GOVERNOR STEPHENS AND THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONS.
A. D. 1667 TO 1674.
After Sir William Berkeley had put Governor Drummond to death
in the manner described, Governor Stephens was sent in 1667 to
take his place. Stephens was a ruler of ordinary abilities, and
probably did his best for the interests of the province, so far
as was consistent with a keen regard for instructions from the
Lords Proprietors.
1668.
2. The government, in his day, consisted of the Governor, his
council of twelve, and twelve members of the House of Assembly,
elected by the freeholders. Every white man having an estate of
inheritance, or for life, in fifty acres of land, was a freeholder.
Perfect religious liberty was allowed, and there was
no check at that day upon the government, provided it preserved
its fealty to the King and the Lords Proprietors.
3. A wide margin was left to the Grand Assembly of Albemarle for
the display of its power. Neither the Legislature nor the
Governor had any capital city for the transaction of business.
The Governor lived on any farm he pleased, and the General
Assembly met at such place as it deemed most convenient.
1669.
4. Their earliest known legislation allowed no settlers to be
disturbed for the collection of debts contracted before coming to
live in Albemarle. Another law exempted all newcomers from taxes
for one year; and prohibited the transfer of any land by a
settler during the first two years of his residence. These laws
were evidently passed to encourage immigration.
5. As there were no Church of England preachers then in the
colony, another statute allowed people to get married by simply
going before the Governor, or any of his council, and declaring
a purpose to become man and wife.
1670.
6. Albemarle at that time was divided into the precincts of
Carteret, Berkeley and Shaftesbury. The settlements extended
rapidly down the seacoast, and soon reached as far south as the
present town of Beaufort, on old Topsail Inlet.
7. Governor Stephens soon reached the conclusion of his
administration and the term of his natural life. The closing
months of his rule were embittered by the nature of the
instructions he received from the Lords Proprietors and the Board
of Trade in London.
8. One of these instructions, materially changing the simple
government previously existing in the province, was concerning
the colonial trade. English merchants saw that New England
vessels were visiting the scattered settlements on the
watercourses and establishing a lucrative exchange of
manufactured goods for the tobacco, corn and lumber of Carolina.
9. It was determined in London to stop this, and appropriate to
English factors whatever of profit might be realized. The old
English Navigation Act, passed under Cromwell, to break down the
Dutch trade, was revived against the Boston skippers. Governor
Stephens accordingly told the colonists they must exchange the
products of their farms with none but English traders, but he
quickly found that the people were resolute in refusing obedience
to any such regulations.
10. It was further announced that a new scheme of rule had been
prepared in England. This was the work of Lord Shaftesbury and a
distinguished philosopher named John Locke. This, familiarly
known as "Locke's Grand Model," was called by the Proprietors
"The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina," and was a cumbrous
and elaborate system, full of titles and dignities. It involved
a large expenditure, and was as unsuited to the Carolina
wilderness as St. Paul's Cathedral in London was for a
meetinghouse for the Quakers of Pasquotank!
11. The people who were constantly enduring danger and privations
in Albemarle at once resolved that they would have no part in the
titles and pageants concocted by these wise men of England. They
had been promised freedom if they would come to America, both by
the king in the Great Deed of Grant and by the Lords Proprietors,
and nothing less than the privileges of Englishmen would satisfy
them.
12. The "Navigation Act" was intended to destroy their commerce
and manufactures, and the "Fundamental Constitutions," if
submitted to, would have put an end to their home rule. They
waged a long opposition to these two things, and a century went
by before, in the blood of the Revolution, American commerce
became free. They were denounced as unruly subjects, but they
were, in all truth, wise and resolute patriots. They were
protecting not only themselves, but the generations of the
future.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who succeeded Governor Drummond as Governor of Albemarle?
What kind of a man was Governor Stephens?
2. In what did the government consist at that time?
3. What is said of the Grand Assembly? Where did the General
Assembly usually meet?
4. Mention some of the earliest laws.
5. What law was enacted concerning marriage?
6. How was Albemarle divided? How far had the settlement extended?
7. What trouble came to Governor Stephens?
8. What kind of trade was carried on between Carolina and New England?
9. What was determined by the Lords Proprietors? What old law
was revived? How did the people receive the orders from Governor
Stephens?
10. What two celebrated Englishmen prepared a form of government
for Carolina? What was this system called? State its nature.
11. What was resolved by the colonists concerning the Grand Model?
12. What was the intent of the Navigation Act? Of the
Fundamental Constitutions?