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Mountains, and the rude huts of old had, in many instances, been
replaced by large and costly buildings of brick.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?