2. What two men from Carolina did he find in England and what was their mission?

3. What duty had the colonists entrusted to Eastchurch? How did he fulfill the trust?

4. How were Eastchurch and Miller rewarded for their betrayal? What was the determination of the London authorities?

5. What was the conduct of Eastchurch while on his way to Carolina?

6. What did Miller do in the meantime? What was the condition of the colony at this period?

7. How did the new Governor manage affairs?

8. What trade did he forbid? By whom was his command thwarted? What violent act was done by Miller?

9. What was done to Miller? Who assumed the government?

10. When did Eastchurch arrive at Carolina? How did he find matters? To whom did he go for aid, and with what success?

11. What became of Miller and Culpepper?

12. What do the events of this lesson teach us?



CHAPTER XIV.

LORD CARTERET ADDS A NEW TROUBLE.

A. D. 1680 TO 1704.

When John Culpepper had ended his administration the authorities in England sent over John Harvey as Governor. Little is known of him or of his successors, John Jenkins and Henry Wilkinson. There were still misrule and confusion in Albemarle. A few men of wealth, who acted as deputies in the Council for the absent Lords Proprietors, were their advocates and defenders in everything they proposed; but the people still traded with New England vessels and vented their scorn upon the Fundamental Constitutions.

1681.

2. At last, in 1681, the authorities in England concluded that if one of their own number went over he might exert more influence upon the people than a hired agent. Therefore, they induced Seth Sothel, who had bought the interest first granted to the Earl of Clarendon, to venture on the doubtful expedient.

1683-88.

3. To the great good fortune of the province, this abandoned man was captured at sea by Algerine pirates. Thus he became the slave of these corsairs for two years. When he arrived it was soon seen what a beastly and detestable monster had been sent as a reformer of the morals of the people of Albemarle. He was the most shameless reprobate ever seen as a Governor in America. He took bribes, stole property and appropriated the Indian trade to his own uses, growing worse and worse until the people, in 1688, could no longer endure his iniquities, and drove him from the place he disgraced. He went to South Carolina, and after his sentence to twelve months exile had expired, returned to North Carolina and died in 1692.

1689-93.

4. Philip Ludwell and Alexander Lillington were the next rulers in North Carolina, and the administration of the latter witnessed the triumph of the colonists in the consent of the Lords Proprietors to the abolition of the Fundamental Constitutions. This event occurred in 1693, and brought no little joy to the men who had so long and successfully opposed it as the Constitution of North Carolina.

1695-96.

5. Thomas Harvey ruled next in Albemarle, while John Archdale, a wise and benevolent Quaker, was put in charge of all the settlements in what was North Carolina, and also those on Cooper and Ashley Rivers, in South Carolina. In the year 1696 a severe pestilential fever visited all the tribes of Indians along Pamlico Sound and destroyed nearly all of them. The Colonists, soon after this, feeling somewhat safer from Indian attacks, began to form settlements southward.

1704.

6. Henderson Walker succeeded to the rule by virtue of his place as President of the Council. After him Colonel Robert Daniel, who had made reputation in an expedition against the Spaniards in Florida, became, in 1704, the Governor of the province.

7. Governor Daniel was probably the mistaken and ignorant agent of Lord Carteret, who happened then to be the Palatine, or chief of the Lords Proprietors, in a foolish effort at reform. Carteret, like James II., was by no means a pattern in morality, but became impressed with his duty to cause the Assembly to pass a law making the Episcopal Church the State Church in the province, as it was in England.

8. The Baptists and Quakers were numerous, and both of these sects were sternly opposed to any such regulation. The law was passed in spite of their votes to the contrary, and provided for building churches, buying glebe lands, and public taxation to pay the rectors' salaries, but did not visit any disqualification or punishment upon nonconformists. The first Episcopal preacher arrived at Albemarle in 1703, and the first church was built in 1705, in Chowan county.

9. These persons, who were not members of the Episcopal Church, said they were already paying for the support of their pastors, and at once declared that they would not submit to the injustice of paying money to men who were the leaders in the persecutions of Baptists and Quakers in England and America.

10. The Presbyterians of South Carolina sent John Ashe, of that section, to London to resist the confirmation of the law, and Edmund Porter was sent, for the same purpose, by the people of Albemarle. Ashe died in London before he knew of his success. Both Queen Anne and the House of Lords denounced the innovation as unjust and impolitic, and the law was therefore annulled by Her Majesty in her privy council.

11. It was thus, year by year, that the Carolinians kept up their struggle for freedom and equality before the law. The ocean stretched between them and the men who sought their oppression, and large expenditures, both in money and heartwearing efforts, were undergone, as the dangerous and alarming years went by; but these men of the woods never wavered in their determination to be free.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who was sent from England to succeed John Culpepper as Governor of Carolina? Who followed Governor Harvey in office? What was the condition of affairs in the colony under these Governors?

2. Who became Governor in 1681? Who was Seth Sothel, and why was he selected?

3. What befell Sothel on his way to Carolina? What kind of man was Governor Sothel? What did the people do?

4. Who next took charge of Carolina? What important thing was accomplished under this administration?

5. Who was Governor in 1696? Who had charge of all the settlements?

6. What two Governors are next mentioned?

7. Whose agent was Governor Daniel? What law was passed by the Assembly?

8. What two religious sects were strongest opposers of the act? What was provided for in the statute?

9. What complaint was made by the Baptists and Quakers?

10. Who was sent to London in the interest of the Presbyterians? What man from Albemarle? What was the success of the mission to London?

11. What was the almost constant struggle of the people of Carolina?



CHAPTER XV.

THOMAS CAREY AND THE TUSCARORA WAR

A. D. 1704 TO 1712.

Thomas Carey, who had already reached the positions of Speaker of the House of Assembly and Lieutenant-Governor, was promoted to be Governor in 1705. He had been a leader in opposition to Governor Daniel's church scheme, and for that reason John Archdale and the Quakers had procured his elevation to the latter position. It may be imagined what was their disgust and surprise when it was found that Carey had changed sides and become the willing tool of Lord Carteret.

1705.

2. In 1705 the town of Bath, in Beaufort county, was settled, and this was the first incorporated town in North Carolina. One of the oldest churches in the State is at Bath. The bricks used in the building were brought from England. The edifice is still in a good condition, and is regularly used for public worship.

3. When the General Assembly met, Governor Carey announced that, under English laws, none but members of the English or Episcopal Church could be allowed to take the oaths necessary to qualification for a seat in either House. John Porter was thereupon sent to London to make known this fresh outrage and betrayal of the people.

4. He was soon back with orders for Carey's removal; and the General Assembly elected William Glover by the votes of John Porter and the men he influenced. It is sickening to add that Glover also immediately deceived the men who were his supporters, and was found acting and talking exactly as Carey had done. The next thing seen was the pacification of Carey and the Quakers, and their re-election of him as Governor.

5. Two rival governments were thus at open rupture, each claiming to be the local government in Albemarle. They both took up arms, and it seemed that bloodshed must ensue. A General Assembly was called to decide the question of authority. Members were present with certificates of election signed by Glover, and another set whose certificates were issued by Carey. Glover and Carey, with their adherents, occupied separate rooms in the same building, and great confusion and bitterness prevailed. Finally the members of Glover's council were compelled to seek refuge in Virginia.

6. In such a state of affairs, Edward Hyde arrived from England with papers directing Edward Tynte, the Governor of both South and North Carolina, to commission him as Governor of North Carolina. In the meantime Carey, having heard of Governor Tynte's death, refused to acknowledge Hyde's claims, and proceeded to arm and equip his followers.

1711.

7. The cruel and crafty Tuscaroras now resolved to avail themselves of the divisions among the white people. They procured the Meherrins, Corees, Mattarnuskeets and other tribes to unite with them in an effort to murder all they could of the settlers. They kept the secret so well that on the night of the 11th of September, 1711, according to the calendar of that day, more than two hundred whites were butchered. The Tuscaroras mustered in their ranks a strong force, which was increased by their allies to sixteen hundred warriors. The Indians continued this terrible slaughter for three days, and only ceased when fatigue and drunkenness rendered them incapable of further continuance.

