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THE little village Of
CHARLOTTE, the seat of justice for Mecklenburg county, North Carolina,
was the theatre of one of the most memorable events in the political
annals of the United States. Situated in the fertile champaign, between
the Yadkin and Catawba rivers, far above tide-water, some two hundred
miles from the ocean, and in advance of the mountains that run almost
parallel to the Atlantic coast, on the route of that emigration which,
before the Revolution, passed on southwardly, from Pennsylvania, through
Virginia, to the unoccupied regions cast of the Mountains, on what is
now the upper stage route from Georgia, through South Carolina and North
Carolina, to meet the railroad at Raleigh,—it was, and is, the centre of
an enterprising population. It received its name from Princess Charlotte
of Mecklenburg, whose native province also gave Wane to the county, the
House of Hanover having been invited to the throne of England.
Here was located the first academy, or high
school, in the upper part of the State; and here was made the first
effort for a college in North Carolina, in the institution called
QUEEN'S MUSEUM. The traveller, in passing through this fertile, retired, and populous
country, would now see nothing calculated to suggest the fact, that he
was on the ground of the boldest Declaration ever made in America; and
that all around him were localities rich in associations of valor and
suffering in the cause of National Independence, the sober recital of
which borders on romance. Everything looks peaceful, secluded, and
prosperous, as though the track of hostile armies had never defaced the
soil. Were he told, this is the spot where lovers of personal and
national liberty will come, in pilgrimage or imagination, to ponder
events of the deepest interest to all mankind, he must feel, in the
beauty and fertility of the surrounding region, that here was a chosen
habitation for good men to live, and act, and leave to their posterity
the inestimable privileges of political and religious freedom, with
abundance of all that may be desired to make life one continued
thanksgiving.
Seventy years ago, on the 19th day of May, 1775, might have been seen
assembled, in this frontier settlement, an immense concourse of people
cinder great excitement; some few, well dressed, moving about with the
dignity of Colonial Magistrates; a small number of officers of the
militia; the great mass of the assembly clad in the homespun of their
wives and sisters,—not a few shod with the moccasins of their own
manufacture,--all completely wrapt in the exciting subjects of a
revolutionary nature, then agitating the whole land. Continental
Congress was then in session in Philadelphia, consulting for the welfare
of the Colonies provincial Legislatures had been dissolved, and the
whole population of the United Provinces were in commotion, discussing
the rights and privileges of persons, and States, and Kings. Every man
had become a politician, and from being a hunter was prepared to become
a soldier.
There was no printing press in the upper country of Carolina, and many a
weary mile must be traversed to find one. Newspapers were few, and, no
regular post traversing the country, were seldom seen. The people,
anxious for news, were accustomed to assemble to hear printed handbills
from abroad, or written ones drawn up by persons appointed for the
purpose, particularly the Rev. Thomas Reese, of Mecklenburg, North
Carolina, whose bones lie in the grave yard of the Stone Church,
Pendleton, South Carolina. There had been frequent assemblies in
Charlotte, to hear the news and join in the discussions of the exciting
subjects of the day; and finally, to give more efficiency to their
discussions, it was agreed upon, generally, that Thomas Polk, Colonel of
the Militia, long a surveyor in the province, frequently a member of the
Colonial Assembly, well known and well acquainted in the surrounding
counties, a man of great excellence and merited popularity, should be
empowered to call a convention of the representatives of the people,
whenever it should appear advisable. It was also agreed that these
representatives should be chosen from the Militia districts, by the
people themselves; and that when assembled for council and debate, their
decisions should be binding on the inhabitants of Mecklenburg.
