Alexander Martin
18th century American politician, governor of North Carolina (1740-1807)
Alexander Martin (October 17, 1740 – November 2, 1807) was a Founding Father of the United States, framer of the U.S. Constitution, fourth and seventh Governor of North Carolina, and an infantry officer in the American Revolutionary War. In private life, Martin was a lawyer, merchant, planter, and slave owner.
Early life and education
Born in Hunterdon County in the Province of New Jersey in 1740 to James Hugh Martin and Jane Hunter of Ireland, Governor Alexander Martin was a North Carolinian politician and delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention. Aside from his role in the Constitutional Convention, Martin witnessed several significant chapters in colonial and early U.S. history, including the Regulator Rebellion, the Revolutionary War, and the North Carolina ratification debates.
Martin held bachelor's and master's degrees from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), making him one of the most erudite delegates to the Constitutional Convention. After graduating from Princeton, Martin moved to Salisbury, North Carolina. There he worked first as a merchant and later as an attorney. As his legal career took shape, the Regulator Rebellion began. On September 24, 1770, angry Regulators took over the Hillsboro Court. When their demonstration spilled onto the streets of Hillsboro, several lawyers, including Martin, who likely was serving as a justice of the peace, were whipped and beaten.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Alexander Martin” is 18th century American politician, governor of North Carolina (1740-1807). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Alexander, Martin and 18th, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “18th century American politician, governor of North Carolina (1740-1807)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q642264. VIAF identifies the subject as 74956323. The Library of Congress control number is n83041642. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1740, 1807 and 1770.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alexander Martin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.