8. The Baron de Graffenreid, a nobleman from Bern, had just established (in 1710) a flourishing colony, comprising about six hundred persons, Germans and Swedes, at New Bern, at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent Rivers. De Graffenreid and John Lawson, the surveyor-general, while on an exploring voyage up the Neuse River, a few days before the massacre of September 11th, were seized by the Indians. The war council decided that both the men should be put to death. De Graffenreid made claim that he was king of the Swiss settlement just established, and escaped death by promising that no more land should he taken from the Indians without their consent. The unfortunate Lawson and a negro servant were put to death by the most horrible cruelties.

9. Baron de Graffenreid was held a captive for several weeks, and was set at liberty upon application of Governor Spottswood. On his return to his settlement he found it in a condition of almost desolation. He became so disheartened at the prospect that he soon sold his interest in Carolina and returned to Switzerland.

1712.

10. The South Carolina militia and near a thousand Yemassee Indians, under Colonel John Barnwell, came as swiftly as they could to the rescue, and inflicted a stunning blow upon the savages. They were attacked in a fort near New Bern, and more than three hundred of the Indians were killed and a hundred made prisoners. Thinking the league crushed, Colonel Barnwell went home with his forces, after making a treaty with the Indians, which was quickly broken.

11. In this terrible emergency, which threatened the destruction of so many settlers, Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, did nothing to aid the colony except keep the Five Nations and Tom Blount's Tuscaroras neutral in the war. The great danger was in the possible adhesion of the New York Iroquois to the savage league. With Albemarle divided, and consequently in a measure helpless, it was seen that it would be impossible to meet the Five Nations in battle.

12. When the next spring had opened, some hundreds of men in North Carolina were joined by Colonel James Moore, from South Carolina, with another force of a hundred and fifty of his white neighbors and the Yemassees, who again were willing to make war upon their hated enemies, the Tuscaroras.

13. Another bloody attack upon a fort made of earthworks and palisades resulted in such slaughter of the Indians that Handcock, their chief, who had boldly led them before, was so disheartened at the loss of his braves that, with his tribe, he abandoned Carolina and rejoined his brethren in the lake country of New York, who were from that time known as the Six Nations. They ventured no more among the men who had so fearfully broken their strength and power as belligerents. The fort occupied by Handcock and his force was situated where the village of Snow Hill, Greene county, now stands, and was called by the Indians "Nahucke." The siege began March 20th, and in a few days the fort, with eight hundred prisoners, was taken by storm. Colonel Moore's loss was twenty white men and thirty-six Indians killed and about one hundred wounded.

14. In the midst of the danger, in this second year of the war, yellow fever was seen for the first time in Albemarle. Governor Hyde fell a victim to its virulence. He died September 8, 1712, and was succeeded by Thomas Pollock, who had long been known as one of the richest and most influential of the settlers. Pollock and Edward Moseley, who was the leading lawyer and ablest man in Albemarle, were in deadly enmity concerning the quarrels between the contending Governors.

15. During this turbulent period among their rulers the people of Albemarle were giving their principal attention to growing corn and other farm products. They were improving their settlements and reaping the full reward of industry and perseverance. In 1704 the manufacture of tar began, and it was soon discovered that this native article was destined to become a very valuable commodity, both at home and in foreign countries.

16. During the years just considered North Carolina received large accessions to her population. As early as 1690 French Protestant refugees purchased lands and began to form settlements in Pamlico. In 1707 another body of French emigrants, under the guidance of their clergymen, Phillipe de Richebourg, located in the same section. A good number of French Huguenots, also, had formed thrifty settlements in the Pamlico region and along the banks of the Neuse and Trent Rivers.

QUESTIONS.

1. How did Thomas Carey become Governor of Albemarle? How did he disappoint the people who elected him?

2. Where was the first town incorporated in the State?

3. What announcement was made by Carey at the meeting of the Assembly? How was this received by the people?

4. What orders were brought by Porter? Who was elected as Carey's successor? How were the people disappointed in Governor Glover?

5. What was the condition of affairs?

6. Who arrived from England, and for what purpose? How did Carey receive Governor Hyde's demand?

7. How were the Tuscaroras acting during this public trouble? What calamity befell the colony?

8. What befell Baron de Graffenreid and John Lawson?

9. What further is said of de Graffenreid?

10. What aid came from South Carolina? Describe the battle.

11. How did Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, act during this trouble? What was specially feared by the people?

12. How was the colony preparing for war?

13. Describe the second battle and the result.

14. What terrible sickness visited Carolina in 1712? Who was one of the victims? Who succeeded Governor Hyde? What is said of Governor Pollock?

15. How were the people of Albemarle occupying themselves during these troublesome times?

16. Give some account of the growth of the settlements in North Carolina.



CHAPTER XVI.

GOVERNOR EDEN AND BLACK-BEARD.

A. D. 1712 TO 1722.

With the conquest of the Tuscaroras and their allies, a great danger was removed from the settlements in Carolina. Tom Blount and his people were assigned a tract of land as a token of the gratitude of the whites for their refusal to join in the war. This reservation was first located south of Albemarle Sound, but was afterwards changed to the region still known as the "Indian Woods," in Bertie county.

1713.

2. In 1713, Colonel Pollock was relieved of his office as Governor by the arrival of Charles Eden, with full powers from the Duke of Beaufort, who was then Palatine. Governor Eden was instructed by the Proprietors to discourage much expansion of the settlements. He became popular with a large portion of the people. He lived some years at Queen Annie's Creek, which town was called Edenton, as a compliment to him. He afterwards bought a place on Salmon Creek, in Bertie county, and dwelt there. This place is still known as "Eden House."

1715.

3. In 1715 the same Yemassee Indians who had so signally aided in the overthrow of the Tuscaroras, repeated, in South Carolina, the bloody work of their old enemies in Albemarle. They were aided by other tribes, and murdered many white people. The Indians in the Bath precinct also, taking advantage of the alarm caused by this outbreak in the southern province, raised the war cry and murdered several white people on the Pamlico plantations before they could be checked.

4. At the request of the Governor of South Carolina, Governor Eden immediately sent a strong force of both cavalry and infantry to aid the South Carolinians. Colonel Maurice Moore, who was the brother of Colonel James Moore, the late commander against the Tuscaroras, and had become a resident of Albemarle, was in command.

5. The oldest statutes of which we have copies were enacted in 1715, at the house of Captain Richard Sanderson, in Perquimans. Edward Moseley was Speaker of the House of Assembly and differed with Governor Eden in many matters of provincial policy. Through all his life as a public man he was intensely devoted to the interest of the colony; and though warmly attached to the English or Episcopal Church, was resolute in his advocacy of complete religious liberty. He formed a strong party of men, who regarded the Governor as simply the agent of the Lords Proprietors; and therefore, to be vigilantly watched and checked in any innovation upon established privileges.

6. There had been, for years, many crimes committed by pirates upon the ocean just along the North Carolina Coast. They sometimes extended their infamous practices to the sounds and rivers. One Edward Teach, who was also called "Black-Beard," was the chief of these bloody robbers. He had a fleet of armed vessels; the largest of which was called Queen Anne's Revenge. This formidable craft carried a crew of one hundred men, and forty cannon.

7. Edward Moseley and others were clamorous for the arrest and punishment of such horrid offenders against the law, and denounced Governor Eden as their accomplice. It was brought to the knowledge of Capt. Ellis Brand, who came in command of a British squadron in Hampton Roads, that Teach was to be found near Ocracoke.

8. Lieutenant Robert Maynard was ordered to go to that point and capture the outlaws. He found the pirates, who saluted him with so deadly a broadside that a large portion of the royal men were slain. Maynard unfortunately got his ship aground in the action, and his deck was terribly raked by his antagonists' fire. His case seemed well nigh hopeless, when he resorted to a stratagem. All of his men were ordered to go below, and soon the pirates saw nothing but dead men upon the deck. They hastened to board what they thought was another prize.

9. But Maynard and his men met them as they crowded upon the deck, and after a bloody struggle, captured nine men, who were the survivors of the prolonged and desperate conflict. Among these was a gigantic negro, who was on the point of blowing up the pirate vessel when arrested in his desperate purpose.

10. Black-Beard was slain during the battle, and Maynard sailed away from the scene of his victory with the corsair's head fixed upon his bowsprit. The captured offenders were carried to Williamsburg, Virginia, and there tried and executed, as they deserved to be.

11. In the early portion of the eighteenth century the whole Atlantic coast of America was more or less infested by these buccaneers. In some quarters they congregated in great numbers, and made expeditions in which they laid cities under contribution, and endangered all legitimate commerce in the new world. They were as cruel desperadoes as have been seen in any age of the world's history. After long and costly effort by the English and other governments, they were driven from the seas.

