NC’s ‘Great Refusal’ to sign US Constitution led to Bill of Rights

Yesterday, you may have noticed that we took the bold (or maybe odd) decision to begin publishing all 85 essays from the Federalist Papers, which, at a rate of one per Thursday, will take us about 85 weeks, if my math is correct. In the context of this project and the 250th anniversary of our nation, it is important to also remember North Carolina’s response to this push to ratify the US Constitution in 1788.

Even if we revere the Constitution now and recognize its genius, not everyone was immediately convinced. Article 7 said that if at least nine of the 13 states ratified the document, it would become effective in those states. And exactly nine states immediately did so. But four states (New York, Virginia, Rhode Island, and North Carolina) dragged their feet. This is what motivated Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to write the Federalist Papers. They were specifically written to convince New Yorkers, but the arguments were also used to pressure those in the other three states.

While many other states were dominated by Federalists, who favored a stronger union than the Articles of Confederation had provided, the Anti-Federalists had a major foothold in the Tar Heel State. Federalists had major Founding Fathers (like those that wrote the Federalist Papers), but Anti-Federalists had their own prominent voices, like Patrick Henry and George Mason. And the Anti-Federalists in North Carolina, remembering the strong arm of British rule, were wary of individuals and the state losing any power to a far-away central government.

These North Carolina voices, led by Willie Jones, insisted that the US Constitution have a “declaration of rights.” And in the 1788 Hillsborough Convention, Anti-Federalist arguments won the day, successfully moving the state to vote against ratifying the US Constitution. For his efforts, Jones, sometimes called “the Jefferson of North Carolina,” is honored in downtown Raleigh, as the General Assembly resides on a street named for him.

The proposed amendments to the US Constitution that North Carolina sent along with their conditional refusal to ratify mirror many of the rights we enjoy in the eventual Bill of Rights. The proposals were clearly influenced by Anti-Federalist leader George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights. But the right to life, liberty, property, happiness, and safety (a mix of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson’s formulations) is notably first on the list. Then there were amendments for the right to bear arms, the right to freedom of speech, the right to freedom of religion, and rights dealing with legal procedures, all of which would be included in the official Bill of Rights as well.

This bold move in Hillsborough, often called “the Great Refusal,” pressured the First US Congress to promise a Bill of Rights. After that promise was secured, North Carolina responded with another convention, in 1789, this time in Fayetteville, where it agreed to ratify the US Constitution and join the union.

The headline image for this article has a picture of the historical marker in downtown Hillsborough, noting this major event. I snapped the photo on the way to work yesterday, but I walk or drive past it multiple times a week. When I do, I often think of just how important that meeting in my small town was, not just to individual rights in our nation, but to the world.

Would we have “First Amendment rights” to religion, speech, the press, or assembly without North Carolina’s Great Refusal? Likely, in some form, but they may have been harder to defend. The same can be said for the Second Amendment right to bear arms, or the Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.

When people around the world think of basic individual rights, they often think of the American Constitution, using terms like “freedom of speech” or “freedom of religion,” which, at least in part, were influenced by the American Bill of Rights.

It should be a point of pride that North Carolina, in little Hillsborough, refused to join the union without a guarantee of these individual rights. Many nations have given broad powers to a central government, with verbal assurances to treat the people and local governments fairly. Getting it in writing, and insisting over the last two and half centuries that these rights be upheld, has been key to maintaining a government of, for, and by the people. Like the nobles who forced the English king to make written guarantees in the Magna Carta, the delegates at the Hillsborough Convention made what appeared like a small step for their own liberty that ended up being a giant step for mankind.

See below the proposed Declaration of Rights that the Hillsborough Convention proposed after declining to ratify in 1788:

“NC’s ‘Great Refusal’ to sign US Constitution led to Bill of Rights” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.