Hillsborough Convention

The Hillsborough Convention, also historically referred to as the Convention of North-Carolina, was a convention of 270 delegates, representing 7 boroughs and 58 counties in the state and its western territories, who met from July 21 to August 4, 1788 to deliberate and determine whether to ratify the Constitution recommended to the states by the General Convention held in Philadelphia the previous summer. These delegates had won their seats through special elections held in March 1788 as mandated by the North Carolina General Assembly. The convention was held in Hillsborough, North Carolina at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church.Governor Samuel Johnston presided over the Convention.

Key state Federalists were James Iredell Sr., William Davie, and William Blount. Anti-federalist leaders included Willie Jones, Samuel Spencer, and Timothy Bloodworth. The Anti-Federalist delegates outnumbered their Federalist colleagues by a margin of two-to-one. The Federalists wanted to strengthen the powers of the federal government to help the country keep from dissolving. They argued that the powers granted to the federal government in the Articles of Confederation were not sufficient. On the other side, the Anti-Federalists were suspicious of the federal government, and did not want self-rule to come under fire from a government that could intrude on state and individual rights. Knowing that they would likely lose, members of the Federalist minority brought a stenographer to the convention to record their arguments for publication in hopes of changing public opinion in the future.

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