QUESTIONS.

1. What reservation was given to the Indians?

2. Who became Governor in 1713? How had Governor Eden been instructed by the Lords Proprietors? Where did he live?

3. What occurred in 1715?

4. Who was sent to aid the people of South Carolina?

5. At whose house did the Legislature meet? What noted man was Speaker of the House? Give some description of Edward Moseley.

6. What famous pirate was ravaging the coast about this time?

7. Of what had Governor Eden been charged?

8. Who was sent to capture the pirate? Describe the battle.

9. How did the engagement result?

10. What disposition was made of the captives?

11. What is said of the Atlantic coast during this period?



CHAPTER XVII.

GOVERNOR GABRIEL JOHNSTON.

A. D. 1722 TO 1748.

Upon the death of Governor Eden in 1722, Colonel Thomas Pollock, as President of His Majesty's Council for North Carolina, assumed the place of Governor, but he died in a short while and was succeeded by William Reed. That year Bertie precinct was erected west of Chowan River, and court houses were, for the first time, ordered to be built. Not only the General Assembly, but courts and all public affairs, up to this time, had been held in private houses.

2. North Carolina then comprised three counties. These were Albemarle, Bath and Clarendon. Albemarle contained Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan and Bertie precincts. Bath and Clarendon, though counties, were not subdivided at this time.

1724.

3. The Lords Proprietors, as the last evidence of their lack of wisdom and interest in the province they had so long cursed with their misrule, sent over George Burrington. After the creation of the counties of Bath and Clarendon the representative of the Lords Proprietors was called "Governor of North Carolina."

4. Governor Burrington's character was very bad; he had been indicted and punished in the Old Bailey, in London, for beating an old woman, and was, all his life, drunken and quarrelsome. Yet such a man came over to be the guardian of a people who knew not when they were to be tomahawked by the savages or driven into further exile by the zealots who were disturbed at the nature of their religious belief.

1725.

5. This weak and wicked ruler only remained one year in charge, when Sir Richard Everhard came to replace him. They were brothers in iniquity, and before Burrington left Edenton these two men disgraced themselves by fighting in the streets of that village. The General Assembly met at Edenton, and by enactment of law the dividing line between North Carolina and Virginia was run in November of this year.

1729.

6. Such rulers as have just been mentioned so utterly disgusted every one in the colony that the King and Parliament were petitioned to buy the province and abolish the rule of those who had only hindered its growth. So, in 1729, for the sum of forty- five thousand dollars, all of the proprietors except Lord Carteret, sold to the crown their interest in Carolina . Thus, after sixty-six years of unbounded misrule, these men in London who had so greatly cursed North Carolina by their ignorance and mistakes, surrendered their title to property which had never paid them more than about one hundred dollars a piece in any one year.

7. They had never really cared for the people whom they were so anxious to disturb with their crude notions of religion. The schemes of London merchants were of far more moment thanthe welfare of Albemarle, and the folly of the Fundamental Constitutions was to be upheld even at the ruin of the province.

8. As an earnest of the want of care King George I. was to exhibit towards the colony, Governor Burrington was sent back to the people who were already so well acquainted with his faults of temper and character. He soon got into trouble with the leading men of the province, and pretending to go to South Carolina, returned to England, where he was soon after killed in a night- brawl in the city of London.

1734.

9. Nathaniel Rice was Governor until the arrival and qualification of Gabriel Johnston, who took the oaths of office at Brunswick, on the Cape Fear River. Governor Johnston was a Scotchman, who had lived for several years in London, and was to prove the wisest and best of all the men sent over to rule the people in Carolina. He married Penelope Eden, daughter of the late Governor, and dwelt at her home on the Chowan River.

10. There were no troubles between the Governor and people in the time of Governor Johnston's administration. Sometimes Edward Moseley, always a stickler for the rights of the colonists, would carry some dispute into the General Assembly, but the measures of Governor Johnston, as a general thing, were pleasing to all classes of the people and received their support.

11. At this period, Dr. John Brickell, with a party of white men and Indians, was sent by the General Assembly to explore the mountain region of Western North Carolina. He went into East Tennessee in his travels among the Cherokees. He brought back wondrous accounts of the beauty of the region and of the simplicity and kindness of the natives. Dr. Brickell practiced medicine in Edenton and wrote an interesting book about the North Carolina of that day.

1740.

12. During the Spanish war Governor Johnston enlisted four hundred North Carolina troops for the expedition that was led by Governor Oglethorpe against the Spaniards at St. Augustine, in Florida. They formed a battalion of the regiment commanded by Colonel Vanderclussen. They were carried under Admiral Vernon to the siege of Carthagena and participated in the dangers and horrors of that expedition. But few returned to tell the story of their disasters.

1746.

13. In consequence of the great defeat of the Scotch by the English at the battle of Culloden, many Scotch emigrants began to settle in North America. The captives in the struggle mentioned had been offered choice between death and exile to America. The emigrants landed at Wilmington in large numbers and formed settlements along the Cape Fear River. One of their principal towns was at Cross Creek, now known as Fayetteville. These Scotch people were brave, industrious, and frugal, and North Carolina has always esteemed them as a part of her best population.

1748.

14. The province had never grown so rapidly, or been so prosperous, as in the rule of this wise and excellent man who now conducted public affairs. The provinces of North and South Carolina were formally separated in Governor Burrington's time, and upon the death of Governor Johnston, in 1752, it was found that the population had been multiplied several times over what it had been twenty years before, and it now numbered nearly fifty thousand people. Great quantities of tar, pitch and turpentine, also staves, corn, tobacco and other products of the farm, besides pork, beef, bacon and lard were exported.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who became Governor on the death of Governor Eden? What changes were noticed in the colony?

2. Into what precincts and counties was North Carolina divided?

3. Who was sent over by the Lords Proprietors in 1724 as Governor?

4. Can you tell something of Governor Burrington's past life?

5. How long was Governor Burrington in office, and who succeeded him? How did these officers conduct themselves in Edenton?

6. What large purchase was made in 1729? Which of the Lords Proprietors reserved his right? What had been the annual profit to the Proprietors from the colony?

7. How had these men always felt toward their province?

8. What was the first act of George I. in the government of North Carolina? How did Burrington's administration terminate?

9. Who was Burrington's successor? Who followed Governor Rice? Tell something of Governor Johnston.

10. How did Governor Johnston conduct affairs?

11. What expedition was sent out at this time? What account of the western country was given by Dr, Brickell on his return?

12. What occurred in 1740?

13. How and by whom was the Cape Fear region now being settled?

14. Give an account of the prosperity of the province during period.



CHAPTER XVIII.

THE PIRATES AND OTHER ENEMIES.

A. D. 1748 TO 1754.

During the government of North Carolina by Gabriel Johnston, there was still much trouble from the buccaneers. These were pirates who chiefly infested the West Indies, where they were sometimes congregated by thousands at a single place. They were daring enough to invade cities and countries, and caused great terror and danger to all honest people within their reach.

2. In 1748 a fleet of the pirates, under the pretext of a war between England and Spain, sailed into the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Instead of the plunder they expected to obtain from firms and towns, they were bravely met by the people, as the fleet lay off the village of Brunswick, and after a bloody fight, were driven back to sea with the loss of one of their ships. From this demolished craft were taken a number of negroes and valuables. These spoils which rewarded the gallant defence of the men of Cape Fear were, by act of Assembly, given to the churches in Wilmington and Brunswick.

[NOTE—The pirate chief left his vessel and crew off at Brunswick, and in a small boat, with a few men, ascended the Cape Fear River to ravage the farm of Maurice Moore. Col. Moore learned of the coming of the robbers and boldly met them on the shore with gun in hand, and compelled them to return without even landing. While the chief was up the river the fight occurred off Brunswick, his vessel was captured, and forty men, comprising the crew were sold by the victors at public auction. ]

1749.

3. The year 1749 is memorable because then, for the first time, a printing press was erected in North Carolina. James Davis brought this press to New Bern from Virginia, and began, years later, the publication of a weekly newspaper, called The North Carolina Magazine or Universal Intelligencer. This occurred in 1765, and the press was used until that time in printing the laws and proceedings of the General Assembly.

