GOVERNOR MARTIN AND THE REVOLUTION.
A. D. 1771 TO 1774.
James Hasell, as President of the Council, assumed the conduct of
affairs until the arrival of the new Governor. This new
Governor, Josiah Martin, was born 22d April, 1737, and had been a
Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, which position he was
obliged to resign on account of his health. He then sought civil
employment and was appointed Governor of North Carolina. He was
a far more honorable man than Tryon. He had no unworthy
favorites, as Tryon had, and concocted no selfish schemes for his
own benefit or that of his family, but was exceedingly obstinate
and strict in the observance of royal prerogatives. Unattractive
in his manners, and very positive in his opinions, he sometimes
failed to withhold the manifestations of his displeasure towards
those who might happen to differ with him, no matter how
honestly. Perhaps, however, in the fierce antagonisms of the
times in which he ruled in North Carolina, his real virtues were
not appreciated as they deserved.
1771.
2. Governor Martin met the Assembly, for the first time, in New
Bern, on the 19th of November, 1771. At his suggestion, the
Legislature passed an act of amnesty toward all persons engaged
in the war of the Regulation except Husbands and a few
other leaders. Such wise and merciful action, however, was not
to be the rule of his life.
3. It had long been felt that the taxes were exceedingly
burdensome, and, from a statement made to the Legislature at this
time, by one of the public treasurers, of the real condition of
the public funds, it was seen that these taxes had been, for a
time at least, unnecessarily imposed. The treasurer showed that
a full collection of the amounts in arrear, for which security
had been given, would discharge the entire public debt and leave
in the public treasury the sum of twenty thousand dollars. A
bill was at once passed in both houses of the Legislature, and
without opposition in either, discontinuing the special taxes
that had been devoted to the extinguishment of the public debt.
Governor Martin, however, vetoed the bill, and thus began a
series of conflicts with the Legislature that lasted until his
expulsion from the province.
4. The repeal of the Stamp Act had been gratefully received; but
Parliament still excited great apprehension by an express and
formal assertion of its powers to tax America. It had cost
immense sums to the Crown to drive out the French, and much money
was still needed to pay British expenses in America. It was
insisted that the colonies ought to pay their fair share in these
burdens. The great question was, how this was to be done. If
Parliament could levy what it pleased, then Americans were no
longer free, in that they were not masters of their own purses.
Many propositions were made to arrange the difficulty, but none
were satisfactory to both sides.
1773.
5. So dissatisfied was Governor Martin with his first Legislature
that he speedily dissolved it, and did not permit a new one to
meet until the last of January, 1773. The new Legislature met in
New Bern, and the House gave notice of its temper by electing as
its speaker John Harvey, of Perquimans, admitted on all hands to
be the most earnest supporter of colonial rights in all the
province. Upon every important subject of legislation the
Governor and the new Assembly were at variance, and he
accordingly dissolved it on the 9th of March, declaring that it
"had deserted its duty and flagrantly insulted the dignity and
authority of the government."
6. The next Assembly met in New Bern, on the 4th of December,
1773, and continued in session seventeen days, when it shared the
fate of its predecessor, and was sent home with the injunction to
consult with the people and learn their will.
7. Short as was the session, however, its action was most
important. On the day after the session began, letters were
received from the Legislature of Virginia and other colonies,
proposing that each province should appoint a Committee of
Correspondence. The proposition was speedily agreed to by the
House of Assembly, and a committee of nine appointed, with
instructions to "obtain the most early and authentic intelligence
of all such acts and resolutions of the British Parliament, or
proceedings of administration, as may relate to or affect the
British colonies in America, and to keep and maintain a
correspondence and communication with all sister colonies,
respecting these important considerations, and the result of
such, their proceedings, from hour to hour, to lay before the
House."
8. John Harvey, Richard Caswell, Samuel Johnston, Joseph Hewes,
Edward Vail, Cornelius Harnett, John Ashe, William Hooper and
Robert Howe constituted the committee, and certainly, in North
Carolina at least, it may be said there was never an abler one.
By this action the province took position with its sister
colonies on the great question of the day. That the question was
regarded as one of great importance and great gravity, if not of
great difficulty, we need no other assurance than that afforded
by the character of the men into whose hands it was committed.
QUESTIONS.
1. On whom did the government next devolve? Who succeeded James
Hasell? How is Governor Martin compared with some of his
predecessors?
2. Where did Governor Martin first meet the Assembly? What law
was passed?
3. What was the financial condition of the government at this
period? What act was passed concerning taxes?
4. How were the people excited by the English Parliament? What
was the trouble?
5. How did Governor Martin act concerning the Legislature? What
declaration was made by him?
6. Where did the next Assembly meet, and what was done with it?
7. What letters were received during the session? What was done
with the proposition?
8. Who composed the Committee of Correspondence? What is said of
these men?