AN ORDINANCE DECLARING NULL AND VOID THE ORDINANCE OF MAY 20TH, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-ONE. Be it declared and ordained by the delegates of the good people of the State of North-Carolina, in Convention assembled, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance of the Convention of the State of North-Carolina, ratified on the twenty-first day of November, seventeen hundred and eightynine, which adopted and ratified the Constitution of the United States, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly, ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are now and at all times since the adoption and ratification thereof, have been in full force and effect; notwithstanding the supposed ordinance of the twentieth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, declaring that the same be repealed, rescinded and abrogated; and the said supposed ordinance is now and at all times hath been nul I and void. [Ratified in Convention, this seventh day of Octo ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred an d sixty-one.] EDWIN G. READE, President. AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING SLAVERY IN THE STATE OF NORTH-CAROLINA. Be it declared and ordained by the delegates of the people of the State of North-Carolina in Convention assembled, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That slavery and invol untary servitude, otherwise than for crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited within the State. [Ratified in Convention, this ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.] EDWIN G. READE, President.. JAS. H. MOORE, Secretary of the Convention. R. C. BADGER, Assistant Secretary. AN ORDINANCE IN RELATION TO THE AUTHENTICATION OF ORDINANCES AND OTHER ACTS OF THE CONVENTION. Be it ordained by this Convention, That ordinances and resolutions of the Convention, having the effect of laws, shall be authenticated by the signature of the President and attestation of the Secretary and Assistant Secretary, and shall have the date of their final passage annexed thereto; from which date each ordinance and resolution shall take effect and go into operation, unless some other time shall be therein appointed. [Ratified in Convention, this 7th day of October, 1865.] EDWIN G. READE, President. JAS. H. MOORE, Secretary of the Convention. R. C. Badger, Assistant Secretary. AN ORDINANCE TO DIVIDE NORTH-CAROLINA INTO SEVEN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS. SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the people of North-Carolina in Convention assembled, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same, That for the purpose of electing representatives in the Congress of the United States, the State shall be divided into seven districts, as follows: The first district shall be composed of the counties of Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Gates, Chowan, Hertford, Northampton, Halifax, Martin, Bertie, Washington, Tyrrell, Hyde and Beaufort; the second district, of the counties of Pitt, Craven, Jones, Lenoir, Wayne, Green, Edgecombe, Wilson, Onslow, Carteret, Duplin and New-Hanover; the third district, of the counties of Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, Sampson, Cumberland, Robeson, Richmond, Harnett, Moore, Montgomery, Anson and Stanly; the fourth district, of the counties of Wake, Franklin, Warren, Granville, Orange, Nash, Johnston and Chatham; the fifth district, of the counties of Alamance, Randolph, Guilford, Rockingham, Davidson, Forsythe, Stokes, Surry, Person and Caswell; the sixth district, of the counties of Rowan, Cabarrus, Union, Mecklenburg, Gaston, Lincoln, Catawba, Iredell, Davie, Yadkin, Wilkes and Alexander; the seventh district, of the counties of Ashe, Alleghany, Watauga, Yancey, Mitchell, McDowell, Burke, Caldwell, Rutherford, Cleaveland, Polk, Henderson, Transylvania, Buncombe, Madison, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Cherokee and Clay, each of which districts shall be entitled to elect one representative in the Congress of the United States. SEC. 2. The election for representatives in Congress shall be held and conducted in every respect in conformity with the rules, regulations and restrictions as set forth and prescribed in the sixty-ninth chapter of the Revised Code, except that the polls shall be compared in the first district, at the court house in the county of Chowan; in the second dis trict, at the court house in the county of Lenoir; in the third district, at the court house in the county of Cumberland; in the fourth district, at the court house in the county of Wake; in the fifth district, at the court house in the county of Guilford; in the sixth district, at the court house in the county of Iredell, and in the seventh district, at the court house in the county of Buncombe. [Ratified in Convention, the 16th day of October, 1865.] EDWIN G. READE, President. JAS. H. MOORE, Secretary of the Convention. R. C. BADGER, Assistant Secretary. AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE ELECTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO BE CONVENED ON THE FOURTH MONDAY OF NOVEMBER, 1865, AND FOR ELECTING REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, AND GOVERNOR OF THE STATE. Be it ordained by the delegates of the people of the State of North-Carolina in Convention assembled, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same, That a General Assembly of the State shall be convened on the fourth Monday of November, 1865, the members whereof shall hold their places till the next election of such members, which shall be held on the first Thursday of August, 1866. Be it further ordained, That the Provisional Governor is hereby authorized and requested to issue forthwith to the sheriff of each County, a writ directing that an election be held for the Senators and members of the House of Commons of such General Assembly, on the second Thursday of November next, under the rules, regulations and provisions of chapter 52 of the Revised Code. Be it further ordained, That immediately on the receipt of the writ, each Sheriff shall summon the Justices of the Peace of the Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, to assemble at the court house on a day appointed by him, which shall be as early as practicable; and they, or so many as may assemble, shall appoint inspectors for each place of election who shall be forthwith notified of their appointment by the Sheriff, and they shall conduct the elections and make returns of the polls in the manner prescribed in said chapter. Be it further ordained, That each member and voter shall be qualified according to the now existing constitution of the State. Provided, however, That no one shall be eligible to a seat or be capable of voting, who being free in all respects, shall not before the twenty-ninth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, either have voluntarily taken and subscribed the oath of Amnesty prescribed in the proclamations of President Lincoln, with the purpose to suppress the insurrection and restore the authority of the United States, and thenceforward shall have observed the same, or shall not have taken and subscribed the oath of Amnesty prescribed in the proclamation of President Johnson bearing date twenty-ninth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and who moreover, shall not in either case be of those who are excepted from the Amnesty granted by any of the said proclamations, unless pardoned: but provided also, That all persons who may have preferred petitions for pardon, shall be deemed to have been pardoned if the fact of being pardoned shall be announced by the Governor, although the pardon may not have been received: and provided also, that the payment of a public tax shall not be required as a qualification of the voter in the elections in November next. Be it further ordained, That for the purpose of ascertaining the qualifications of persons proposing to vote, the inspectors may, and it shall be their duty whenever the vote may be challenged, or they shall have cause to suspect that he is not duly qualified, examine him and others on oath touching the question. Be it further ordained, That at the same time and places elections shall be held for seven Representatives in the Con |