: 215 9 W39 *opy 1 / 7 ' ^X^. £ 215 Manhood and Intelligence of North Carolina Should Stand for Truth and Justice .9 = .W39 Copy 1 Truth and Justice for the History of North Carolina 1 he Mecklenburg Resolves of May 31, 1775, vs. The "Mecklenburg Declara- tion of May 20, 1 775" The Discovery of Contemporaneous Documents Corrects Errors of Memory. The Testimony of the Ancient Witnesses Sustains the 31st. No Meeting Held in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, N. C.,on May 20, 1775. The Legend on the State Flag an Historical Error. The Date on the State Seal a Glaring Mistake. The Resolves of May 31, 1775, Authentic. Greensboro, N. C: -CHARLES L. VAN NOPPEN, Publisher HISTORICAL FACTS In 1819 there was published in the Raleigh Register a narrative of proceedings in Meck- lenburg containing Resolutions declaring In- dependence. The original record of these proceedings had been in the possession of' John McKnitt Alexander. His house was burned in April, 1S00, and he subsequently prepared this Narrative from memory. He sent a copy of it in September. 1800. to Gen. Wm. R. Davie with the following certificate attached : "It may be worthy of notice here to observe that the foregoing statement, though fundamentally correct, yet may not literally correspond with the original record of the transactions of the said dele- gation and court of inquiry, as all those records and papers were burned, with the house, on April 6, 1800; but previous to that time of 1800, a full copy of said records, at the request of Dr. Hugh William- son, then of New York, but formerly a representa- tive in Congress from this state, was forwarded to him by Colonel William Polk, in order that those early transactions might fill their proper plac; in a history of this state then writing by said Dr. Wil- liams isic) in New York. "Certified to the best of my recollection and belief this 3d day of September, 1800, by "J. McK. Alexander, 'Mecklenburg County, N. C." The paper Colonel Alexander sent to Gen- eral Davie was the only copy of his Narrative, written in 1S00. that he ever let pass out of his possession, as far as known ; and he care- fully appended his certificate that, as it was written from memory, it might not "literally correspond" with the record. In 1817 he died. Two years after his death his son, upon request, made a copy of his Narrative and sent it to Hon. William David- son in Washington City. It was this copy which was printed in the Raleigh "Register on April 30, 1819. Between 1819 and 1830 other old men wrote letters and statements touching the same matter. From their statements it appeared that some time in May, 177r>. there was issued an order for the election of two delegates (or committeemen) from each militia district in Mecklenburg ; the election was hefd ; the delegates met; the meeting continued two days ; resolves declaring independence were adopted; Colonel Polk proclaimed them to a great meeting of citizens, one-half of the county being present. Captain Jack took them to Philadelphia. In his Narrative Col. John McKnitt Alex- ander said that the election was called by Abraham Alexander; the s other witness corrected him and said Col. Thomas Polk called it. Colonel Alexander said that the news of the battle of Lexington arrived while the meeting was in progress. Gen. Joseph Gra- ham said : "Perhaps half the men in the county attended. The news of the battle of Lexington, April 19th preceding, had arrived. There appeared among the people much ex- citement." Nearly all the witnesses describe the great public meeting, and the reading of the "decla- ration" to the great crowd by Colonel Polk. Colonel Alexander did not mention any pub- lic meeting and he did not mention that Colonel Polk proclaimed independence. That Colonel Alexander's memory was de- fective is apparent. In his Narrative Colonel Alexander stated that the meeting was May 19-20. Some of the witnesses, forty to fifty years later, prob- ably w T ith the Narrative before them, said they were present at the meeting on May 20. Others merely said the meeting was in May. Colonel Alexander set forth in his Narra- tive the resolutions which he said were adopted. A copy of his rough notes, made in 1800 when he was preparing his Narrative (copyist's copy), is preserved. This copy ehows that those resolutions were constructed and built up by him in 1800 and were not copied from any original. They were so similarrTTi some respects, to the fourth of July document that many persons at once 3 accused Jefferson of having copied from thein in writing the National Declaration. They have since become known as "The Declaration of May 20, 1775." They may be summarized as follows (for this "Declaration" in full see Ashe's "His- tory of North Carolina," I, 440) : Section 1. Declares that "whosoever . . . abetted or . . . countenanced the unchar- tered and dangerous invasion of our rights ... is an enemy to this country, . . . and to the inherent and inalienable rights of man." Sec. 2. Dissolves the "political Bands" that have connected Mecklenburg county with the mother country and absolves its citizens "from all allegiance to the British Crown." . Sec. 3. Declares them "a free and inde- pendent people, are and of right ought to be a sovereign and self-governing Association, under . . . the General Government of the Congress." Pledges "our mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes and our most sacred honor." Sec. 4. Adopts "as a rule of life, all, each and every of our former laws ;" excludes Great Britain from all "rights, privileges, immunities or authority therein." Sec. 5. Reinstates military officers in their former commands ; makes each member of the delegation then present . a justice of the peace in the character of a "committeeman." While the witnesses in general terms sus- tained the main proposition that in May, 1775, Mecklenburg declared independence, only one said anything about the wording of the resolutions. One witness in 1830 said : "The subcommittee appointed to draft the resolutions returned, and Dr. Ephraim Bre- vard read their report, as near as I can recol- lect, in the very words we have since seen them several times in print." Rev. Hum- phrey Hunter, who wrote a sketch of his own life in 1825, incorporated into it the resolu- tions just as printed in the Narrative in 1819. The Case for May 20th, 1775. The Declaration of May 20th then rests on the memory of Colonel Alexander, writing twenty-fire years after the event : with his rough notes showing that the resolutions were huilt up in 1800; with his memory shown to have been defective; with the language bear- ing traces of July 4th, and he himself certi- fying thaj: his Narrative "though funda- mentally correct, yet may not literally corre- spond with the original record." And he never in his life time gave this Narrative out for publication. The only confirmatory reference to the language was by a witness who said that as near as he could recollect these were the very words he had heard read, — once in a public meeting, fifty-five years before, and amid great popular excitement, — and by Dr. Hunter, who incorporated them into his auto- biography written in 1825. But in 1830 and for years afterwards there was no conflicting testimony. There was • nothing to the contrary. The people of that generation, therefore, gave full credence to the Narrative, corrected in some particulars by the statements of the other witnesses. And so the matter rested until 1817, when documentary evidence to the contrary was discovered. The Case fob May 31st, 1775. In 1817 there was discovered a Charleston newspaper, dated June 13, 1775, containing the following Resolves (for the full text of the Resolves of May 31st see Ashe's "History of North Carolina," I, 450-2) : "Charlotte town, Mecklenburg County, May 31. "This day the Committee met and passed the following Resolves :" . 5 Tne Preamble recites that as the colonies are declared by Parliament to be in a state of rebellion all laws and commissions con- firmed 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 sus- pended. To provide for this emergency the following Resolves were passed : 1. "That all commissions, civil and mili- tary, heretofore granted by the Crown, to be exercised in these colonies, are null and void, and the constitution of each particular colony wholly suspended." 2. "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 legis- lative or executive power, does, or can exist, at this time in any of these colonies." 3. "As all former laws are now suspended in this province and the Congress has not yet provided others, we judge it necessary ... to form certain rules and regulations for the internal government of this county until laws shall be provided for us by the Congress." 4. Inhabitants to choose military officers "who shall hold 'and exercise their several powers by virtue of this choice, and inde- pendent of Great Britain and former consti- tution of this province." 5. Appoints two free holders as justices ; powers defined ; appeal to convention of se- lect men of the county. 6. These select men (justices) to choose two constables as assistants. 7. Directs the issue of warrants. 8. Directs the meeting of the Convention of select men, matters of over 40 s., appeals and felony. 9. Defines duties of clerk of the select men. 10 and 11. On absconding debtors. 6 12. On the collection of quit reuts, public and county taxes. 