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The legislature probably first met in the spring of 1665 as the General Assembly of Albemarle County in the Province of Carolina. The body was formed as specified in the Concessions and Agreement of 1665, which was the first constitution put into effect in Carolina. The Concessions and Agreement gave extensive power to the legislature, but the several Fundamental Constitutions (1669-1698) reduced that power. From 1665 to the mid-1690s, the assembly was unicameral--a single body composed of the governor, his Council, and members elected by the freeholders of the colony. From about the early 1670s anyone named a landgrave or cacique in the province's nobility could also vote in the assembly. From 169l to 1729 all freemen, as distinct from landowning freeholders, were allowed to vote. The governor was commissioned by the eight lords proprietors and was responsible directly to them and indirectly to the crown. For most of those thirty years the Council consisted of five deputies of the proprietors and five men chosen by the elected members of the assembly. Originally there were only twelve elected members, but by 1688 Albemarle County had been divided into four precincts, each having five representatives. In 1705 new precincts (later counties) were allowed only two representatives. From 1723 towns with at least 60 families were given one representative each, as boroughs. Albemarle County ceased to exist as a governmental unit in 1689. The region north and east of Cape Fear became an administrative unit of the province and became known as North Carolina. It retained a separate legislature, but some significant changes were made in its form. First was the elimination of the five Council members who had been elected by the assembly. The second was the change to a bicameral legislature. Under the new system the upper house was composed of the governor's Council, and the lower house of the elected representatives from counties and borough towns. As a separate institution the lower house had the freedom to adopt its own rules of procedure, elect its speaker and other officers, and decide contested elections. The house could only be convened when called by the deputy governor or, after 1712, by the governor, who specified the time and place for each session and who also had the power to prorogue a session or to dissolve the assembly and call for new elections. The fact that the lower house held control of revenue and the governor's salary ensured that the assembly would be called with regularity, and that governors and councils usually would attempt some sort of accommodation with the elected representatives. In 1728 all but one of the proprietors agreed to sell the colony to the crown. Although the northern part of the colony continued to be owned by Lord Granville, the crown assumed the government of all of North Carolina. The assembly itself did not change significantly, but royal governors were given strict instructions concerning procedure and law. Theoretically, all laws were to have been approved by the proprietors, but this had not been done with any regularity. Restrictions on the legislature's ability to pass laws were severely tightened. Battles also were waged between the two houses over the right to introduce and amend bills, and even over the houses’ respective names. From the 1690s to the 1720s the lower house sometimes was called the House of Burgesses. By the 1720s, Lower House of Assembly was used interchangeably with House of Burgesses, with Upper House being the term favored for the other body. Around the 1760s the lower house appropriated the name assembly and referred to the upper house as the Council because its members also constituted the governor's Council. The upper house objected to this term, claiming that when serving as the upper house, it was as representative of the people as the elected lower house. Assembly sessions began after new members had presented certificates of election. Sessions began with the reading of the governor’s message informing members of what matters they should consider, although they were by no means limited to his desires. Committees were generally appointed at the beginning of the session and were either standing or select. Standing committees served throughout the session while select committees, appointed to consider a particular issue, ceased to exist when their work was completed. Committees could meet jointly and include members from both houses, or could remain separate. One important joint standing committee was the Committee of Claims, which examined all financial claims against the government. Each house usually had a Committee of Privileges and Elections to investigate contested elections. The lower house also had a Committee of Petitions and Grievances to which most petitions were referred, and a Committee on Public Bills to draft legislation. After hearing a committee's report, the legislature might propose a resolution or bill. Resolutions were expressions of the will of the assembly on matters too specific to be dealt with by enactment of a statute. Joint resolutions were passed by both houses and had the weight of law. Simple resolutions were voted on by one house and concerned matters relating to that house only. During the colonial period, bills were introduced in the lower house and alternated between houses to pass three readings in each. Bills could be rejected, amended, or tabled at any point in this process. The governor could accept or reject bills, as could the crown. Passed bills were sent to the engrossing clerk to be copied and entered as law. At the end of each session, the clerk of the lower house would draw up an estimate of members' pay and travel allowances, to by paid by the treasurer. The first state constitution was ratified in December 1776 by vote of the assembly. The constitution revoked most of the power that the governor held over the legislature. He could no longer summon, prorogue, or dissolve the assembly. The upper house was renamed the Senate and the lower house became the House of Commons. The Senate was to be composed of one senator elected from each county, with the House to consist of two representatives from each county plus one representative from each of the six borough towns. All members were to be elected annually. Requirements for legislative office included property ownership, county residency, and belief in Protestant Christianity, although this last requirement was never rigidly enforced. Requirements for voters were that they be free males aged twenty-one or older who resided in and paid public taxes to the county in which they were voting. There was an additional property ownership requirement to vote for senator. The assembly elected almost all other public officials including governor, secretary of state, delegates to Congress until 1790, and U.S. senators, justices of the peace, and militia officers. One of the most divisive issues of the 1776 Constitution was the unequal distribution of representation, which favored the more numerous counties in the east. This situation went unresolved until the amendments of 1835 set the number of senators at fifty, elected from districts divided according to tax revenue, and set the membership of the house at 120, elected by county according to population. The assembly was to be elected and to meet every two years. The assembly could elect only the secretary of state, treasurer, the Council of State, and U.S. senators. The amendments also limited the power of the assembly to