Mike Parker: North Carolina’s claim to be ‘First in Freedom’
Several years ago, I had to select a new license plate design for my car. I faced three options: First in Flight, First in Freedom, or In God We Trust. I chose “First in Freedom” based on my belief that the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was the first such declaration in the history of our nation.
According to oral history, the Mecklenburg Declaration was adopted on May 20, 1775. The more general Declaration of Independence chiefly by Thomas Jefferson came more than a year later, approved on July 2, 1776, and published July 4, 1776.
The first known publication of the Mecklenburg Declaration was by Dr. Alexander in a Massachusetts newspaper in 1813. This publication came 38 years after the declaration was supposedly written. The original document was allegedly lost in a fire.
When John Adams first saw the published Mecklenburg Declaration in 1813, he immediately noticed some of the wording of the Mecklenburg Declaration matched Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. If the document was real, then Adams suspected Jefferson had copied from it.
Adams sent a copy of the article to Jefferson, who said – like Adams – he had never seen the document. Jefferson suspected that the Mecklenburg Declaration was a fabrication. He wrote to Adams:
“I shall believe it [the spurious nature of the Mecklenburg Declaration] such until positive and solemn proof of its authenticity shall be produced.”
To find some reliable sources to attest to the authenticity of the document, North Carolina Senator Nathaniel Macon collected eyewitness testimony to the events described in the article. Of course, by 1813, many of the early witnesses were quite elderly. These witnesses did not agree on every detail, but they generally corroborated the story that a declaration of independence had been publicly read in Charlotte. They were not certain about the exact date, but all said the year was 1775.
Thankfully, 88-year-old Captain James Jack was still alive. He confirmed that he delivered a declaration of independence from Mecklenburg to the Continental Congress that had been adopted in May 1775.
The Mecklenburg Declaration (which I will refer to as MD from this point) and Declaration of Independence (which I will refer to as DI) have eerily similar language. For instance, the second of the resolutions says:
2. Resolved, That we the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the Mother Country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British Crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, or association, with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties — and inhumanly shed the innocent blood of American patriots at Lexington.
DI: We, therefore, the representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved;
MD: 3. Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people, are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self–governing Association, under the control of no power other than that of our God and the General Government of the Congress; to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other, our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.
DI: And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
The confusion over the legitimacy of the Mecklenburg Declaration may be simply explained because the resolutions of the declaration became part of the Mecklenburg Resolves, adopted on May 31, 1775, and taken to a meeting of the representatives of all the colonies.
While we may argue that our flag should bear the date of May 31, 1775, instead of May 20, 1775, the contention that North Carolina was “First in Freedom” is safe.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
Neuse News is a locally-owned small business startup in downtown Kinston. Our goal is to provide free, hyper-local news to Lenoir, Greene and Jones counties. The kind of news our grandparents read in a format fit for today's times.
We provide this by having supportive advertisers and we encourage you to click on their ads, shop with them, and eat with them. Every bit of financial support is important to help us sustain free, hyper-local news.
Please consider supporting Neuse News with as little as $5 one-time or via a monthly option. Every little bit helps us, help you.
