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Day 35 of the Convention

Saturday, February 22, 1868

The Convention was called to order on Saturday at 10 o’clock, Mr. Pres. Cowles in the Chair.

The Convention began by paying homage to George Washington on the anniversary of his birthday. The convention considered adjournment in his honor. Mr. Ashley opposed saying the spirit of Washington was said to be looking on North Carolina. If so, the spirit would tell us to go on in our work. Mr. French proposed the following resolution:

Resolved, That with profound reverence for the memory of George Washington, we will honor the day of his birth, not by adjourning, but by proceeding to engraft upon the Constitution the great principles of justice and liberty, which have made his name illustrious.

On motion of Mr. Hood the rules were suspended, and the resolution adopted.

The suffrage question was then taken up. In the lengthy speeches and debates, Mr. Pool noted that attendance was so slim that a fair vote could not be obtained. He therefore moved to adjourn until Monday at 10 o’clock. According to the Daily Sentinel, after various objections and a good deal of wrangling, it was carried.

 

Resources

Ferrell, Joseph, ed., Compilation of the Official Report of the Proceedings of the Convention (Chapel Hill, N.C.: unpublished manuscript 2007). (See day 8 for fuller explanation of this resource.)

 

*The debate and other quotes are close to verbatim from the reported resources with some adjustment to put all comments in first person, present tense.

Ann McColl

Ann McColl is an attorney and state constitutional scholar.