Printed immediately following the event it preserves, this work is the official record of the proceedings of North Carolina’s 1835 constitutional convention. Essentially a set of minutes, this work notes the convention delegates, their resolutions, motions, and voting. It does not, however, record word for word the speeches given on the floor of the convention. The list of resolutions to be considered by the convention begins on page 13. The debate regarding free African American suffrage begins on page 22, and the record of the vote denying them their right to cast ballots occurs on page 73. The record of the religious test debate (the 32nd article of the old constitution) begins on page 42. The amendments that the Convention finally decided upon begin on page 95. These amendments to the state constitution were subsequently placed before the voters of North Carolina who, in a highly sectional vote, approved them. They, in essence, extended the right to vote to more middling and lower class white men, and diluted to some extent the power of the large landholders in state politics.

Kevin Cherry