Having heard of the attempt of Governor Martin to prevent the assembling
of a Provincial Congress, or Convention, in Newbern, in April; and of
his arbitrary proceedings in dissolving the last provincial Legislature
after a session of four days, before any important business had been
transacted; and being afflicted with the news from distant colonies, and
from across the ocean, the people were clamorous for action and for
redress. The Provincial Congress of North Carolina had assembled in
direct opposition to the proclamation of the Governor, and had approved
of the acts and doings of their representatives in the Continental
Congress, expressing their confidence in their wisdom and abilities, by
re-appointing them to the arduous duties of Representatives in the
Legislature of the United Colonies; and the people generally were more
and more restless under the exercise of royal authority, and daily more
irritated by the exactions of men who glutted their avarice under the
color of law.
In this state of the public mind, Colonel Polk issued his notice for the
committee men to assemble in Charlotte, on the 19th of May, 1773. On the
appointed day between twenty and thirty representatives of the people
met in the Court House, in the centre of the town, at the crossing of
the great streets, and surrounded by an immense concourse, few of whom
could enter the house, proceeded to organize for business, by Choosing
ABRAHAM ALEXANDER, a former member of the Legislature, a magistrate, and
ruling elder in the Sugar Creek Congregation, in whose bounds they were
assembled, as their chairman; and John McKnitt Alexander, and Mr.
Ephraim Brevard, men of business habits and great popularity, their
clerks. Papers were read before the Convention and the people; the
handbill, brought by express, containing the news of the battle of
Lexington, Massachusetts, on that day one month, the 19th of April,
carne to hand that day, and was read to the assembly. The Rev. Hezekiah
James Balch, Pastor of Poplar Tent, Dr. Ephrainm Brevard, and William
Kennon, Esq., addressed the Convention and the people at large. Under
the excitement produced by the wanton bloodshed at Lexington, and the
addresses of these gentlemen, the assembly cried out as with one voice,
"Let us be independent ! Let us declare our independence, and defend it
with our lives and fortunes!" The speakers said, his Majesty's
proclamation had declared them out of the protection of the British
Crown, and they ought, therefore, to declare themselves out of his
protection, and independent of all his control.
A committee, consisting of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, Mr. Kennon, and Rev. Mr.
Balch, were appointed to prepare resolutions suitable to the occasion.
Some drawn up by Dr. Brevard, and read to his friends at a political
meeting in Queen's Museum some days before, were read to the Convention,
and then committed to these gentlemen for revision.
While the committee were out discussing these resolutions, the
Convention continued in session and were addressed by several gentlemen.
General Joseph Graham, then but a youth, and present at the
deliberations, relates an interesting incident. A member of the
committee, who had said but little before, addressed the chairman as
follows: "If you resolve on Independence, how shall we all be absolved
from the obligations of the oath we took to be true to King George the
Third, about four years ago, after the Regulation battle, when we were
sworn, whole militia companies together? I should be glad to know how
gentlemen can clear their consciences after taking that oath?" The
Speaker referred to the blood shed by Governor Tryon, on the 16th of
May, 1771, on Alainance Creek, when he dispersed the Regulators, men
driven to open resistance of his Majesty's officers, by their tyranny
and exactions;—and to the numerous executions that followed in
Hillsborough and the neighboring country;—and to the oath of allegiance
forced on the people by the Governor, to save their lives and property,
after that bloodshed. The question produced great confusion, and many
attempted to reply; the chairman could with difficulty preserve order.
This question did not imply fear, or want of patriotism; it simply
revealed the spirit and tone of the man's conscience, that he was one of
those men blessed of the Lord, "who sweareth to his own hurt, and
changeth not." The excitement that followed evinced the fact that the
Speaker had struck a chord that vibrated through the assembly. An answer
must be given, or the event of that day's discussion would not be for
independence. The haste to answer the question revealed the fact that
the community felt the awful and binding sanction of a solemn oath; and
unless some answer was given, and given speedily, the minds of the
auditory would be turned back from the proposed declaration, for very
many were held by the oath exacted by 'Tryon. Some cried out that—"
allegiance and protection were reciprocal; when protection was
withdrawn, allegiance ceased; that the oath was binding only while the
King protected us in our rights and liberties as they existed at the
time it was taken." Others, of more passion than conscience, cried out
that such questions and difficulties were all "nonsense." One man at
last carried the assembly with him by a short illustration, pointing to
a green tree near the Court House, —"If I am sworn to do a thin(; as
long as the leaves continue on that tree, I am bound by that oath as
long as the leaves continue. But when the leaves fall, I am released
from that obligation." The people determined that when protection
ceased, allegiance ceased also. The Convention proceeded to enact
by-laws and regulations by which it should be governed as a standing
committee, and about midnight adjourned till noon the next day.