13. On the accountability of the Committee for moneys. 14. On length of term of offices. 15. Committee to sustain damages to its officers. 16. The person hereafter receiving a com- mission from the Crown or attempting to ex- ercise one already received "shall be deemed an enemy to his country," to be arrested and tried by Committee. 17. Persons refusing obedience "equally criminal and liable to the same punishment." 18. "That these Resolves be in full force and virtue, until instructions from the gen- eral Congress of this province, regulating the jurisprudence of this province, shall provide otherwise, or the legislative body of Great Britain resign its unjust and arbitrary pre- tensions with respect to America." 19. The military companies to provide arms and accoutrements and "hold themselves in constant readiness to execute the commands and directions of the provincial Congress and of this Committee." 20. "That this Committee do appoint Colo- nel Thomas Polk and Doctor Joseph Kennedy, to purchase 300 lb. of powder, 600 It), of lead, and 1000 Hints, and deposit the same in some safe place hereafter to be appointed by the Committee." "Signed by order of the Committee, "Eph. Brevard, "Clerk of the Committee." This official statement of the action of the people of Mecklenburg was Printed in the South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (Charleston), June 13, 1775, discovered -in 1847. Printed in the North Carolina Gazette (Newbern), June 16, 1775, discovered in 1906. - Printed in the Cape Fear Mercury (Wil- 7 mington), June 23, 1775, contemporaneous reference. Printed in part by other American news- papers during the summer of 1775. Denounced to the home government by Governor Wright, of Georgia, in June, 1775. Denounced to the home government by Gov. Josiah Martin in his despatch No. 34, dated June 30, 1775. In this despatch was enclosed a newspaper copy of the Resolves. Manuscript copy sent to the home govern- ment by Governor Martin in the duplicate to his despatch No. 34, dated June 30, 1775, first published in 1907 (see Hoyt, "The Mecklen- burg Declaration of Independence"). Protested against by the loyal Germans of Mecklenburg in June, 1775. Carried to Philadelphia in June, 1775, by Captain Jack. Mentioned by the Moravian archivist about 1783. And while foes denounced the action of the Meek 1 en burgers and these Resolves of May 31st, friends extolled it and said it exceeded anything done by any other committee. The contemporaneous records, discovered in 1847 and since, show that the Resolves of May 31st shocked the Tories* and won ap- plause from the Patriots. But never a word was uttered by any one about any proceed- ings of May 20th, or about any other resolu- tions than those printed as being adopted on May olst. Against this overwhelming con- temporaneous evidence we have the defective memory of one witness writing twenty-five years after the event; of another who said that as near as he could remember those were the very words he had heard read once at a public meeting, amid great excitement, fifty-five years before. Of all of the above contemporaneous documentary evidence the witnesses had no knowledge nor had any one else until many years had passed. It irre- sistibly proves that the meeting was on May 31, 1775. S But not only does the documentary evi- dence prove the 31st, but the evidence of the witnesses for the so-called declaration of the 20th also proves it. An examination of their statements shows that the most significant facts which were associated in the recollection of these men with the passage of the resolu- tions which they understood to be a declara- tion of independence are peculiar to the Re- solves of May 31st. Thus Gen. Joseph Gra- ham said that in the meeting a reason given for the proposed action was that the colonies had been declared in a state of rebellion. That very reason is stated in the preamble to the Resolves of May 31st. In the same way Gen. George Graham, Hutchinson, Clark and Robinson, in their joint certificate, Rev. Humphrey Hunter and Col. Thomas Polk, all mention the organization of the Commit- tee of Safety, as provided for in the Resolves of May 31st. One witness, John Simeson, wrote : "I have conversed with many of my old friends and others, and all agree In the point, but few can state the particulars. . . . Ours [declaration] was toward the close of May, 1775. In addition to what I have said, the same committee appointed three men to secure all the military stores for the county's use — Thomas Polk, John Phifer, and Joseph Kennedy. I was under arms near the head of the line, near Colonel Polk, and heard him distinctly read a long string of grievances, the declaration and mili- tary order above." The military order