State

Fra; I I ing the Constitution Mr. Lawrence tells of the part which the North Carolina delegation played in help¬ ing to shape up the Federal Constitution so that it would be acceptable. ON the last day of its session, the Carolina Legislature on January 6. 1787, appointed five delegates to attend a Conven¬ tion to be held at Philadelphia to undertake the formation of a Fed¬ eral Constitution. The delegates so elected were: Governor Richard Caswell. Willie Jones, Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and William R. Davie. Jones, out¬ standing leader from Halifax, was opposed to the Convention and re¬ fused to serve as delegate. Gov¬ ernor Caswell was in poor health and could not attend. In lieu of these the Governor named Dr. Hugh Williamson and William Blount. The ages of these men should be noted. Dr. Williamson, from Chowan, was then fifty-two. and had a most unusual career, being at different times a preacher, a professor of mathematics, a physician. Surgeon- General of Carolina troops in the Revolution, a Congressman, an author and a historian. Martin of Guilford was forty-seven — Gov¬ ernor of the State. Blount of Cra¬ ven was only thirty-eight, becom¬ ing at a later date Governor of the Northwest Territories, and United States Senator from Tennessee. Da¬ vie was but thirty-one. the fore¬ most lawyer of his day. father of the University. Spaight was just twenty-nine, becoming at a later date Governor, as did also his son of the same name. Like Blount. Sht was from Craven. The ina delegation was a young one. A Capable Group The impressions of a member of the Convention have been pre¬ served in regard to the Carolina members in the diary of William Pierce of Georgia. He tells us that Blount had a "character strongly marked for integrity and honor”; that Williamson was a "gentleman of education and talent," having a "great degree of good humor and pleasantry in his character." He said that Davie was an eminent lawyer, with a good classical edu¬ cation. "silent in the Convention.” but whose opinion was "always re¬ spected." It is difficult to see how By R. C. LAWRENCE so eminent a lawyer as Davie could have kept silent amidst the debate which raged fiercely around practically every clause in the document under consideration. Pierce characterized Martin as a "man of sense, a good politician but no speaker"; and Spaight as "able to discharge any public trust his country may repose in him." The delegation was composed en¬ tirely of Federalists with the ex¬ ception of Martin. The record shows that Dr. Wil¬ liamson was the most active of the Carolinians, doing the most speak¬ ing and serving on more commit¬ tees than any of his colleagues. Davie and Martin left before the Convention closed; and Blount was necessarily absent a large part of the time, in attendance upon the Continental Congress in New York. The major problem to be solved was the extent of the powers to be granted the new national govern¬ ment. The large states favored a strong central government; the small states wished to reserve every practical power to the states, making the national government too weak to have an effective exist¬ ence. The delegation from Caro¬ lina joined those of the larger states in favoring a strong central government. Let us look at some of the positions favored by the Carolinians: The delegation favored the elec¬ tion of the President by Congress rather than by the Electoral Col¬ lege. the method finally adopted. Through Spaight. our delegation proposed the election of United States Senators by the state legis¬ latures, a proposal which prevailed. The Slave Question There was a fierce contest upon the question whether slaves should be counted in determining popu¬ lation as the basis for legislative representation. The non -slave states opposed slaves being counted, whereas certain Southern states such as Georgia and South Carolina demanded that the total number of slaves be counted just as the whites were. On this vital issue the Carolina delegation took the middle ground — that three- fifths of the slaves be used as the basis of representation. At the time this Convention was held Carolina ranked third in popu¬ lation among the states, but the delegation subordinated their sec¬ tional interest in favor of national unity, agreeing that each state should have the same representa¬ tion in the Senate. The distin¬ guished Carolinian Hannis Taylor, who became Minister to Spain, says this vote “saved the Convention from dissolution." By a little political trading the Carolina delegation also accom¬ plished certain other results. In re¬ turn for the insertion of a clause prohibiting Congress from passing acts which would prevent the im¬ portation of slaves, the Carolinians broke away from the other South¬ ern delegations, and voted to con¬ fer upon Congress the important power to regulate inter-state com¬ merce. It is difficult to see how the Constitution or the Union could have survived had it not been for the adoption of this all essential clause. The Electoral College Carolinians had a hand in other important matters connected with the framing of the Constitution. When the Convention decided that the President should be elected by an Electoral College, it was Wil¬ liamson who moved that the num¬ ber of these electors should be regulated by the number of the State’s representatives in the first branch of Congress. Our delegation favored a single term for the Presi¬ dent, but a long one. and on the final ballot voted against the four- year term. It was Dr. Williamson who caused the majority necessary to over-ride the presidential veto to be fixed at two-thirds; and it was also upon his motion that the Con¬ vention determined that the Presi- ( Continued on page 21 ) THE STATE. September 1. 1945 12