The North Carolina General Assembly of 1836–1837 met in the Government House in Raleigh from November 21, 1836 to January 23, 1837. The assembly consisted of the 120 members of the North Carolina House of Commons and 50 senators of North Carolina Senate elected by the voters in August 1836.[1] During the 1836 session, the legislature created Davie County, but it was not until 1842 that Davie County began sending delegates to the General Assembly. William H. Haywood, Jr was elected speaker of the House of Commons and Charles Manley was elected clerk. Hugh Waddell was elected President of the Senate and Thomas G. Stone was elected Clerk. Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr. was the Governor in 1835 and 1836. He was elected by the previous legislature. In 1837, the Governor of North Carolina, Edward Bishop Dudley (Whig Party) from New Hanover County, was elected, for the first time, by the people vice the legislature.[2][3][4][5] The Whigs would control North Carolina politics until 1850. While in power, their notable achievements included funding railroads and roads, public education, and State chartered banks.[6][7][8]
Qualifications for office and voting
North Carolina State Constitutional Convention of 1835
Voters and office holders were required by the North Carolina constitution of 1776 to own property. The amendments to the constitution in 1835 also disqualified free blacks from voting. Free blacks were qualified to vote in the original 1776 constitution.[1]
The specific wording in the amended constitution, Article 1, Section 3, is as follows:[9]
"1. Each member of the Senate shall have usually resided in the district for which he is chosen for one year immediately preceding his election, and for the same time shall have possessed and continue to possess in the district which he represents, not less than three hundred acres of land in fee."
"2. All free men of the age of twenty-one years, (except as is hereinafter declared) who have been inhabitants of any one district within the State twelve months immediately preceding the day of any election, and possessed of a freehold within the same district of fifty acres of land, for six months next before and at the day of election, shall be entitled to vote for a member of the Senate."
"3. No free negro, free mulatto, or free person of mixed blood, descended from negro ancestors to the fourth generation inclusive, (though one ancestor of each generation may have been a white person,) shall vote for members of the Senate or House of Commons."
The religious qualifications for office were expanded to include the following statement:[9]
"The Thirty-second Section of the Constitution shall be amended to read as follows: No person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Christian Religion, or the divine authority of the Old or New Testament, or who shall hold Religious principles incompatible with the freedom or safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the Civil department within this State."
Members of the House of Commons and Senate were elected every two years, starting with an election in 1835 for the 1836–1837 session of the general assembly.[9]
Laws passed by the general assembly
Laws of the State of North Carolina enacted by the General Assembly in 1836-1837
The State treasure had a balance of $55,113.06 on deposit on January 19, 1837, including $25,192.04 in the literary fund.[10] In 1836, the federal government gave North Carolina $1.5 M from sale of western lands.[11] The following laws, acts, and resolutions were passed by the general assembly:[10]
An act consolidating the pilots and commissioners of navigation
An act that enrolled all free white males between the ages of 18 and 45 in the State Militia. Exceptions were given for certain public officials and other occupations. Free black males could only be enrolled as musicians in the militia. The division, brigade, and regiment structure of the militia was prescribed and included each county.
An act amending the charter of the Portsmouth and Roanoke Rail Road Company; the charter of the Cape Fear, Yadkin and Pedee Rail Road Company; and the charter of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Rail Road Company
Acts to incorporate the Norfolk and Edenton Rail Road Company; and the North Carolina Central Rail Road Company; and the Raleigh and Columbia Rail Road Company
An Act to lay off and construct a State Road from the town of Franklin, in Macon county, across the Nantahala mountain, to Valley River, and thence to the Georgia line.
An Act to provide for the collection and management of revenue for the State.
Acts to incorporate the Caldwell Institute, in the town of Greensborough, North Carolina; the Cane Creek Farmers' and Mechanics' Cotton Manufacturing Company of Orange and Chatham; the General Mining and Manufacturing Association; the town of Greensborough, North Carolina in the county of Guilford; the Milton Manufacturing Corporation; the Mutual Insurance Company of Fayetteville; the Rockfish Manufacturing Company of Fayetteville; the town of Rolesville, North Carolina; and the Salem Manufacturing Company
An Act to emancipate Henry, Fanny and John, the slaves and children of Miles Howard: Miles Howard (1799–1857) was a freed slave in Halifax, North Carolina. He was a barber and musician and owned land in Halifax.[12]
An Act to emancipate Isaac, a slave.
An Act to authorize William L. Blount and his associates to erect a Bridge across Great Contentena Creek, near Washington Ferry, on said Creek
An Act to authorize Ebenezer Pettigrew, of the county of Tyrrel, to build bridge across Scuppernong River, in the county of Washington
An Act for the relief of John Timson, a native Cherokee Indian, and his family.
Resolved, by the General Assembly, That the President and Directors of the Literary Fund of North Carolina, be instructed to digest a plan for common schools, suited to the condition and resources of this State, and report the same to the next General Assembly.
Speaker of the House of Commons William Henry Haywood, JrRep. William Alexander GrahamRep. Owen Rand KenanRep. Bartholomew Figures MooreRep. Joseph John DanielRep. Kenneth RaynerRep. Charles FisherRep. Daniel William Courts
Per the 1835 Constitution of North Carolina Convention, the House of Commons was authorized a total of one hundred-twenty delegates. Each county was authorized a minimum of one delegate, while the most populous counties were authorized four delegates. Members no longer included representatives from the boroughs or districts (Edenton, Halifax, Hillsborough, New Bern, Salisbury, and Wilmington). Each delegate was elected for a two-year term of office.[2][14][15][1][16]
Sen. William Dunn MoseleySen. John Davis HawkinsSen Hugh Waddell
As a result of 1835 amendments to the Constitution of North Carolina, the Senate was authorized a total of fifty delegates from fifty districts apportioned on approximately equal populations. After each U.S. Census, these districts were to be adjusted, again based on approximately equal populations. Each delegate was elected for a two-year term of office. There was no lieutenant governor in 1836. Hugh Waddell was President of the Senate.[3][15][14][1][30]
Notes: Prior to the Constitution of 1868: the lower house of the North Carolina Legislature was known as the House of Commons and the leader of the Senate was called the Speaker of the Senate.