4. The first movements toward peopling the western sections of the province were seen this year in the purchase, by the Moravians, of a large tract of land from Earl Granville. They called it Wachovia, in compliment to Count Zinzendorf's estate in Germany. The same region was peopled rapidly by other German Settlers, with a large addition of Scotch-Irish emigrants. Their town was named Salem, and is now the county seat of Forsyth.

1752-53.

5. Upon the death of Governor Johnston, President Rice was in charge until the next year, when, upon his death, Colonel Matthew Rowan succeeded to the place thus made vacant. Colonel Rowan lived in Bladen, and was a planter of large means. He was greatly valued, and his name is perpetrated in a county which has long been important in North Carolina.

1754.

6. At this time there was great rivalry between France and England for supremacy in America. Large as was the area of unoccupied territory for division between them, they were fast maturing schemes for each other's expulsion from the Western Continent.

7. All around the English settlements, from New England along the great lakes, and down the Mississippi River, a chain of forts was being constructed by the French, and the aid of all the Indian tribes had already been secured except in the instance of the Iroquois or Six Nations in New York. Lord Dinwiddie, then Governor of Virginia, sent a messenger to say that these enemies were even encroaching upon the Old Dominion and erecting a fort at the junction of the two streams which form the Ohio River.

8. Pittsburg stands upon the spot where this famous Fort Du Quesne was constructed. His lordship applied for aid from North Carolina in an expedition which he proposed to send against these intruders. Governor Rowan and the General Assembly responded nobly and promptly to the call.

9. Colonel James Innes, who had served gallantly under Lord Vernon at Carthagena, in South America, was put in command of a regiment mustering more than nine hundred men. Two hundred thousand dollars was voted for their equipment and supplies, and with high hopes, the long march for the Ohio River was begun.

10. When the army reached Winchester, in Virginia, Colonel Joshua Fry, who was in command of all the forces, died, and Governor Dinwiddie appointed Colonel Innes his successor. But this appointment gave offence to the Virginians, who wished Colonel George Washington, already a favorite of the people, to take command. The Virginia Legislature, under the circumstances, would make no provision for the support of Colonel Innes' regiment, and it was forced to return home. In this way the generous purpose of North Carolina was completely thwarted.

11. Colonel Innes died at Winchester soon after. The French occupied their fort and perfected those arrangements which resulted, shortly afterwards, in the terrible defeat of the army commanded by General Braddock.

12. Another army of Virginians and North Carolinians, about thirty years after these occurrences, was assembled to attack Colonel Patrick Ferguson's British and Tories at King's Mountain. A very different spirit prevailed there. The North Carolina officers, who greatly outnumbered those of the Old Dominion, insisted that as they were at home, Colonel Campbell, of the latter State, should assume command, and their knightly courtesy was followed by a glorious victory.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who infested the coast during Governor Johnston's term?

2. How was a fleet of pirates received by the Cape Fear men in 1748? What was done with the spoils? Point out Brunswick and Wilmington on the map.

3. What memorable event occurred in 1749?

4. Give an account of the settlement of Wachovia. In what part of the State is this settlement?

5. Who became Governor after the death of Governor Rice? What kind of man was Governor Rowan?

6. What were the English and French trying to accomplish in America at this period?

7. How were the French preparing for hostilities? What was stated by Governor Dinwiddie's messenger?

8. Of whom did Governor Dinwiddie ask aid? How did North Carolina respond to the call?

9. To what extent did the province prepare resistance?

10. What occurred at Winchester? How did this appointment affect the Virginians, and why? How did the effort of North Carolina to aid the Virginians terminate?

11. What was the result of the expedition against Fort Du Quesne?

12. What other occurrence is mentioned?



CHAPTER XIX.

GOVERNOR ARTHUR DOBBS.

A. D. 1754 TO 1765.

King George selected Major Arthur Dobbs, as Governor of North Carolina; and at New Bern, on November 1, 1754, he entered upon the discharge of his duties. He was a man of high temper, and very obstinate in support of his views, but devoted to whatever he believed his duty demanded. His greatest fault was filling public offices with members of his own family and a disposition to make jobs for his own benefit.

2. Governor Dobbs soon visited the new county of Rowan, which was established in 1753, and included in its area most of the western portion of North Carolina and a part of Tennessee. He found Presbyterians under Rev. Hugh McAden, and Baptists under Rev. Shubal Stearns, establishing churches and laying the foundations of towns in a region where, but a few years before, no white people were to be seen.

1757.

3. Colonel Hugh Waddell, of Brunswick, was put in command of troops raised in North Carolina for the French and Indian war. He had started to join General Braddock's column, but just previous to the fatal battle on Monongahela River was recalled by Governor Dobbs to repel the attack of the Cherokees on Old Fort. This stronghold was built amid the western mountains to overawe the Indians and as a refuge for the settlers.

4. Governor Littleton, of South Carolina, by his bad management, had most wantonly provoked the Over-hill Indians into this condition of hostility. His foolish and unnecessary interference and cruelty had converted these usually peaceful neighbors into sufficient hostility to make it easy for French emissaries to obtain their active aid against the English settlers.

5. Captain Dennie, with his company, was also besieged at Fort Tellico. Colonel Waddell made haste with his battalion and drove off the Cherokees, burning their lodges and destroying all the corn he could find. Another battalion remained with General Forbes, as North Carolina's contingent in the expedition against Fort Du Quesne. These things occurred in 1757.

6. In England the administration of the Duke of Newcastle over American and foreign affairs terminated, and the first William Pitt succeeded to his place. In every portion of the world mighty consequences resulted from this arrangement. The fleets and armies of Great Britain were animated with the zeal and patriotism of that great statesman.

1759.

7. Of all the victories of the year, none was so important to America as that of General Wolfe over the French at Quebec. It broke the power of France in the Western Continent, and stopped, in a great measure, the war waged by Indians upon the frontier settlements.

8. At no period has the population of North Carolina increased relatively so fast as during these years now under consideration. Up to the death of Governor Johnston it had amounted to no more than thirty thousand souls, but since that time had more than doubled. In 1754 the exports amounted to sixty-one thousand five hundred and twenty-eight barrels of tar, twelve thousand and fifty-five barrels of turpentine, seven hundred and sixty-two thousand staves, sixty-one thousand five hundred and eighty bushels of corn, besides much tobacco, pork, beef and other commodities.

9. The most discreditable thing in Governor Dobbs' administration was his effort to procure the General Assembly to locate the provincial capital on his farm, called "Tower Hill." This was the place where the Indians had been defeated by Colonel James Moore in 1712. He failed in his scheme, and Snow Hill, as the place is now called, never became the capital of North Carolina.

10. He was often at variance with the Legislature, or more properly, the House of Assembly, concerning the courts and judges. He wished things arranged to suit certain men in London, and the House resolved that this should not be done, and North Carolina was left, in the end, with no judges but the justices of the peace.

11. Even before this there was much complaint concerning the extortions of public officers. Although the people were very poor, the agents of the King and Earl Granville made them pay enormous license and poll taxes. Francis Corbin, one of the King's agents, was dragged from his home in Chowan to Enfield, then in Edgecombe county, to compel him to repay the sums which he had unlawfully exacted. He gave bail and promised to return the illegal tribute, but instead of complying he brought suit against the men who had seized him. The matter terminated in a riot, in which some of the chief friends of Governor Dobbs were concerned.

1765.

12. The Governor, being old, and weary of contests with the House of Assembly, at length asked for leave of absence; but died at his place on Town Creek, in Brunswick county, before sailing for England. He was devoted to his sense of duty to the King, and was in many ways deserving of public respect.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who tools the oath of office of Governor in 1754? Can you give some traits of his character?

2. What visit was made by Governor Dobbs? How was the new county of Rowan becoming settled?

3. Who was put in command of the North Carolina troops? How was he prevented from joining General Braddock? Find Old Fort on the map.

4. Who had incited the Indians to the proposed attack on Old Fort?

5. Give an account of Colonel Waddell's expedition-against the Indians.

6. What noted man in England had charge of American affairs? What effect had his administration upon every portion of the world?

7. What great victory was gained in America at this period? What good resulted to the whole country from this victory?

8. What had been the increase of population in North Carolina? Can you name some of the exports?

9. Where did Governor Dobbs endeavor to have the capital of North Carolina located?

10. What trouble did the Governor have with the Legislature? With what result?

11. Of what extortions did the people complain? How was Francis Corbin treated, and why?

12. What is said of the close of Governor Dobbs' life?



CHAPTER XX.

