Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress

Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress (1776)
Fourth Provincial Congress NC General Assembly of 1777
Overview
Legislative bodyNorth Carolina Provincial Congress
JurisdictionNorth Carolina, United States
Meeting placeHalifax, North Carolina
Term1776
Members187 Delegates (35 counties, 10 Districts)
PresidentRichard Caswell[1]
Vice-PresidentCornelius Harnett[1]
SecretaryJames Green, Jr.[1][2]
Assistant SecretaryJames Glasgow
Sessions
1stNovember 12, 1776 – December 23, 1776
Richard Caswell

The Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congress was the last of five extra-legal unicameral bodies that met beginning in the summer of 1774. They were modeled after the colonial lower house (House of Commons). These congresses created a government structure, issued bills of credit to pay for the movement, organized an army for defense, wrote a constitution and bill of rights that established the state of North Carolina, and elected their first acting governor in the fifth congress that met in 1776. These congresses paved the way for the first meeting of the North Carolina General Assembly on April 7, 1777 in New Bern, North Carolina.[3] The Fifth Congress met in Halifax from November 12 to December 23, 1776. Richard Caswell served as president, with Cornelius Harnett as vice-president.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Journal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Reidinger, Martin (1986). "James Green, Jr". NCPEDIA. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Butler, Lindley (2006). Powell, William Stevens (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina, Provincial Congresses. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 917–918. ISBN 0807830712.
  4. ^ "State Library of North Carolina. Information page for Tryon Palace". Archived from the original on 2008-05-03.
  5. ^ Lewis, J.D. "5th Provincial Congress". The American Revolution in North Carolina. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  6. ^ Connor, Robert Diggs Wimberly, ed. (1913). A Manual of North Carolina Issued by the North Carolina Historical Commission for the Use of Members of the General Assembly Session 1913. Retrieved August 13, 2019.