other, has been calledj and therefore that Act, 

 so sanctioned, must be regrrded as our power of 

 attorney. If we transcend the limits, or refuse 

 obedience to the conditions therein provided, we 

 are not the Convention called by the people, but 

 a self -constituted body." 



Whereupon the delegates voted 86 to 22 tc take the prescribed oath 



12 



and organize the Convention of 183$. 



Proposed Convention of l86l . 



On 1 January l86l, the General Assembly voted to submit to the 

 people the question of vrhether a convention should be held v.iXh 

 "power to consider all grievances affecting North Carolina as 

 member of the Confederacy [Union! . . . ," and to exercise various 

 powers with respect to its own organization, the qualifications of 

 its members, etc,^ No further limitations or instructions were 

 embodied in the legislative act, and no requirement was imposed 

 that any constitutional amendment which the convention might adopt 

 should be submitted to the people for approval. The people re- 

 jected the proposed convention by a margin of 66l votes. 

 Convention of 1861-62. 



With the actual outbreak of civil hostilities, a special ses- 

 sion of the General Assembly exercised its constitutional authority 

 and called for the election of delegates to a convention x^thout a 

 prior vote of the people on the issue of convention or no convention. 



Hi 



l^Id. at 7j U June 1835. 



12 Id. at 8, U June 1835. 



13 Public Laws I66O-6I , C. 17. 



l^Public Laws I86I (1st Extra Session), C. 9. 