GOVERNOR TRYON AND THE FIRST RESISTANCE TO THE STAMP ACTS.

A. D. 1765 TO 1766.

Some months before the death of Governor Dobbs there had come over from England a handsome, polished and genial officer who wore the uniform of the Queen's Guards. This was Lieutenant- Colonel William Tryon, recently appointed Lieutenant-Governor of North Carolina. He succeeded Governor Dobbs, and left a name that will never be forgotten in North Carolina.

2. Governor Tryon was accompanied by his wife and her sister, Miss Esther Wake. They were ladies of great attractiveness, and were destined to become so much valued by the people that their family name is still preserved in our midst, as the name of our metropolitan county.

3. There was much gaiety seen at that time in the eastern counties. The Indians were all gone, beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the rude huts of old had, in many instances, been replaced by large and costly buildings of brick. Weddings were generally celebrated by balls that lasted for a week. Hospitality was unstinted, and most men of means thought their establishments imperfect until provided with a private race course. With hound and horn, there was great diversion, for game was abundant and the sport open to all who could get a horse to ride.

4. In such society the brilliant family of the Governor was of course at once sure of unbounded influence. Perhaps no man was ever more warmly esteemed than Governor Tryon during the first years of his rule in North Carolina. He was gracious and wary at the same time. He knew whom to cultivate, and while smiling on all he was fast making friends who were almost ready to die in his behalf.

5. The great preacher, George Whitefield, came to the State in 1765, and moved thousands with his eloquence. His new sect, the Methodist, had until then made no progress in North Carolina, and his converts went to swell the numbers of the Baptists, who were more numerous than any other denomination.

6. There was the utmost kindness of feeling between the new Governor and the people, when the news came that the English Parliament had passed a law called the "Stamp Act." It had been much talked of and denounced in many portions of America, and now, with a unanimity that is still one of the strangest things recorded in history, the men of all conditions, in every colony, arose in frenzy and swore that this law should not be executed in America.

7. The Stamp Act required that all colonial legal instruments, such as deeds, bonds and notes, should be written only upon stamped paper, otherwise they were not binding, or of any effect. The paper was prepared in England, to be sold to the colonists at the heavy tax of one and two dollars upon each sheet. In addition to this, the act contained a great variety of other ruinous exactions. Newspapers and pamphlets were taxed more than such publications at present would cost. An advertisement in a newspaper paid the government fifty cents; almanacs, eight cents; college diplomas, ten dollars; and the fee charged for a marriage license was sometimes as high as fifteen dollars. The act received royal assent on 22d March, 1765.

8. The law was oppressive upon the people because of the amount exacted, but was considered constitutional in England by many great lawyers who were warm friends of the American people. But in America it had been held for some time that no tax levied by Great Britain, without the consent of America, was just; and thus every man resolved that the Stamp Act should not be enforced.

9. When the news reached Governor Tryon, at New Bern, the General Assembly was in session at that place. A very bold and fearless man, Colonel John Ashe, was then Speaker of the House of Assembly. Governor Tryon asked of Ashe, in private conversation, what the House would do as to the new law." We will resist its execution to the death," said he, and that very day Governor Tryon sent them all home by proroguing the session. Nor did he permit them to assemble again until late in the next year, after the repeal of the Stamp Act. By this means he prevented the election of delegates from North Carolina to the Continental Congress which met in New York in 1765 to organize the opposition to that oppressive measure.

[Prorogue is to continue or adjourn a legislative body from one session to another by Royal or State authority. ]

10. The first step of the people in their resistance to the Stamp Act was to carry James Houston, who had been appointed Stamp Agent, before Moses John DeRosset, who was then Mayor of Wilmington. There, in the presence of many distinguished men of the Cape Fear country, on the 16th of November, 1765, he was obliged publicly to resign his office in the Court House of Wilmington, and make oath that he would have no further connection with it.

11. Twelve days later, on the 28th November, 1765, the ship of war Diligence arrived with stamps. The commander was told by armed men, under Colonels Ashe and Waddell, that they must not be landed; and no effort was made to do so. On the 21st December, 1765, the Governor issued his proclamation dissolving the General Assembly, and on the same day took the opinion of his Council and the Attorney-General "whether writs can issue for the election of a new Assembly, as the circulation of the stamps is obstructed." The Council and Attorney-General advised that the writs could go without stamps.

1766.

12. On the 6th January, 1766, Governor Tryon, taking fresh courage from some source, went so far as to issue a proclamation announcing that the stamps were on board the Diligence and ready for distribution. It did no good, however, for no one would use them. Comparative quiet now ensued for some weeks, but it was only the calm before the storm.

13. On the 14th of February, two vessels that had come up to the port of Brunswick without stamps upon their clearance papers were promptly seized by the Custom House officers, and then the storm arose. On the 19th, armed men broke open the desk of the Collector of the Port, and forcibly carried off the unstamped clearance papers of the two vessels. On the 20th, a committee of armed men appeared on board the Viper and demanded of Captain Lobb the two sloops he was guarding. Meanwhile armed men were continually coming into Brunswick from different counties.

14. On the evening of the 20th, Mr. Pennington, another stamp distributor, took refuge in Governor Tryon's house. Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of the 21st, armed men appeared before the Governor's house and sent him a note desiring him to permit Mr. Pennington to appear before them, and informing him that it would "not be in the power of the Directors appointed to prevent the ill consequences that may attend a refusal." The Governor replied that any gentleman who had business with Mr. Pennington might see him at the Governor's house. This, however, was by no means satisfactory, and in a short time, according to the Governor's statement, a body of some five hundred men in arms moved toward his house. A detachment of sixty then came down the avenue and the main body drew up in sight and within three hundred yards of the house.

15. Mr. Cornelius Harnett, a representative in the Assembly for Wilmington, came at the head of the detachment and sent a message asking to speak with Mr. Pennington; when he came into the house he told Mr. Pennington "the gentlemen wanted him." The Governor replied that Mr. Pennington was in his house for refuge and that he would protect him to the utmost. Mr. Harnett thereupon said he hoped the Governor would let Mr. Pennington go, as the people were determined to take him out of the house if he should be longer detained, an insult, Mr. Harnett said, they wished to avoid giving to the Governor.

16. The Governor protested it mattered not about that insult after they had already offered him every insult they could offer by investing his house and virtually making him a prisoner before any grievance had been made known to him.

17. Mr. Pennington growing apprehensive and showing a disposition to go with Mr. Harnett, the Governor suggested to him that he resign before he left. To this he agreed, and thereupon the Governor let him go. He was afterward compelled to take an oath that he would never issue any stamped paper in the province, as were all the clerks of the county courts and other public officers. The inhabitants, in the language of the Governor, having redressed, after the manner described, their grievances complained of, left the town of Brunswick about one o'clock on the 21st. These things were done, it must be borne in mind, in the broad daylight, and by men perfectly well known, and without a particle of disguise. After this, vessels entered and left the ports of North Carolina as if no Stamp Act had ever been passed.

18. On June 13, 1766, came news from England of the repeal of the law that had so terribly excited and aroused America. Governor Tryon announced the fact in a proclamation, but he had been humiliated by the resistance at Wilmington, and from that hour, probably, determined on the revenge which he afterwards exacted at Alamance.

[NOTE—Governor Tryon desired to regain his influence, for political purposes, over the people whom he had so greatly offended; and he ordered a general muster at Wilmington. He prepared a feast for the militia, of whole oxen roasted, and barrels of beer. When the feast was ready the people rushed to the tables and threw the oxen into the river and emptied the beer upon the ground. A general fight ensued between the militia and the men of the English vessels, and perfect quiet was not restored for several days.]

QUESTIONS.

1. What distinguished person have we now under consideration? How did he become Governor of North Carolina?

2. Who accompanied Governor Tryon? What is said of the two ladies?

3. Tell something of life in the eastern counties at this time.

4. How did the Tryon family become very influential?

5. What great preacher came to North Carolina in 1765? How were his labors rewarded?

6. What memorable law was passed by Parliament? How was the news received in North Carolina?

7. What can you tell of the Stamp Act?

8. What is said of the law?

9. Under what circumstances did the news reach the Governor? What did the Governor do concerning the Assembly?

10. Mention the first act of resistance to this law.

11. When did the Diligence arrive? What occurred on her arrival?

12. What did the Governor do on January 6th? With what result?

13. What trouble befell the Viper?

14. What occurred on February 20th?

15. What further is said of this affair?

16. What did the Governor say of these things?

17. What was the conclusion of this affair?

18. What joyful news was received on June 13th, 1766? How had Governor Tryon been affected by the resistance of the people to the Stamp Act?