men- tioned by Simeson is the last of the Resolves of May 31st. According to Simeson, then, Colonel Polk read, at the public meeting, when he declared Independence, the Resolves of May 31st ; and at the end he read the 20th resolution, being the "military order" ap- pointing Colonel Polk and Joseph Kennedy to secure the military stores. This testi- mony is conclusive that Simeson was talk- ing about the Resolves of May 31st. As Colonel Alexander, when writing his 9 Narrative, and General Graham and Jolm Siineson and all the other witnesses had in mind tne same occasion, being the particular time when the delegates elected met and were in session two days and adopted resolutions of Independence which Colonel Polk read and which Captain Jack carried to Philadelphia ; and as the evidence of Simeson and others show that the occasion was May 30th-31st, in accordance with the documents, it is clear that the witnesses who mentioned "May 20th" were in error ; and that Colonel Alex- ander, in trying to recall the Resolves in 1800, got the language wrong, as well as the date. Consider the identity of the language in the fourth of July declaration and in the "Declaration" set forth in Colonel Alexan- der's Narrative. Did Jefferson steal the thought and rhetoric of the Mecklenburg "Declaration" and then lie about it ; or did Colonel Alexander in writing his Narrative unconsciously remember the words of one document while thinking of the other? While in the earlier days the claims of May 20th received the support of some stu- dents and scholars of recognized standing, it was before all the documentary facts in the case bad been brought out. Perhaps its most scholarly defender was Francis L. Hawks, but he died long before the discovery of much important contemporaneous material on the subject. It should be noted that the Twentieth can claim among its supporters none of the modern school of historical writers, either within or without the state. So far as known, no historical student of the present day who has won for himself a recognized place in the world of historical scholarship would think of sustaining the Twentieth of May. Besides a few dilettantes who have never thoroughly examined the literature of the subject this date is supported by the Descend- ants of the "Signers," who for the sake of their own personal and family glory, seek to 10 make this date a test of loyalty to North Carolina and to Truth. The list of those scholars who accept the 31st of May Resolves, as against the "Decla- ration of May 20th," includes : Peter Force, collector, archivist and his- torian ; Jared Sparks, historian and president of Harvard ; George Bancroft, historian of the United States ; Benson J. Lossing, historian ; Hugh Blair Grigsby, public man and his- torian ; Lyman C. Draper, collector, archivist and historian ; Herbert B. Adams, professor in the Johns Hopkins University, historian ; John H. Hazelton, historian ; Wm. F. Poole, librarian ; James C. Welling, college president and student ; Waldo G. Leland, archivist and historian ; Worthington C. Ford, archivist and his- torian ; Alexander S. Salley, Jr., archivist and his- torian ; William Henry Hoyt, lawyer and student; Guy Carleton Lee, historian and lecturer. Among North Carolina students it claims : David L. Swain, president University of North Carolina, historical student; Charles Phillips, professor in University of North Carolina : Thomas Puffin, chief justice; Daniel E. Goodloe, economist and historical student ; David Schenck, lawyer, judge and histori- cal student; Kemp P. Battle, president of University of NortbLCarxdina and professor of history ; Paul B. Means, lawyer and historical stu- dent; 11 John S. Bassett, professor in Smith Col- lege, Massachusetts ; J. G. deR. Hamilton, professor of history, University of North Carolina ; Charles L. Raper, professor in University of North Carolina ; Stephen B. Weeks, collector and historian ; Fred A. Olds, newspaper correspondent and historical student ; William K. Boyd, professor in Trinity Col- lege, North Carolina ; R. D. W. Connor, secretary North Caro- lina Historical Commission ; J. Y. Joyner, superintendent of public in- struction of North Carolina ; Julius I. Foust, president North Carolina State Normal College; William E. Dodd, professor in the Univer- sity of Chicago ; Joseph Blount Cheshire, bishop of the dio- cese of North Carolina : E. W. Sikes, professor of history. Wake Forest College, North Carolina : Marshall DeLaucey Haywood, historian; Samuel A'Court Ashe, soldier, legislator, editor and historian. The final clearing up of this matter has freed the character of Jefferson from the aspersion that he stole the thoughts and language of the "Mecklenburg Declaration." But North Carolina owes something to her own reputation : the error and mistake being evident, it should with candor be avowed ; and instead of a part of our people cele- brating the meaningless 20th of May. THE WHOLE STATE SHOULD JOIN IN CELE- BRATING THE RESOLVES OF MAY 31ST, 1775. WHICH ARE EQUIVALENT TO A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. The Truth should be Acknowledged. 