GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

S	1 

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 743

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Sponsors: Senators Tally; and Raynor.

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Referred to:  Rules.

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April 3, 1989

A JOINT RESOLUTION HONORING THE LIVES OF THE MANY REVOLUTIONARY PATRIOTS WHO DIED SO THAT THE COLONIES COULD BE FREE TO ENACT A CONSTITUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS GUARANTEEING OUR BASIC FREEDOMS AND RIGHTS.
Whereas, in 1787 the Federal Convention met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to amend the Articles of Confederation, but instead, after extended debate, drew up a new Constitution of the United States for the 13 former colonies, signed by three of the five delegates sent by North Carolina on September 17, 1789; and
Whereas, after the Constitution was signed it was submitted to the states for ratification and the General Assembly called for a convention to meet in 1788 at Hillsborough to vote on this new Constitution; and 
Whereas, after nine other states had ratified the Constitution of the United States, the North Carolina Convention convened on July 21, 1788, and after 11 days of spirited debate, the delegates voted 184 to 83 to "neither reject nor ratify the Constitution”and proposed instead that a Declaration of Rights and Amendments be added to the Constitution prior to ratification; and
Whereas, North Carolina's appeal for amendments to the Constitution made during the Hillsborough Convention unquestionably contributed to Congress' early submission of amendments to the Constitution to the states–the amendments which would become known as the Bill of Rights guaranteeing our most cherished basic rights and liberties; and
Whereas, knowing that the Bill of Rights had been drafted and would be submitted to the states for ratification, a second North Carolina Convention was convened on November 16, 1789, and after only five days of debate ratified the Constitution of the United States by a vote of 197 to 77;
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:
Section 1.  The General Assembly honors the lives and memories of the revolutionary patriots whose actions and deeds enabled the 13 colonies to free themselves of the yoke of oppression and draft and ratify the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
Sec. 2.  The General Assembly commemorates the North Carolina Convention which met on November 16, 1789, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and ratified the Constitution of the United States on November 21, 1789.
Sec. 3.  This resolution is effective upon ratification.