The North Carolina Provincial Congresses were extra-legal unicameral legislative bodies formed in 1774 through 1776 by the people of the Province of North Carolina, independent of the British colonial government. There were five congresses. They met in the towns of New Bern (1st and 2nd), Halifax (4th and 5th), and Hillsborough (3rd). The 4th conference approved the Halifax Resolves a set of resolutions that empowered the state's delegates to the Second Continental Congress to concur in the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. The 5th conference approved the Constitution of North Carolina and elected Richard Caswell as governor of the State of North Carolina. After the 5th conference, the new North Carolina General Assembly met in April 1777.