:47 PM 73 Act Relating to the Biennial and Other Assemblies and Regulating Elections and Members in North Carolina IJI5 Etablished in r664/r66s, the province ofCarolina developed two widely separatedsettlements. Proprietary interest wasfocused on the Charles Town settlement in the south, with itsfine port, while the northern settlement, centeredin Albemarle County, received little attention. The document below deals with the northeasternpart oftheprovince ofCarolina-what is now known as North Carolina. Each settlement was granted its own unicameral legislature under the originalproprietary concessions, and both settlements were dominated by a councilappointedfrom London. Theprovincialgovernor lived in the south, and his deputy governor served in the north. In r669 john Locke and Anthony Cooper composed the Fundamental Constitutions ofCarolina at the behest oftheproprietors. Rather than resembling Locke's system in Two Treatises of Government, it instead usedHarrington's complex system ofrepresentation basedon the ownership ofvarious amounts ofproperty. Among other things, the Locke/Cooper document created morepoliticaloffices than there were settlers. Parts oftheproposal, which servedas the basisfor government untilr698, were adoptedanyway. By this time North and South Carolina had come to be viewed as completely separate entities. In IJI2 North Carolina received its own governor. In the I7I5 document reproduced below, North Carolina established theform ofgovernment it would basically use untilr776. The document is notablefor establishing clear districts and a carefol electoralprocess. 345 Origins_301-350.indd 346 2/17/12 6:47 PM NORTH CAROLINA W hereas his Excellency the Palatine and the rest of the true and absolute lords proprietors ofCarolina, having duly considered the privileges and immunities wherewith kingdom of Great Britain is induced and being desirous that this their province may have such as may thereby enlarge this settlement and that the frequent sitting of assemblies is a principal safeguard of their peoples privileges, have thought fit to enact. And be it enacted by the said Palatine and Lords Proprietors, by and with the advice and consent of the present Grand Assembly now met at Little River for the northeast part of the said province, and it is hereby enacted , that for the due election and constituting of members of the biennial and other assemblies, it shall be lawful for the freemen of the respective precincts ofAlbemarle to meet the first Tuesday in September every two years in the places hereafter mentioned, that is to say, the inhabitants ofChowan at the land laid out for a town on the fork of Queen Anne's Creek, the inhabitants of Perquimons at the upper side of the mouth of Suttons Creek, the inhabitants of Pasquotank at the plantation now in possession of Mr. Joseph Glaister on New Begunn Creek, the inhabitants of Currituck at the plantation ofMr. Thomas Vandermulin, the inhabitants ofBeaufort in Bath in Bath Town, the inhabitants ofHyde precinct at the plantation at Mr. Webstetson 's the west side ofMatchapungo, a river, the inhabitants ofCraven at Swift's plantation at the mouth of Handock's Creek, the inhabitants of New Bern at the town so called, and then there to choose such members as are to sit in that Assembly, which shall be five freeholders out of every precinct in Albemarle Counry aforesaid. And be it further enacted that it shall and may be lawful for the inhabitants and freemen in each precinct in every other counry or counties that now is or shall be hereafter erected in this government aforesaid to meet as aforesaid at such place as shall be adjudged most convenient by the marshal ofsuch counry, unless he be otherwise ordered by the special commands of the Governor or Commander-in-Chief, to choose two freeholders out of every precinct in the counry aforesaid to sit and vote in the said Assembly. And be it further enacted that the burgesses so chosen in each precinct for the biennial Assembly shall meet and sit the first Monday in November then next following, every two years at the same place the assembly last sat, except the Palatines' Coun shall, by their proclamation published twenty days before the said meeting, appoint some other place; and there, with the Origins_301-350.indd 347 2/17/12 6:47 PM Acts ConcerningAssemblies and Elections consent and concurrence ofthe Palatines' Court, shall make and ordain laws as shall be thought most necessary for the good of this government. Provided always, and nevertheless, that the powers granted to the Lords Proprietors from the crown...