pass private acts. The amendments served primarily to prevent the assembly from getting bogged down in elections, appointments, and private petitions. Changes in voting and office holding requirements included the denial of the vote to free blacks and the loosening of the religious requirement for officeholders to a belief in the Christian religion as opposed to the Protestant faith. In 1857, an amendment removed the property requirement to vote for state senator. The state constitution was amended in 1861 to dissolve the union between North Carolina and the United States, and to ratify the constitution of the provisional government of the Confederate States of America. Neither the amendments nor the Confederate Constitution altered the duties of the assembly. A second state constitution was ratified by the assembly in convention in 1868. Besides abolishing slavery, allowing universal manhood suffrage, and restoring the union with the United States, it eliminated property requirements for holding office and directed the holder of the new office of lieutenant governor to serve as president of the Senate, but without having a vote. The religious disqualification from office was further reduced to "all persons who shall deny the existence of Almighty God" as it remains to this day. The House of Commons became the House of Representatives, and the power of the assembly to levy taxes and borrow money was further limited. The 1868 Constitution also required biennial sessions for the assembly and detailed the legislature’s responsibilities toward public schools and the University of North Carolina. Amendments in 1875 enacted a fixed rate of compensation for legislators. Amendments through the 1950s gradually increased that rate and allowed for payment of expenses. In 1971, the present constitution was ratified. It rearranged and clarified the language of the 1868 Constitution and revised the Declaration of Rights. Additionally, it gave the legislature the power to convene extra sessions upon the written request of three-fifths of all members, and added convictions for felonies to the disqualification from both office holding and voting. Currently, both senators and representatives are elected for two-year terms from districts determined by population and revised every ten years. Requirements for Senate office are that the member be at least twenty-five years of age, be a qualified voter, and resident in the state for two years and in his or her district for one year prior to election. Requirements for House office are that the member be a qualified voter and resident in his or her district for one year prior to election. Compensation and allowances for members are determined by the assembly, with any change taking effect at the following session. For most of its first 130 years the General Assembly moved from place to place. The government house in New Bern, known as Tryon Palace, housed the governor and Council, but was abandoned during the Revolutionary War. Raleigh was established as the permanent capital of North Carolina in 1792, and the assembly of 1794 was the first to meet there. The capitol building in Raleigh was completed in 1796 and housed the General Assembly until it was destroyed by fire in 1831. A new capitol building was completed in 1840 and used until the legislature and its staff outgrew it. The present legislative building was completed in 1963 and holds the Senate and house chambers, committee rooms, and legislator and staff offices. Though it has grown considerably, the organization of the General Assembly remains today much the same as it has for the last two centuries. Each house elects its own officers, the speaker of the house and president pro tempore of the Senate, as well as principal clerks, reading clerks, and sergeants-at-arms. Beginning with the 1989 session, the president pro tempore and speaker have appointed committee members who previously had been appointed by the president of the Senate and the speaker. There are approximately thirty-four standing committees in the Senate and thirteen in the House, plus fifty subcommittees. The function and form of committees, resolutions, and bills have not changed substantially since the 1700s. Committees meet now as they did then, to report on issues and recommend solutions. Resolutions still refer to specific matters. Bills still must pass three readings in each house, although they now pass three readings in one house before being sent to the other for concurrence. Bills are divided into local bills applying to fewer than fifteen counties, and public bills, applying to fifteen or more counties. A major change in the past 200 years has been the growth in staff and their responsibilities. The principal clerk sets the daily calendar and is employed year round. The reading clerk reads all messages, bills, and amendments during sessions and is employed only during assembly sessions. The sergeant-at-arms is also employed only during the session and is in charge of pages and doorkeepers. Each legislator is also assigned a private secretary during sessions. Administrative authority for the assembly is vested in the Legislative Services Commission. The president pro tempore and the speaker are ex officio chairmen of the commission and each appoints six members from his chamber to serve through the year. The administrative division provides logistical support in building maintenance, bill printing, mail services, and the like. The Legislative Research Commission is an umbrella agency for research and committees. The professional staff is responsible for computer applications used by staff, fiscal analysis, and general research into subjects affecting and affected by state law, and drafting bills in proper form. The other major change in the functioning of the assembly occurred relatively early in its history. Royal governors had the power to reject a bill by authority of the crown. In the 1776 Constitution this power was taken away. For over two centuries, the governor had no power to veto legislation. North Carolina was the last state in the nation to give veto power to its governor. Session Law 1995-5 was entitled "An Act to Provide for a Referendum to Amend the Constitution to Provide for a Gubernatorial Veto" and was ratified March 8, 1995. The referendum was held November 5, 1996, and the voters approved the measure. The changes to Article II, Section 22 of the North Carolina Constitution became effective on January 1, 1997. REFERENCES: North Carolina Constitution of 1776. Amendments of 1835, I. Amendment of 1857. Amendments of 1861-62, I, III. North Carolina Constitution of 1868. Amendments of 1875, VIII. Amendments of 1969, VI. North Carolina Constitution of 1971. Amendments of 1996. Ferrell, Joseph S. GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA: A HANDBOOK FOR LEGISLATORS. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990. Lefler, Hugh Talmage, and Albert Ray Newsome. THE HISTORY OF A SOUTHERN STATE: NORTH CAROLINA. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1954. Cheney, John L., Jr., ed. NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNMENT: 1585-1979. Raleigh: Department of the Secretary of State, 1981. Office of the Secretary of State. NORTH CAROLINA MANUAL, 1989-1990. Edited by John L. Cheney, Jr. Raleigh, 1991. -----. NORTH CAROLINA MANUAL, 2003-2004. Raleigh, 2005 ?. Paschal, Herbert Richard, Jr. PROPRIETARY NORTH CAROLINA: A STUDY IN COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. Ph.D. diss., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1961. |