The excitement continued to increase through the night and the
succeeding morning. At noon, May 20th, the Convention re-assembled with
an undiminished concourse of citizens, amongst whom might be seen many
wives and mothers, anxiously awaiting the event. The resolutions
previously drawn up by Dr. Brevard, and now amended by the committee,
together with the by-laws and regulations, were taken up; John McKnitt
Alexander read the by-laws, and Dr. Brevard the resolutions. All was
stillness. The chairman of the Convention put the question:—"Are you all
agreed?" The response was an universal "aye."
After the business of the Convention was all arranged, it was moved and
seconded that the proceedings should be read at the Court House door in
hearing of the multitude. Proclamation was made, and from the Court
House steps Colonel Thomas Polk read, to a listening and approving
auditory, the following resolutions, viz.:—
THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.
"Resolved, 1st. That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted, or in any
way, form, or manner, countenanced the unchartered and dangerous
invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to this
country, to America, and to the inherent and unalienable rights of man.
Resolved, 2d. That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby
dissolve the political bonds which have connected US with the mother
country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British
crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, or association
with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our rights and
liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of American Patriots at
Lexington.
"Resolved, 3d. That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and
independent people; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and
self-governing association, under the control of no power, other than
that of our God, and the General Government of the Congress:—to the
maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other, our
mutual co-operation, our Iives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.
Resolved, 4th. That as we acknowledge the existence and control of no
law, nor legal office, civil or military, within this county we do
hereby ordain and adopt, as a rule of life, all, each, and every of our
former laws; wherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great Britain never can
he considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or authority
therein.
"Resolved, 5th. That it is further decreed, that all, each, and every
military officer in this county is hereby retained in his former command
and authority, he acting conformably to these regulations. And that
every member present of this delegation shall henceforth be a civil
officer, viz.: a Justice of the Peace, in the character of a committee
man, to issue process, hear and determine all matters of controversy,
according to said adopted laws; and to preserve peace, union, and
harmony in said county; and to use every exertion to spread the love of
country and fire of freedom throughout America, until a general
organized government be established in this province."
A voice from the crowd called out for "three cheers," and the whole
company shouted three times, and threw their hats in the air. The
Resolutions were read again and again during the day to different
companies desirous of retaining in their memories sentiments so
congenial to their feelings. There are still living some whose parents
were in that assembly, and heard and read the resolutions; and from
whose lips they heard the circumstances and sentiments of this
remarkable declaration.
THE SECOND MECKLENBERG DECLARATION.
The Convention had frequent meetings, and on the 30th of May, 1775,
issued the following paper, viz.:—
"CHARLOTTE, MECKLEBURG COUNTY,
May 30th, 1775.
This day the committee of the county met and
passed the following Resolves:—Whereas, by an Address presented to his
Majesty by both houses of parliament, in February last, the American
Colonies are declared to be in a state of actual rebellion, we conceive
that all laws and commissions confirmed by, or derived from the
authority of the king or parliament, are annulled and vacated, and the
former civil constitution of these Colonies for the present wholly
suspended. To provide, in some degree, for the exigencies of this
county, in the present alarming period, we deem it necessary and proper
to pass the following resolves, viz.
"1st. That all commissions, civil and
military, heretofore granted by the crown, to be exercised in these
Colonies, are null and void, and the constitution of each particular
Colony wholly suspended.
"2d. That the Provincial Congress of each
province, under the direction of the great Continental Congress, is
invested with all legislative and executive powers, within their
respective provinces, and that no other legislative power does, or can
exist, at this time, in any of these Colonies.
