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The New Jersey of the South or Virginia’s Partner: Foreign Affairs and the Ratification of the Constitution in North Carolina
- Journal of the Early Republic
- The University of North Carolina Press
- Volume 44, Number 1, Spring 2024
- pp. 27-56
- 10.1353/jer.2024.a922050
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
Foreign affairs in the North Carolina ratification debates reveals a conflict between two states. The Antifederalists saw North Carolina's interests as those of a southern staple exporter with western holdings, similar to Virginia. The Federalists saw North Carolina as a small state, lacking a large port, with shipping sector. They, like New Jersey and Connecticut, favored a stronger central government that would free their trade from the control of larger neighbors. Tennessee switched sides. It initially saw the Constitution as a threat to its access to the Mississippi, but voted to ratify at the second convention, seeing the union, as its only safe option.