12 NORTH CAROLINA 1584-1783 THE STORY OF THE OLD NORTH STATE IN COLONIAL and REVOLUTIONARY TIMES Accurately and Graphically Told History of North Carolina, by Samuel A'Court Ashe ; in two volumes ; Vol. 1, 1584- 1783. Greensboro : Charles L. Van Noppen, Publisher, 1908. Octavo, pp. xsiv+724 ; 1 portrait on steel ; 23 half-tone portraits ; 15 half-tone facsimiles and other illustrations ; 2 new maps ; 5 other maps. THIS WORK WAS AWARDED THE PATTERSON MEMORIAL CUP IN 1908. The North Carolina Library Association at the Greensboro meeting, November, 1908, en- dorsed the work as follows : Resolved, That the North Carolina Library Association neartily commends the new nar- rative History of North Carolina by Capt. S. A. Ashe, of which Volume 1 has been recently published by Charles L. Van Noppen, of Greensboro, for its general accuracy and ex- cellence and for the beauty of its typographi- cal appearance. Send for Specimen Pages and Other Press Notice* 13 OPINIONS OF SCHOLARS. "A very scholarly work." — F. P. Venable, Pres. U. N. C. "Too much cannot he said in praise of his method and the excellence of his writing." — Neyjs and Courier, Charleston. "Nothing better, we think, has been done for any State — nothing so good for our own." — Prof. W. C. Smith (State Normal). "Captain Ashe has rendered the State a priceless service." — Dr. Charles Lee Smith, Historical Scholar and College President. "No previous history of the State is com- parable with this in size, or in the manner in which the facts are presented." — The Obser- ver, Charlotte. "The people of North Carolina have at last a history of their State of which they may justly feel proud." — A. M. Waddell, in The Star, Wilmington. "For the first time North Carolina has its interesting and important history presented in a thoroughly adequate manner and in a proper prospective." — The Sun, Baltimore. "Ashe's 'History of North Carolina' in ac- curacy, completeness and general reliability, easily takes precedence over any other work covering the same subject." — R. D. W. Con- nor, Sec. of the N. C. Historical Commission. "It certainly has no equal among the his- tories of North Carolina, and I do not know of a history of any other State which sur- passes it in fullness, accuracy and literary style." — Marshall DeLancet Haywood. His- torian. "The style is clear, the generalizations scholarly, the citation of authorities accurate. the maps and illustrations abundant and illuminating. ... I shall omit no op- portunity to commend it." — Prof. C. Al- phonso S*mith, Univ. of Virginia. 14 "Ashe's History of North Carolina will re- main for many years the accepted story of the State's life, for it is written with calm judi- cial judgment from large and intimate knowl- edge, and in clear scholarly style." — Dr. George T. Winston, Ex-Pres. University of North Carolina. "It is a story of the State by an apprecia- tive and patriotic son who is peculiarly quali- fied to put it in permanent form, and on all its pages there is the stamp of fealty and devotion as well as the proof of investigation and the love of truth." — News ami Observer, Raleigh. "Mr. Ashe . . . has written proudly of his State, . . . hut he has not al- lowed his State pride to warp his judgment and betray him into erroneous conclusions, . out of the abundance of his accurate knowledge he has constructed a comprehensive and graphic story." — The Times, New York. "In the mass of historical production . . . the new 'History of North Carolina.' by Mr. Samuel A'Court Ashe, . . . stands apart. In scientific method, in impartiality of judgment and in sobriety of language, it is fully up to all modern requirements, and can hold its own with any product of the colder North.' — The Sun, New York. "Capt. Ashe has given us a fair, interest- ing and by far the most complete history of the Colonial and Revolutionary period. . . . The dark places he has, to a surprising de- gree, illumined by his patient and thorough explorations. . . . The author is calm, judicial and fair." — Dr. Kemp P. Battle, Emeritus Prof, of History, the Univ. of N. C. 15 f~ P M Ft 3 03 5"" 30 3* 50 ■< Q ? O >». c T| 3- 2 n o o -t 3. ^J- 5 3 3 3 © «9 ft o o « ft •» ft. £ ,s ft ^3 S: ft: ^ a. 3" Co 3- I 5 fti o" I SO 0o 2 3 3 ft ft" "^» c »" < o- 9 16 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 699 940 7