CHAPTER XXI.

GOVERNOR TRYON AND THE REGULATORS.

A. D. 1766 TO 1771.

In the middle and western counties of North Carolina in the period referred to, there was collected a large increase of population. Immigrants had come in large companies from Scotland, Ireland, England and Germany. Fully two hundred thousand inhabitants were by that time to be found east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They were separated by that great barrier from the Cherokees, who latterly had well respected this line of separation.

2. A great portion of the western settlers had recently come to their new homes, and were very poorly provided with the means of living. They were hundreds of miles from market, and made nothing on their farms to sell but wheat. These farmers were taxed about twelve dollars apiece on the poll, and paid an annual rent of seventy-five cents on each one hundred acres of their land.

3. When they hauled wheat to Cross Creek, now Fayetteville, it realized but little more than enough to pay for the salt needed in the family. Sugar and coffee were luxuries in which they rarely indulged. It can thus be seen how cruel would have been even an honest collection of what the laws demanded of these recent settlers as taxes. When these sums were enormously increased by dishonest sheriffs the farmers were in despair, for it was beyond their power to pay.

4. The farmers knew they were being cheated, and resolved to put an end to such practices. Colonel Edmund Fanning, of Hillsboro, in Orange county, was growing rich as Register of Deeds, and was the ringleader in this oppression of the people.

5. In this same county lived Herman Husbands, who was a Quaker preacher, and, though of limited education, was a man of considerable natural abilities. He prevailed on his neighbors at Sandy Creek to form an association for mutual protection against the wrongs of the public officers. His organization was known as the "Regulators," and they were to help each other in the lawsuits and indictments growing out of a refusal to pay unlawful demands.

6. This was wise and proper, as these men were not rebellious, but only desired relief from oppression, but Husbands should have joined the league he was thus creating, and thereby shared the liabilities of the members. This he would not do, but preached and harangued until the people were in a fever of excitement.

1768.

7. The first trouble grew out of a seizure of a horse from one of two men sent to Hillsboro on a mission to the sheriff. The Regulators retook the horse by force, and fired into the roof of Colonel Fanning's house. That night Husbands was arrested and carried to Hillsboro, and gave bail for his appearance at the next Superior Court. He had hardly left Hillsboro before seven hundred men came to his rescue; they went away with promises made by Isaac Edwards, who was Tryon's Secretary, that the Governor would redress their wrongs.

8. Governor Tryon went to Hillsboro in a few weeks, but condemned only the people who had asked his aid, and, after going further west, came back to the Superior Court with an army of eleven hundred men, which he had raised in Mecklenburg and Rowan counties. Husbands was acquitted on trial, but three other Regulators were heavily fined and imprisoned. Colonel Fanning was convicted in five cases of extortion in office, and the judges, to their shame, imposed a fine of only one penny in each case.

9. This marching of troops, and the failure of the court to do its duty, only made matters worse. The Regulators grew in numbers and violence until the courts could not be held in some counties. Husbands was expelled from his place in the House of Assembly and thrown into prison for a libel on Judge Maurice Moore. His release was effected in time to stop a crowd of several hundred men from going to New Bern, where they had declared they would release him and burn the splendid palace the Governor had just built.

1771.

10. Matters continued to grow worse until, in 1771, Governor Tryon raised an army in the eastern counties, under a law of the Assembly, and marched to Orange to put down what he called the "rebellion of the Regulators," Colonel Waddell, with another body of troops, marched from Salisbury to join him, but was met by the Regulators and driven back.

11. On the 16th of May, 1771, the force of Governor Tryon, numbering eleven hundred men, met about two thousand of the Regulators at a place called "Alamance," in Orange County. In the battle that ensued there was stubborn fighting until the ammunition of the Regulators was exhausted, and they were driven from the field. Many men lost their lives, and all that was gained by North Carolina, after a noble resistance to oppression, was that Edmund Fanning and others, who were largely responsible for all its disorders, left the province.

12. The brutal malice and cruelty in Governor Tryon's character was exhibited soon after the battle. Several prisoners were taken by him, and one of them, a poor half-witted youth named James Few, was, by Tryon's order, hung on the spot without trial. Twelve other prisoners were soon convicted of high treason and sentenced to death. Six of them were hanged almost immediately; the execution of the others was delayed for a few days in order that a grand military display might be made on the occasion, the details of which the Governor superintended in person.

[NOTE—It has been said that the battle of Alamance was begun by Governor Tryon, who fired the first gun at a prisoner named Robert Thompson, killing him instantly. The men seemed to hesitate about beginning the fight, and Governor Tryon, rising in his stirrups, exclaimed: "Fire! fire on them, or on me!"]

13. Governor Tryon left the province a month after the battle of Alamance to become, by the king's appointment, Governor of New York. He had signally failed to do his duty in compelling his subordinates to deal honestly with the people, but yet he retained the confidence of many able and patriotic men. Richard Caswell and many other leaders in the province were distressed that he had ceased to be the Chief Magistrate of North Carolina.

QUESTIONS.

1. How were the middle and western sections of North Carolina being peopled at this period?

2. Give some description of these people. How were they taxed?

3. What return did the sale of their crops bring them? How was theirs a hard lot?

4. By whom were the poor farmers being oppressed?

5. What noted man is now mentioned? Can you tell something of the acts of Herman Husbands in the province?

6. How did he shrink from becoming a member of his league?

7. What was the first trouble? How did they settle the matter? Mention some circumstances of the trial of Husbands?

8. What was the result of Governor Tyron's visit to Hillsboro? How did the trials at court terminate?

9. How were the Regulators affected by this "mock judgment"? Into what trouble did Husbands next fall?

10. What steps were taken by Governor Tryon towards crushing the Regulators? By whom was his army reinforced?

11. Can you describe the memorable "Battle of Alamance"? What benefit was derived from it? Point out on the map the scene of the battle.

12. What was Governor Tryon's conduct after the battle?

13. When did Governor Tryon leave North Carolina, and for what purpose?



CHAPTER XXII.

GOVERNOR MARTIN AND THE REVOLUTION.

A. D. 1771 TO 1774.

James Hasell, as President of the Council, assumed the conduct of affairs until the arrival of the new Governor. This new Governor, Josiah Martin, was born 22d April, 1737, and had been a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, which position he was obliged to resign on account of his health. He then sought civil employment and was appointed Governor of North Carolina. He was a far more honorable man than Tryon. He had no unworthy favorites, as Tryon had, and concocted no selfish schemes for his own benefit or that of his family, but was exceedingly obstinate and strict in the observance of royal prerogatives. Unattractive in his manners, and very positive in his opinions, he sometimes failed to withhold the manifestations of his displeasure towards those who might happen to differ with him, no matter how honestly. Perhaps, however, in the fierce antagonisms of the times in which he ruled in North Carolina, his real virtues were not appreciated as they deserved.

1771.

2. Governor Martin met the Assembly, for the first time, in New Bern, on the 19th of November, 1771. At his suggestion, the Legislature passed an act of amnesty toward all persons engaged in the war of the Regulation except Husbands and a few other leaders. Such wise and merciful action, however, was not to be the rule of his life.

3. It had long been felt that the taxes were exceedingly burdensome, and, from a statement made to the Legislature at this time, by one of the public treasurers, of the real condition of the public funds, it was seen that these taxes had been, for a time at least, unnecessarily imposed. The treasurer showed that a full collection of the amounts in arrear, for which security had been given, would discharge the entire public debt and leave in the public treasury the sum of twenty thousand dollars. A bill was at once passed in both houses of the Legislature, and without opposition in either, discontinuing the special taxes that had been devoted to the extinguishment of the public debt. Governor Martin, however, vetoed the bill, and thus began a series of conflicts with the Legislature that lasted until his expulsion from the province.

4. The repeal of the Stamp Act had been gratefully received; but Parliament still excited great apprehension by an express and formal assertion of its powers to tax America. It had cost immense sums to the Crown to drive out the French, and much money was still needed to pay British expenses in America. It was insisted that the colonies ought to pay their fair share in these burdens. The great question was, how this was to be done. If Parliament could levy what it pleased, then Americans were no longer free, in that they were not masters of their own purses. Many propositions were made to arrange the difficulty, but none were satisfactory to both sides.

