Why does North Carolina have an original manuscript copy of the Bill of Rights?
North Carolina had not ratified the United States Constitution when Congress proposed that it be amended because delegates to the State’s Constitutional Convention did not believe the document, as originally written, sufficiently protected individual freedoms and state sovereignty. Although North Carolina was not a “state,” Congress nevertheless requested President George Washington to send a copy of the proposed constitutional amendments to North Carolina for it to consider if North Carolina ratified the Constitution. President Washington complied with Congress’s request on October 2, 1789 by sending a copy of the Bill of Rights to North Carolina Governor Samuel Johnston for delivery to North Carolina’s legislative body, the General Assembly. A second Constitutional Convention ratified the Constitution in November 1789 and the General Assembly ratified all twelve of the proposed amendments in December of the same year.
