Political Situation In North Carolina During The XVII-XVIII Centuries
During the late 1600s and early 1700s, North Carolina went through a great deal of political and social distress between the colonial settlement and the initial political development. North Carolina was a proprietary colony from 1663, until 1729. During these years, North Carolina suffered from severe instability in leadership, poor government guidance, political turmoil and trouble with outsiders. Colonists needed a change. Leaders, including John Jenkins lacked to enforce laws which led to the rise of further issues. The government itself had three principals which included the proprietor courts, grand council and parliament. These principals were a mixture of monarchy, aristocratic, and democratic elements (Ready, 2005).
In the mid-1600s, England passed the Navigation Act, which was a trade law that made it mandatory for all trade to go through the English government earnt from American trade. North Carolina violated the laws of the Navigation Act, by shipping tobacco to England marked as “bait” to avoid having to pay any taxes. This act resulted in the creation of the Plantation Duty Act of 1673, which permitted goods to be shipped directly to the other colonies. This was only on the condition that taxes were being paid on these goods (Dean, n.d. 3-B).
Another issue that the North Carolinian colonists faced were the Indians. The Indians lost a lot of land by force. In fact, these Indians were captured by the whites as well, and sold into slavery in Pennsylvania. Later, the government of Pennsylvania passed a law eliminating the forceful sale of Carolina Indians. Which, like most laws at this time was not enforced. This only caused more problems, as one could imagine.
In 1710, the Indians petitioned against the Pennsylvania government and put up a fight for the loss of their land and people. These Indians knew that the government did not take these acts seriously. Therefore, in 1711, the Indians were determined to make it clear that they were in fact serious. They captured Pennsylvania’s surveyor general, John Lauson, tortured, and burned him to death, but it didn’t stop there.
The Indians progressed in their violent acts of protesting by attacking whites along the Neuse and Pamlico rivers. North Carolina’s defense involved the drafting of all men between the ages of 16 and 60 to form a militia. Forts were formed, and money was issued, however North Carolinians knew they needed more, so they turned to Virginia for help and was given an ultimatum in order to actually gain the supplies and troops that they had to offer. Therefore, North Carolina was forced to turn to South Carolina for help, and gained their supplies, money and troops with no issues. North (and south) Carolinian troops fought against the Indians in two battles, but the Indians put up a fight and were not going away that easily. It took one more battle for the Indians to then flee to New York to settle (Dean, n.d. 3-B).
Another “issue” that the Carolinian colonists faced was the pirates of this time. Pirates were well known to the colonists as they brought goods and resources to North Carolinians more often and for much lower prices than other suppliers. Some of the most popular and well-known pirates included Edward Teach, otherwise known as “Blackbeard” and Stede Bonnet. The two pirates were notorious for their work. Blackbeard used fear as his method of getting what he wanted. He was intimidating to most people, carrying several weapons always, having a great big black beard, and even would light his hair on fire to give off an effect of smoke coming out from his hat. He used his several intimidation tactics and used them to his benefit.
Throughout his time of pirating, he captured over 40 ships. Blackbeard and his other pirates caused problems as they invaded Topsail Inlet seeking royal pardon, leading to the pirates bribing Governor Eden with sugar, rum, gold, and relief of various threats into the citizenship of himself and 20 other crew members in North Carolina. These burdens over the years during this time period caused chaos and stress for citizens.
Stede Bonnet on the other hand, was considered the “gentleman” pirate because he was well educated and cultured. He worked under Blackbeard at a point in his piracy times. Pirates were considered both beneficial and controversial as everyone did fear them, but they did bring economic relief in some ways. (Dean, n.d. 3-C) Although things started to look up, the problems didn’t just end there.During the pre-American Revolution, the American colonies were apart of several disputes involving Great Britain.
Some of these disputes include taxation on most if not all goods in which the colonists needed, government salaries, collection and distribution of quitrents, production of paper currency and poll taxes. One of the underlying issues that could be considered the root of all problems was the lack of validity found in the government system. Citizens did not choose their local officials. In fact, any input or complaints that the citizens had to give about their government often went purposely unheard. The governor typically chose local officials who were not sufficient, very destructive, and often corrupt. This led to Americans feeling frustrated as they felt they could do nothing to fix the situation in which they were put in. The stresses of this concern then resulted in civil unrest and the arise of more issues (Ready, 2005).
To fix things and put an end to the corruption, citizens then looked to become regulators this into their own hands. The role in which North Carolinians played in this were as protestors and regulators. Regulators were those who wanted to regulate local affairs. The intentions of regulators included not paying taxes until they were lawfully applied, paying no fees greater than those provided by the laws, attend regulator meetings as much as possible, and the contribution of money to the regulator movement (Dean, n.d. 3-C)
There were several acts put in place such as the stamp act, revenue act, sugar act, navigation act, new act, currency act, and the declaration act (Ready, 2005). These acts seriously affected the citizens as they had no say in the taxation and were being forced to pay so much. Thus, North Carolinians were involved in several protests. They used protesting as their way to be heard since the government ignored them at all costs. As some of these acts were put in place, they weren’t always enforced. The stamp act put a tax on legal documents, newspapers, almanacs, college diplomas, etc. However, the protesting and mob action of citizens prevented the enforcement of this act. The Navigation act ensured that England would get the most money out of American trade that they could (Dean, n.d. 3-C).
Next to protests, there were several riots and fights that broke out. In response to these acts and riots, the regulators would refuse to pay taxes. North Carolinians let the conflicts of this difficult era help shape them into who they are today and a government and society. In a society where the government almost does not care about its citizens, the colonists put up a fight for themselves. New laws were passed to provide the colonists with a more well-rounded, stable government.
References:
- Dean, C. (n.d.). Chapter 3-C Indians & Pirates [PPT].
- Dean, C. (n.d.). Chapter 3-B Unstable Government [PPT].
- Ready, M. (2005). The Tar Heel state: A history of North Carolina.
- Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. doi:9781570035913