1773.

5. So dissatisfied was Governor Martin with his first Legislature that he speedily dissolved it, and did not permit a new one to meet until the last of January, 1773. The new Legislature met in New Bern, and the House gave notice of its temper by electing as its speaker John Harvey, of Perquimans, admitted on all hands to be the most earnest supporter of colonial rights in all the province. Upon every important subject of legislation the Governor and the new Assembly were at variance, and he accordingly dissolved it on the 9th of March, declaring that it "had deserted its duty and flagrantly insulted the dignity and authority of the government."

6. The next Assembly met in New Bern, on the 4th of December, 1773, and continued in session seventeen days, when it shared the fate of its predecessor, and was sent home with the injunction to consult with the people and learn their will.

7. Short as was the session, however, its action was most important. On the day after the session began, letters were received from the Legislature of Virginia and other colonies, proposing that each province should appoint a Committee of Correspondence. The proposition was speedily agreed to by the House of Assembly, and a committee of nine appointed, with instructions to "obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British Parliament, or proceedings of administration, as may relate to or affect the British colonies in America, and to keep and maintain a correspondence and communication with all sister colonies, respecting these important considerations, and the result of such, their proceedings, from hour to hour, to lay before the House."

8. John Harvey, Richard Caswell, Samuel Johnston, Joseph Hewes, Edward Vail, Cornelius Harnett, John Ashe, William Hooper and Robert Howe constituted the committee, and certainly, in North Carolina at least, it may be said there was never an abler one. By this action the province took position with its sister colonies on the great question of the day. That the question was regarded as one of great importance and great gravity, if not of great difficulty, we need no other assurance than that afforded by the character of the men into whose hands it was committed.

QUESTIONS.

1. On whom did the government next devolve? Who succeeded James Hasell? How is Governor Martin compared with some of his predecessors?

2. Where did Governor Martin first meet the Assembly? What law was passed?

3. What was the financial condition of the government at this period? What act was passed concerning taxes?

4. How were the people excited by the English Parliament? What was the trouble?

5. How did Governor Martin act concerning the Legislature? What declaration was made by him?

6. Where did the next Assembly meet, and what was done with it?

7. What letters were received during the session? What was done with the proposition?

8. Who composed the Committee of Correspondence? What is said of these men?



CHAPTER XXIII.

FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.

A. D. 1774.

1774. By this time the propriety of holding a general or Continental Congress, composed of delegates or representatives duly chosen by the several colonies, had suggested itself to men of sagacity in every portion of the country. Wherever made, the suggestion at once found a lodgment in public favor, and by the time summer had come it was a generally accepted fact that such a congress would be held, and the time and place of its session pretty well agreed upon. During the month of June, 1774, each colony, through its Committee of Correspondence, was invited to send delegates to a Continental Congress, to be held in Philadelphia during the coming September.

2. From its first agitation, the project of a Continental Congress, to consider the best ways and means of redressing the grievances of the colonists, was exceedingly distasteful to Governor Martin, for he regarded it as a most efficient way to organize rebellion. He resolved that he would prevent North Carolina from participating in such a Congress, as Governor Tryon had prevented her from participating in a similar one in 1765. To this end he determined that during the continuance of the existing disturbed condition of the colonies no Legislature should meet in North Carolina, thinking thereby to prevent the due election of delegates from the province.

3. To this fixed purpose on the part of Governor Martin, made known to John Harvey through Mr. Biggleston, the Governor's Private Secretary, the Congress held at New Bern in August, 1774, owed its existence. When Mr. Biggleston told him the Governor did not intend to call another Legislature "until he saw a chance to get a better one," Harvey replied, "then the people will convene one themselves." Accordingly, about the first of July, in accordance with a plan agreed upon three months before between Willie Jones of Halifax, Samuel Johnston of Chowan and Edward Buncombe of Tyrrell, Harvey, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, issued handbills calling upon the people to elect delegates to a Provincial Congress, as it was called, to assemble in New Bern on the 25th of August, to express the sentiments of the people on the acts lately passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, and to appoint delegates to represent the province in a Continental Congress. The handbills of this bold Speaker also invited the people to invest the deputies whom they might send to New Bern "with powers obligatory on the future conduct of the inhabitants."

4. The elections for deputies were duly held about the first of August, and the Governor, finding himself thus completely checkmated, was furious. The calm audacity of the Speaker, in summoning such a body to meet in New Bern, in the very presence of the King's represent representatives, as the Governor said, "to concert treasonable schemes against the Crown," astounded him.

5. Up to this time Governor Martin had not at all realized how weak had become the ties that bound the people of the colony of North Carolina to the mother country. Nor did he believe they would, with any degree of unanimity whatever, take so bold and defiant a step in the direction of open rebellion as that involved in the election of a Congress with powers obligatory on the people, but owing no obedience to the authority of the Crown. Yet, at the appointed times and places, with few exceptions, the people throughout the provinces openly assembled and elected delegates to the proposed Congress, clothing them with most extraordinary powers.

6. This evidence of the condition of popular sentiment in the province could neither be doubted nor disregarded. Accordingly, on the 12th of August, 1774, the Governor asked his Council to advise him what to do in a state of affairs so inconsistent with the peace and good order of the government and so injurious to the maintenance of the authority of the Crown. After deliberating for a day on the matter, the Council advised him to issue a proclamation, and he did so, condemning the elections just held as highly illegal, and warning all officers of the King, both civil and military, to do all in their power to prevent such assemblages of the people, and especially the meeting of the deputies or delegates at New Bern on the 25th instant.

7. In spite of all this, the first Provincial Congress in North Carolina met at New Bern, August 25th, 1774, and elected John Harvey as Moderator or President. Richard Caswell, Joseph Hewes and William Hooper were chosen as delegates to the Continental Congress. Protesting their loyalty to the Crown, but expressing a full determination to defend their rights as freemen, the members entered into an agreement that unless their grievances were redressed they would discontinue all trade with English merchants.

8. This Congress was the first great step in the Revolution, which was to deliver North Carolina and America from the dominion of a distant King and Parliament. The men of America were soon to be free from all foreign interference in their government. It was a bold and hazardous step in Colonel Harvey and the men over whom he presided as Moderator, but safety in the end was the reward of those who thus dared to be free.

QUESTIONS.

1. What important step was suggesting itself to the people? How was the suggestion received? What was done in June, 1774?

2. How did Governor Martin regard this matter? What did he determine to do?

3. What vas the result of the Governor's plan? What was done by John Harvey?

4. How was Governor Martin affected by Harvey's success?

5. What had the Governor begun to realize? What was done by the people?

6. What advice did the Governor seek? What was given?

7. When and where did the first Provincial Congress of North Carolina meet? Who was Moderator? Who were chosen as delegates to the Continental Congress?

8. What is said of this Provincial congress?



CHAPTER XXIV.

THE SECOND PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.

A. D. 1775.

After the meeting of the first Provincial Congress, at New Bern, there were, to all observers of intelligence throughout the world, evident signs of an approaching rupture between the Royal Government and the people of North Carolina. Each day widened the breach between them and rendered more difficult an arrangement of the troubles.

2. In the regular course of events, if North Carolina would continue to keep abreast of her sister colonies in the movement for the preservation of the inherent rights of British subjects, it was necessary that she should formally ratify and approve the action recently taken by the Continental Congress, and to elect delegates to that Congress for a new term. Accordingly, on the 11th of February, 1775, after the Governor had ordered an election to be held for a new Legislature to meet in New Bern on the 3d of April, Colonel Harvey also issued handbills for the election of another Congress to meet at the same time and place.

3. Both elections were held and both bodies met at the appointed time and place. Indeed the same individuals were members of both the House of Assembly and of the Congress. The records show that every member of the House of Assembly who was present was also present as a member of the Congress, with only three exceptions. Colonel Harvey was chosen to preside over both bodies. When sitting at the House of Assembly the members called him "Mr. Speaker," but when sitting as a Congress they called him "Mr. Moderator." According to the journals of their proceedings, the Congress met at nine o'clock and the Assembly at ten o'clock in the morning. Upon the face of the journals of the two bodies their proceedings seem to have been entirely separate and distinct; it is said, however, to have been otherwise in fact, and that at one moment the members would be sitting with Mr. Speaker Harvey as a House of Assembly, under the authority of the Crown, and at another with Mr. Moderator Harvey, as a Congress in defiance of the Crown.

