North Carolina: Polity Style: 1731-2024 |
| 14/25 May 1729 |
an agreement for the surrender of title and interest of the Lords Proprietors in the Province of Carolina is approved in accordance with an act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain (House of Commons on 6/17 May 1729, House of Lords on 10/21 May 1729, received Royal Assent on 14/25 May 1729) [British Commons Journal, 21:361; British Lords Journal, 23:427, 437; Laws of the Province of South-Carolina, 482-500] [1] |
| 25 Jul/5 Aug 1729 |
the surrender of the Charter of Carolina is accomplished upon the issuing of a warrant for the payment of £17,500 by the Treasury Board to seven of the eight Lords Proprietors in pursuance of an act of 14/25 May 1729 [2][3] |
| 25 Feb/8 Mar 1731 |
the Province of the North Carolina is constituted upon the installation of the first provincial Governor in Edenton in accordance with the Royal Commission of 15 Jan/10 Feb 1730 and the Instructions of 14/25 Dec 1730 [North Carolina Colonial Records, 3:66-73, 3:90-118, 3:211-212] [4] |
| 25 Feb/8 Mar 1731 - 4 Jul 1776 |
Province of North Carolina |
| 4 Jul 1776 |
the British colonies represented in the Continental Congress are proclaimed "free and independent states" in accordance with a declaration approved by the Congress on 4 Jul 1776, session of the Congress, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Journals of the Continental Congress, 5:510-515) |
| 4 Jul 1776 - |
State of North Carolina [5] |
| 24 Apr 1778 |
the delegates of North Carolina to the Continental Congress are authorized to ratify and confirm the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union in accordance with a resolution passed by the General Assembly of North Carolina (House of Commons on 24 Apr 1778, concurred in by the Senate on 24 Apr 1778) [North Carolina State Records, 12:708-709, 12:599; Journals of the Continental Congress, 11:669] |
| 21 Jul 1778 |
the delegates of North Carolina to the Continental Congress signed the ratification of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, session of the Congress, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Journals of the Continental Congress, 11:709) |
| 1 Mar 1781 |
North Carolina formed part of the United States upon the taking effect of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (Journals of the Continental Congress, 19:213-223) |
| 20 May 1861 |
North Carolina seceded from the United States in accordance with an ordinance passed by the Convention of the People of the State of North Carolina on 20 May 1861 (North Carolina Ordinances 1861, p. 3; North Carolina Convention 1861-1862, pp. 13-16) |
| 27 May 1861 |
North Carolina is admitted to the Confederate States of America in accordance with an act passed by the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States on 16 May 1861 and signed into law on 17 May 1861 (effective on the date when the proclamation concerning the ratification of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States by North Carolina was issued by the President of the Confederate States on 27 May 1861) (Confederate Statutes at Large, pp. 118-119; Weekly Standard, Raleigh, N.C., No. 23, 5 Jun 1861, p. 3) |
| 7 Oct 1865 |
the ordinance of secession of 1861 is declared null and void in accordance with an ordinance passed by the Convention on 7 Oct 1865 (North Carolina Convention 1865, p. 27; North Carolina Ordinances 1865, p. 39) |
| 4 Jul 1868 |
North Carolina is re-admitted to representation in the Congress of the United States in accordance with an act passed by the Congress of the United States (House of Representatives on 14 May 1868; Senate on 10 Jun 1868 with amendments; the amendments were concurred in by the House on 12 Jun 1868; vetoed by the President of the United States on 25 Jun 1868; the veto was overridden by the House of Representatives and by the Senate on 25 Jun 1868), took effect in
North Carolina upon the passage of a resolution approving the Amendment XIV to the Constitution of the Unites States by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina on 2 Jul 1868 (ratified on 4 Jul 1868) (Statutes at Large, 16:73, 16:703-704) [7] |
| |
| [1] |
Full title: An Act for establishing an Agreement with Seven of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, for the Surrender of their Title and Interest in that Province to His Majesty. |
| [2] |
A Royal Warrant by the Queen, as Guardian of the Kingdom, for the payment of £17,500 "to Edward Bertie, of Gray's Inn, Samuel Horsey, of St. Martin's in the Fields, Henry Smith, of Caversham, Oxford, and Alexius Clayton" directed to the Lords of the Treasury is recorded in King's Warrant Book, 29:379-380, under #489 on 24 Jul/4 Aug 1729; the warrant from the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury is dated 25 Jul/5 Aug 1729 [Shaw, Wm. A. (ed.) Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers, 1729-1730. Preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1897, p. 267]; the actual payment appears to have taken place on 30 Jul/10 Aug 1729 as evident from a notice in The Daily Journal, No. 2675, 4 Aug 1729, p. 1, col. 3: "The Lords Proprietors of South Carolina having signed at the Treasury a Deed of Conveyance and Surrender of their Rights and Title of that Province, to the Crown, the Sum of 20,000 l. was on Wednesday last issued out of the Exchequer, being the Purchase Money agreed for..." |
| [3] |
Lord Carteret refused to sell his interests and continued to hold a one-eighth undivided share in the territory of North Carolina and South Carolina until 1744, when he gave up all claims to the remaining parts of the province in return for a large strip of land in North Carolina bordering on Virginia [North Carolina Colonial Records, 4:655-663] |
| [4] |
The establishment of two governments in Carolina and de facto partition of the province took place when the Lords Proprietors began to appoint separate governors (or deputy governors) for "the part of our province of Carolina that lyes South and West of Cape Fear" and for "the part of our Province of Carolina that lyes North and East of Cape Fear"; de iure Carolina remained undivided political entity until the surrender of the charter in 1729. |
| [5] |
The formal change in the polity style was never implemented. The resolves approved by the Council of Safety (in session: 5 Jun 1776 - 25 Oct 1776) normally referred to "province" and, sometimes, "colony" before 4 Jul 1776, and to "(Independent) State of North Carolina" after 4 Jul 1776. The Constitution or Form of Government, approved by the Congress 18 Dec 1776, did not explicitly change the name to the State of North Carolina, but included these words in the description of the Great Seal (Section XVII) and required that all commissions and grants should be run in the name of the State of North Carolina (Section XXXVI). |
| [6] |
Full title: An Ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of North Carolina and the other States united with her, under the compact of government entitled The Constitution of the United States. |
| [7] |
Full title: An Act to Admit the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, to Representation in Congress. |
