Editing Hillsborough, North Carolina (section)

===Colonial period and Revolutionary War===

[[Image:PLAN of the Town of HILLSBOROUGH in Orange County NORTH CAROLINA.jpg|right|thumb|A map of the town produced in 1768 by [[Claude J. Sauthier]].]]
[[File:The Wooden Nickel, Hillsborough NC.jpg|thumb|right|Downtown Hillsborough]]
Hillsborough was founded in 1754 and was first owned, surveyed, and mapped by [[William Churton]] (a [[Surveyor (surveying)|surveyor]] for [[John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville|Earl Granville]]). Originally to be named Orange, it was first named Corbin Town (for Francis Corbin, a member of the governor's council and one of Granville's land agents). It was renamed in 1759 as Childsburgh (in honor of Thomas Child, the attorney general for North Carolina from 1751 to 1760 and another of Granville's land agents). It was not until 1766 that it was named Hillsborough, after [[Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire|Wills Hill]], then the [[Earl of Hillsborough]], the [[British Empire|British]] secretary of state for the colonies, and a relative of royal Governor [[William Tryon]].<ref>Holaday, Chris (2002). ''Hillsborough (Images of America)''. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia. {{ISBN|978-0738514604}}</ref>

Hillsborough was an early [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]] colonial town where court was held, and was the scene of some pre-[[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] tensions. In the late 1760s, tensions between Piedmont farmers and county officers arose in the [[War of the Regulation|Regulator movement]], which had its strongest support in Hillsborough.<ref name="nc architecture2">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NccTgQkmPIEC
|publisher=[[UNC Press]]
|year=2005|pages=55–56
|title=North Carolina Architecture |first=Catherine |last=Bishir|isbn=9780807856246
}}</ref>  With specie scarce, many inland farmers found themselves unable to pay their [[taxes]] and resented the consequent seizure of their property.  Local sheriffs sometimes kept taxes for their own gain and sometimes charged twice for the same tax. Heavy-handed and corrupt local officials and Governor [[William Tryon]]'s conspicuous consumption in the construction of [[Tryon Palace|a new governor's mansion]] at [[New Bern]] exacerbated the movement's resentment.

As the western districts were under-represented in the colonial legislature, farmers had difficulty gaining redress from the [[legislature]]. Ultimately, the frustrated farmers took to arms and closed the court in Hillsborough, dragging those they considered corrupt officials through the streets.<ref name="nc architecture2"/>  Tryon and North Carolina [[militia]] troops marched to the region and defeated the Regulators at the [[Battle of Alamance]] in May 1771.<ref name="nc architecture2"/> Several trials were held after the war, resulting in the hanging of six Regulators at Hillsborough on June 19, 1771.

The [[North Carolina Provincial Congress]] met in Hillsborough from August 20 – September 10, 1775, at the outset of the [[American Revolution]]. The [[North Carolina General Assembly]] met here in 1778, 1782, and 1783. The town was also the site of the first North Carolina [[Hillsborough Convention|ratifying convention]], which met July 21 – August 2, 1788, to deliberate and determine whether or not to [[Ratification|ratify]] the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] recommended to the [[U.S. state|states]] by the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] held in [[Philadelphia]] the previous summer. With the hope of effecting the incorporation of a [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]] into the frame of government, delegates voted (184–84) to neither ratify nor reject the Constitution. During the [[Anniversary|bicentennial]] celebration of the writing and ratification of the Constitution, a historical marker was placed at the site (now the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church) commemorating the convention.<ref>{{cite web|title=Church History|url=http://www.hillsboroughpres.org/history.php|website=Hillsborough Presbyterian Church|access-date=December 3, 2015|location=Hillsborough, North Carolina}}</ref>

[[William Hooper]], a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], was buried in the Presbyterian Church cemetery in October 1790. However, his remains were later reinterred at [[Battle of Guilford Court House|Guilford Court House Military Battlefield]]. His original gravestone remains in the town cemetery.