"3d. As all former laws are now suspended in
this province, and the Congress have not provided others, we judge it
necessary for the better preservation of good order, to form certain
rules and regulations for the internal government of this county, until
laws shall be provided for its by the Congress.
"4th. That the inhabitants of this county do
meet on a certain day appointed by this committee, and having formed
themselves into nine companies, viz., eight in the county, and one in
the town of Charlotte, do choose a Colonel and other military officers,
who shall hold and exercise their several powers by virtue of this
choice, and independent of the crown of Great Britain and the former
constitution of this province."
[Then follow eleven articles for the
preservation of the peace, and the choice of officers to perform the
duties of a regular government.]
"16th. That whatever person shall hereafter
receive a commission from time crown, or attempt to exercise any such
commission heretofore received, shall he deemed an enemy to his country;
and upon information to the captain of the company in which he resides,
the company shall cause him to be apprehended, and, upon proof of the
fact, committed to safe custody, till the next sitting of the committee,
who shall deal with him as prudence shall direct."
A copy of the acts and doings of this
convention was sent by express to the members of Congress from North
Carolina, then in session in Philadelphia. Capt. James Jack, of
Charlotte, was chosen as the bearer, and set out immediately on his
mission. Passing through Salisbury, on the regular court day, he was
persuaded by Mr. Kennon, a lawyer in attendance at court, also a member
of the committee that reported the first declaration, to permit a
reading of the papers publicly. The citizens of Rowan, generally,
approved of the course taken by their fellow-citizens of Mecklenburg.
Two individuals, John Dunn and Benjamin Booth Boote, opposed the
sentiments of the resolution, pronounced them treasonable, and proposed
the detention of Captain Jack. Bidding them defiance, and favored by the
great majority of the people, he passed on unmolested, and delivered the
declarations to the delegates from !North Carolina, then in
Philadelphia—Messrs. Caswell, Hooper, and Hewes. Approving of the spirit
of their fellow citizens, and the tone of the resolutions, these
gentlemen nevertheless thought them premature, as the General Congress
had not then abandoned all hopes of a reconciliation with the mother
country, on honorable terms; and did not present them to Congress. By
this perhaps prudent smothering of the expressions of sentiment by an
intelligent people, the citizens of Mecklenburg were disappointed, but
not discouraged; they lost the foreground their patriotism merited, but
lost not their spirit. They declared themselves independent May, 1775,
and have never ceased to be so.
A copy of the proceedings of the Convention
was addressed to the Moderator of the first Provincial Congress of North
Carolina, which met in Hillsborough, August 20th, 1775; and was laid
before the committee of business, but not particularly acted upon, as
the majority of the body were still hoping for reconciliation on
honorable terms.
A copy of the proceedings appeared in the
Cape Fear Mercury, published in Wilmington, and meeting the eve of
Governor Josiah .Martin, is thus noticed by hind in the Proclamation
issued from on board his Majesty's ship Cruiser, August 8th, 1775, and
sent to the Provincial Congress:—"And whereas, I have also seen a most
infamous publication in the Cape Fear Mercury, importing to be
`Resolves' of a set of people styling themselves 'a Committee of the
County of Mecklenburg,' most traitorously declaring the entire
dissolution of the laws, government, and constitution of the country,
and setting up a system of rule and regulation repugnant to the laws,
and subversive of his Majesty's government," &c. The Governor knew the
people better than his predecessor, Tryon, and had he known them better
still, he would have spoken of them more respectfully.
A copy of the second declaration (that of
May 30th, 1775) appeared in the public papers in New York and
Massachusetts; files of which are still preserved; and from them was
copied by Mr. Force into his State Papers.
The history of the preservation of the first
declaration (that of May 20th, 1775), in the absence of printed
documents, will be given, in full, in the sketch of Hopewell
Congregation, and the Secretary of the Convention.
