Second North Carolina Provincial Congress
1775 meeting in Craven, North Carolina
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The Second North Carolina Provincial Congress was a meeting of the provincial congress of the de facto provincial government of North Carolina, composed of 107 delegates from 33 counties (three not being represented) and nine towns. The congress convened in Newbern, on April 3, 1775, and ended on April 7, 1775, during the final two years of Josiah Martin's gubernatorial administration. Colonel John Harvey was unanimously chosen as moderator.[1][2][3][4]
| Second North Carolina Provincial Congress | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | North Carolina Provincial Congress | ||||
| Jurisdiction | North Carolina (de facto) | ||||
| Meeting place | Craven Court House | ||||
| Term | April 3, 1775 – April 7, 1775 | ||||
| Provincial Congress | |||||
| Members | 107 delegates | ||||
| Moderator | Col. John Harvey | ||||
| Sovereign | |||||
| Monarch | HM George III | ||||
| Governor | HE Josiah Martin | ||||
History
The Second Provincial Congress met at Newbern, from April 3 to 7, 1775. John Harvey served as moderator. The congress met at the same place and almost the same time as the North Carolina provincial assembly and had almost exactly the same membership (61 of the 107 delegates attended both). This infuriated Governor Josiah Martin, who prorogued the House of Burgesses on April 8, 1775, and never called another.
Resolutions
The Second Provincial Congress approved the Continental Association, an economic boycott of Great Britain authorized by the First Continental Congress. Just after the congress met, news reached North Carolina about the Battle of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. On May 24, 1775, British governor Josiah Martin fled the Governor's Palace at Newbern, ending sixty-three continuous years of colonial rule. The first military action of the American Revolutionary War within North Carolina took place on July 18, 1775, when the provincial militia burned Fort Johnston, North Carolina, where Governor Martin had previously transferred his headquarters.[5][4]
Delegates
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The following is a full list of delegates to the second congress by constituency.
| Constituency | Name | Member of General Assembly |
|---|---|---|
| Anson County | Samuel Spencer | |
| Anson County | William Thomas | |
| Beaufort County | Roger Ormond | Yes |
| Beaufort County | Thomas Respess Jr. | Yes |
| Beaufort County | William Salter | |
| Bertie County | John Campbell | Yes |
| Bertie County | John Johnston | Yes |
| Bertie County | David Stanley | Yes |
| Bladen County | William Saltar | Yes |
| Bladen County | James White | Yes |
| Brunswick County | Robert Howe | Yes |
| Brunswick County | John Rowan | Yes |
| Bute County | Thomas Eaton | |
| Bute County | Green Hill[6] | Yes |
| Bute County | William Person | Yes |
| Bute County | James Ransom | |
| Carteret County | Solomon Shepard | Yes |
| Carteret County | William Thompson | Yes |
| Chatham County | Not represented | |
| Chowan County | Thomas Benbury | Yes |
| Chowan County | Thomas Hunter | Yes |
| Chowan County | Samuel Johnston | Yes |
| Chowan County | Thomas Jones[7] | Yes |
| Chowan County | Thomas Oldham | Yes |
| Craven | William Bryan | |
| Craven County | Richard Cogdell[8] | |
| Craven County | Jacob Blount | |
| Craven County | James Coor | Yes |
| Craven County | Joseph Leech | |
| Craven County | Lemuel Hatch | Yes |
| Cumberland County | Farquard Campbell | Yes |
| Cumberland County | Thomas Rutherford | Yes |
| Currituck County | Samuel Jarvis | Yes |
| Currituck County | Nathan Joyner[note 1] | Yes |
| Currituck County | Thomas McKnight | Yes |
| Currituck County | Solomon Perkins | Yes |
| Currituck County | Francis Williamson | Yes |
| Dobbs County | Richard Caswell | Yes |
| Dobbs County | William McKinnie | Yes |
| Dobbs County | George Miller | |
| Dobbs County | Simon Bright | |
| Duplin County | William Dickson[9] | |
| Duplin County | Thomas Gray | |
| Duplin County | Thomas Hicks | |
| Duplin County | James Kenan | |
| Edgecombe County | Not represented | |
| Granville County | Memucan Hunt | |
| Granville County | Robert Montfort | |
| Granville County | Robert Williams | |
| Granville County | John Paine | |
| Granville County | Thomas Person | Yes |
| Guilford County | Alexander Martin | |
| Halifax County | Willie Jones | |
| Halifax County | Nicholas Long | Yes |
| Halifax County | Benjamin McCulloch | Yes |
| Hertford County | Joseph Worth | |
| Hertford County | George Wynns | Yes |
| Hyde County | Rotheas Latham | |
| Hyde County | Samuel Smith | |
| Johnston County | Needham Bryan | Yes |
| Johnston County | Benjamin Williams | Yes |
| Martin County | Edmund Smithwick | |
| Mecklenburg County | Benjamin Patten | |
| New Hanover County | John Baptista Ashe | Yes |
| New Hanover County | William Hooper | Yes |
| Northampton County | Jeptha Atherton | Yes |
| Northampton County | Allen Jones | Yes |
| Onslow County | William Cray | Yes |
| Onslow County | Henry Rhodes | Yes |
| Onslow County | Edward Starkey | |
| Orange County | Thomas Burke | |
| Orange County | Thomas Hart | Yes |
| Orange County | John Kinchen | |
| Pasquotank County | Edward Everagin | Yes |
| Pasquotank County | Jonathan Herring | Yes |
| Pasquotank County | Joseph Jones | Yes |
| Pasquotank County | Isaac Gregory | Yes |
| Pasquotank County | Joseph Reading | Yes |
| Perquimans County | John Harvey | Yes |
| Perquimans County | Thomas Harvey | Yes |
| Perquimans County | Andrew Knox | Yes |
| Perquimans County | John Whedbee | Yes |
| Perquimans County | Benjamin Harvey | |
| Pitt County | James Gorham | |
| Pitt County | James Lanier | |
| Pitt County | William Robeson | |
| Pitt County | Edward Salter | Yes |
| Pitt County | John Simpson | Yes |
| Rowan County | Griffith Rutherford | |
| Rowan County | William Sharpe | |
| Surry County | Not represented | |
| Tryon County | David Jenkins | |
| Tryon County | Robert Alexander | |
| Tyrrell County | Jeremiah Frazier | Yes |
| Tyrrell County | Benjamin Spruill | Yes |
| Tyrrell County | Joseph Spruill | Yes |
| Wake County | John Hinton | |
| Wake County | Tignal Jones | |
| Wake County | Michael Rogers | |
| Newbern Town | Abner Nash | |
| Newbern Town | James Davis | |
| Edenton | Joseph Hewes | Yes |
| Wilmington | Cornelius Harnett | Yes |
| Bath | William Brown[10] | Yes |
| Halifax Town | John Webb | |
| Halifax Town | Joseph Montfort | |
| Hillsborough | Francis Nash | Yes |
| Salisbury | William Kennon | |
| Brunswick Town | Parker Quince | Yes |
| Campbelton[note 2] | Robert Rowan | Yes |