4. As the two Houses of the Legislature met Governor Martin in the palace, according to the custom of that day, at the beginning of a session, he saluted them with indignant remonstrances, which were, the next day, most ably answered in an address prepared by Captain Robert Howe, of Brunswick. A chief ground of his complaint was that the Assembly would take no action against the Congress. He was aptly reminded, however, in reply, that as the Assembly had no control over its sessions, holding them at his will and pleasure only, and remembering how that will and pleasure had been exercised, a Congress that did have control over itself was absolutely necessary for the protection of the people. The result was a proclamation dissolving the Assembly on the 8th of April, that being the fourth day of its session.

5. The Congress, however, could neither be dissolved nor dispersed, and proceeded in its work with much deliberation. The same delegation was returned to Philadelphia; and articles of association, pledging the members to abstain from all commerce with British marts, were signed by all except Thomas McKnight, of Currituck.

6. It was seen that a crisis was near at hand. Boston had been held, for months past, in a state of siege. At length, on April 19th, came the encounter at Lexington. Accidents are constantly heard of wherein more lives are lost, but this little skirmish, small as it was, was enough, with its tidings, to fire the hearts of a continent.

7. The tidings of such an occurrence in our day outstrips the winds. In less than an hour it is known all over the Mississippi Valley, across the Rocky Mountains, and along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. But our ancestors of that day had no railways or telegraphs; so, it was fully two weeks after the militiamen slain at Lexington had stiffened in their blood that Richard Caswell heard of it in Petersburg, Virginia.

8. A courier was hurrying southward with the tidings, but it was not until May 19th that the people of Mecklenburg, in North Carolina, became aware of what had occurred. At the village of Charlotte upon that day a large concourse of the leading men of that county had assembled. Fired at the nature of the startling intelligence, they held a convention, and after remaining in session all night, on the morning of the 20th, passed resolutions of independence that will immortalize their names.

9. All America, while arming for the war, was still protesting loyalty to the King, but these men of Mecklenburg leaped to a conclusion, the expediency of which more than a year of blood was required to impress on the minds of their countrymen. Abraham Alexander presided in the meeting, and the famous "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence" was drawn by Dr. Ephraim Breyard.

[NOTE—The men of Mecklenburg held another meeting on May 31st, and adopted a system of government and military commissions. These people publicly declared themselves free from English rule nearly fourteen months before the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia.]

10. The news from Boston was speedily followed, in North Carolina, by mournful tidings from Perquimans county. Colonel John Harvey, after so many strenuous efforts to put North Carolina in readiness for the storm, sank under disease, and died at his place in "Harvey's Neck," on the Albemarle Sound. No braver or wiser man has ever borne a part in the conduct of affairs in North Carolina.

11. Apprehensive for his own safety and that of his family, Governor Martin at once made preparations for leaving New Bern. He sent his family to New York by sea, but went himself by land to Fort Johnston, at the mouth of the Cape Fear. * But even Fort Johnston proved unsafe as a place of refuge, and in July the Governor left it and went on board the war sloop Cruiser, then lying in the river before the fort. On the same day Colonel Ashe, with five hundred men, burned the fort to the ground.

*Governor Martin took advantage of this journey to visit the Scotch settlements on the upper Cape Fear, and set on foot the insurrection that culminated in the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge.

QUESTIONS.

1. What signs were observed after the first Provincial Congress?

2. What was necessary for North Carolina to do? What was done on February 11, 1775?

3. What is said of this election ? Describe the Legislature and Congress?

4. How was the Legislature received by the Governor? How did Captain Howe answer him?

5. What was done by the Congress?

6. What startling news was received on April 19th.

7. How did the circulation of news in 1775 differ from the present? Who was first to receive the news of Lexington?

8. When did the tidings reach Mecklenburg? What great event occurred at Charlotte? Find this city on the map.

9. What was the attitude of the American people at this time? By what name have the Charlotte resolutions always been known?

10. What sad news next thrilled North Carolina?

11. What was done by Governor Martin? What occurred at Fort Johnston?



CHAPTER XXV.

THE CONGRESS AT HILLSBORO.

A. D. 1775.

It had been seen at New Bern that Colonel Harvey's days were numbered, and Samuel Johnston had been empowered, in case of the Moderator's death, to order an election for another Congress to meet at Hillsboro whenever he should deem it necessary. Accordingly (Colonel Harvey having died) the Congress met, at the call of Mr. Johnston, in Hillsboro, on the 20th of August, 1775, and a memorable Congress it was. Samuel Johnston was its President.

2. When Governor Martin left New Bern royal authority was virtually at an end in North Carolina, but it was at Hillsboro, and by the Congress there assembled, that its last vestige was swept away. The time had come when, if North Carolina intended to stand with her sister colonies, she must take up arms and appeal to the God of battles. This she was ready to do without any hesitation, and this she did do at Hillsboro, giving publicly to the world her reasons for so doing.

3. The Governor sent to Samuel Johnston a copy of his proclamation, dated on board His Majesty's ship Cruiser, at Cape Fear, on the 8th of August, 1775, in which he warned the people against the Hillsboro Congress as a dangerous and unconstitutional assembly, and of baneful influence; and further, that to assemble men in arms in the province without authority from the King, was a violation of law for which they would be held answerable. In reply to this proclamation, which was duly laid before the Congress by the Moderator, Mr. Johnston, it was formally resolved that the proclamation was a false, scandalous, scurrilous and seditious libel, tending to disunite the good people of the province; "and further, that the said paper be burnt by the common hangman."

4. Accepting the recent flight of Governor Martin to the British war-sloop Cruiser as an abdication of the government of the Crown, the Congress proceeded to put in its place a government of the people, and established what in this day would be called a provisional government. Cornelius Harnett* was at its head.

*This man was the second of the name. His father came to Clarendon in Governor Burrington's time, and was all his life afterwards a member of the council. This Cornelius Harnett was well educated, and was so intensely devoted to the American cause that he was called in that day "the Samuel Adams of North Carolina."

5. On the third Tuesday in October in each year delegates to a Congress were to be elected, which Congress was to meet on the 10th of November following, unless otherwise directed. When in session Congress was, of course, supreme; when not in session, ample authority was vested in a general or provisional council and subordinate or district committees of safety. The province was divided into six military districts, and as far as possible, put on a war footing.

6. The ordinary militia organization was perfected and monthly drills ordered; a special organization of minutemen, as that class of troops was called, was provided for each district, and, in addition, two regiments of regulars were ordered as the contingent of the province for the Continental army. Provision was also made for the purchase, anywhere and everywhere, of arms, powder, lead, salt and saltpetre; for the manufacture at home of salt, saltpetre, powder, and for the refining of sulphur; for the manufacture of brown and writing paper, cotton and woolen cards, linen and woolen cloths, pins and needles, and for the erection of furnaces for making iron and steel and iron hollow ware, and of rolling mills for making nails, large premiums were offered. A census, too, was ordered to be taken without delay.

7. An issue of money to meet expenses was also provided for. In a word, every function of government was from that time exercised in the name and by the authority of the people of North Carolina. Virtually the province was under martial law, but it was under martial law self-imposed.

8. It is evident that the men who constituted the Hillsboro, or third Provincial Congress, knew perfectly well what they were doing, and had fully counted the cost. Success meant freedom, and would make them patriots; failure meant abject submission to a foreign government, and would make them traitors. Knowing this, they deliberately put a government of the people in the place of the government of the King; they put an army in the field and provided it with arms and ammunition; and, as if looking ahead to a long and protracted struggle, during which their ports would be doubtless blockaded, they sought at once, by the offer of large bounties to encourage the manufacture at home of such articles as were of common use and prime necessity. They were indeed both bold and far-seeing, those men of the Hillsboro Congress, and well they might be, for they were the best and bravest of the province-men whose names are now household words throughout the State.

9. The Hillsboro Congress had not called out troops any too soon, for it was discovered that both Governor Martin, in North Carolina, and Lord Dunmore, in Virginia, were engaged in schemes to excite insurrections among the negro slaves. Colonel Robert Howe, with the Second North Carolina Regiment, was sent to Norfolk, in Virginia, where the British troops, being beaten at Great Bridge, were soon driven from the soil of the "Old Dominion."