The energy of the committee was equal to the
decision of their declarations. The laws were vigorously enforced; and
the venerable chairman, and his coadjutor Col. Polk, with the committee
at large, demonstrated that, in seeking freedom from tyranny, they
designed no overthrow of law, or perversion of justice. Opposers of
independence were reckoned offenders; and open offenders found no
refuge in Mecklenburg. As soon as the news of the insult offered their
express, Capt. Jack, in Salisbury, reached Charlotte, the committee
ordered a party of some ten or twelve armed men, on horseback, to
proceed to Salisbury, the seat of justice in Rowan, and bring these men
prisoners to Charlotte. The party lost no time in fulfilling their
mission, and met with no resistance in Rowan. The offenders, Hunn and
Boote, were, after examination by the committee, sent to South Carolina
as suspicious persons, to be kept in confinement. Gen. Graham says—"My
brother, George Graham, and the late Col. John Carruth, were of the
party that went to Salisbury; and it is distinctly remembered that when
in Charlotte, they came home at night in order to provide for their trip
to Camden; and they and two others of the party took Boote to that
place. This was the first military expedition from Mecklenburg in the
revolutionary war, and believed to be the first anywhere to the
South."—But it was far from being the last, retired and frontier as the
county leas. It characterized, in its spirit, energy and success, the
various expeditions in and from Mecklenburg during the seven years'
war—more particularly in the distressing campaigns of Cornwallis, in
which Graham himself acted so conspicuous a part. Dunn and Boote were
both transferred to Charleston, for safekeeping, as persons particularly
inimical to the country. Their wives made a strong appeal in their favor
to the Provincial Congress, which met in Hillsborough, August 20th, 1775
: on the 29th of that month it was decided by a vote of that body that
they remain in confinement.
Associations were formed, very generally,
throughout the different counties in the state during the summer of
1775. Articles drawn up for the purpose were signed individually as a
test of patriotism. The first association of which there is a copy, was
drawn up in Cumberland county, July 10th, 1775; the second in Tryon, now
Lincoln, in August of the same year.
The first Provincial Congress of North
Carolina were not prepared for independence of the mother country; and
on the 4th of September, 1775, after discussion and the action of a
committee, it was resolved—"The present association ought to be further
relied on for bringing about a reconciliation with the parent state."
But on the 9th of the same month, the appointment of a Provincial
Council, of thirteen persons, with executive powers, was resolved upon;
also County Committees of Safety, with executive powers, in connection
with the Provincial Council, to consist of not less than twenty-one
persons, to be chosen annually by the electors on the day they made
choice of Congressmen. It was also determined that, after the 10th day
of December, no suit for debt should be entertained except by permission
of this committee. These committees of safety appear to have been the
same as that already in existence in Mecklenburg; and Abraham Alexander
continued to act as the chairman, as appears from the following
certificate, which may be also a specimen of the spirit of the times,
and the vigilance with which the committee acted:
"NORTH CAROLINA, MECKLENBURG COUNTY,
Nov 28th, 1775.
"These may certify to all whom they may
concern, that the bearer hereof, William Henderson, is allowed here to
be a true friend of liberty, and has signed the association.
Certified by Abraham Alexander, chairman of
the committee of safety."
Though the Declaration of Independence, made
and repeated in Charlotte, in May, 1775, had no immediate effect upon
the Continental Congress, it is not unfair to conjecture that it had an
influence on the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, that met in
Hillsborough in August of that year, in the appointment of the
Provincial Committee and the County Committees of Safety, as four of the
members of the convention were members of the Congress, viz.:—Thomas
Polk, Wraightstill Avery, John Pfifer, and John McKnitt Alexander.
Neither is it unfair to conclude that it had some influence on the
Provincial Congress that assembled in Halifax, April 4th, 1776: as, on
the 8th of that month a committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs.
Harnett, Burke, A. Jones, T. Jones, Nash, Henekin, and Person, to take
into consideration the usurpations and violence committed by the king
and parliament of Great Britain; and, on the 12th, Mr. Harnett submitted
an able report, which was concluded with the following resolution, viz.:
Resolved, That the delegates from this
colony, in Continental Congress, be empowered to concur with the
delegates of the other colonies in declaring independence, and in
forming foreign alliances; reserving to this colony the sole and
exclusive right of forming a constitution and laws for this colony, and
of appointing delegates from time to time (under the direction of a
general representation thereof), to meet delegates of the other colonies
for such purposes as shall be hereafter pointed out."
This resolution was, on the same clay it was
proposed, unanimously adopted; and IS THE FIRST PUBLIC DECLARATION FOR
INDEPENDENCE BY THE CONSTITUTED AUTHORITIES OF A STATE. It was presented
to the Continental Congress, May 27th, 1776, nearly six weeks before the
national Declaration.
The question now arises, who were these
people of Mecklenburg, and whence did they come? What were the habits
and manners by which they were characterized? What were their religious
principles? and what their daily practice? The county was comparatively
new; and it was not yet forty years since the first of those composing
the convention had settled in the wilderness. Agriculturists, at a
distance from market, and in a fertile country affording in its
pea-patches, and cane-brakes, and prairies, plentiful sustenance for
their herds, they had abundance of provisions, and little of the sinews
of war, money. Skilful marksmen, hunters, and horsemen, capable of
enduring great fatigue, in making the Declaration of Independence, they
offered a heart and a hand, to give and act according to their
abilities, and the emergencies in which they might be placed. The riches
of the gold mines were then unknown: the wealth of the country was in
her sons, and she was rich. Protestants, trained in religious things in
the strict doctrines of the Reformation, their settlements were made in
congregations; and their places of worship so arranged as to accommodate
all the families. Their descendants now assemble where their fathers
worshipped before the Revolution. Their forms and creed were the form:
and creed of their ancestors, who were eminently a religious people; and
their Confession of Faith has descended as a legacy from the emigrants,
to go down to the latest posterity.
Whence did these people come? and what was
their ancestry? Of the members of the Convention that proclaimed
Independence, May, 1775, one was a minister of the Gospel, and nine were
Elders in the Church; and all in some way connected with the seven
churches and congregations that embraced the whole county of
Mecklenburg. In tracing their history, the true and legitimate workings
of religious principles are as happily displayed as in the annals of any
State or section in the United States. When the history of these people
and their descendants shall be the history of two centuries, it may, and
probably will appear, that in the advance of true religious and genuine
liberty and sound literature, the South and West are not a whit behind
the most favored sections of our Confederacy. It cannot well be
otherwise, for the principles, the creed of Puritanism, under whose
influence human society has so happily been developed in the New England
States, are the principles of Presbytery, the principles of civil and
religious liberty, that struck deep in the soil of Carolina, and sent
out their vigorous shoots in the great valley of the Mississippi.
But the question arises with increased
force, who were these people, and whence did they come? In what school
of politics and religion had they been disciplined? At what fountains
had they been drinking such inspirations, that here in the wilderness,
common people, in their thoughts of freedom and equality, far
outstripped the most ardent leaders in the Continental Congress? Whence
came these men, that spoke out their thoughts, and thought as they
spoke; and both thought and spoke unextinguishable principles of freedom
of conscience and civil liberty? That they were poor and obscure but
adds to their interest, when it is known that their deeds in the
Revolution were equal to their principles. Many a "life" was given in
Mecklenburg in consequence of that declaration, and much of "fortune"
was sacrificed; but their "honor" came out safe, even their great enemy
Tarleton being witness. They did not get their ideas of liberty and law
from Vattel, or Puffendorf, or the tomes of English law. From what book
then did they get their knowledge, their principles of life? Ahead of
their own State in their political notions, as a body, they never
wavered through the whole Revolutionary struggle; and their descendants
possess now just what these people asserted then, both in religion and
politics, in conscience and in the state.
To North Carolina belongs the unperishable
honor of being the first in declaring that Independence, which is the
pride and glory of every American. Honor to whom honor is due |
