1763 Republicanism rife C. R., VI, 304-309 sition to his measures and schemes, and ascribed the antagonism of the leaders in the Assembly to a spirit of republicanism, which he declared was more rife in this province than in any other. He insisted that Speaker Swann, his two nephews, John Ashe and George Moore, and John Starkey, who formed the committee of correspondence, composed a junto, whose object was to lessen the prerogatives of the C. R., VI, 32 Crown and absorb the administration into their own hands and extend the power of the Assembly. That the Assembly under its leaders was ever determined in the assertion of its right to hold the purse and maintain the freedom of the people as subjects of Great Britain is sufficiently plain. How far any of the inhabitants were disaffected toward the monarchical system does not appear. Proud of their birthright as British subjects, they never contemplated the relinquishment of self-government under the constitution of the province; but they were loyal to their king and had no expectation of any change until at length, to their dismay, changes came. British views with America The colonies had cheerfully made great appropriations to reference to aid the king in the prosecution of his wars and to relieve the necessities of the Crown. But these were voluntary offerings. In England it was held that the general government of the mother country had a right to something more-to exact by law a fund for the purposes of the Empire. The regiments stationed in America were to be supported by the American colonies. The colonial governments were to be reformed and a surer provision made for the compensation of the governors and other officers. Quickly following the treaty of peace, these and other matters of similar import were discussed in England, and on October 10, 1763, Henry McCulloh, who for thirty years had been concerned with the American colonies, proposed a stamp act to raise the necessary funds. In January, 1764, Governor Dobbs wrote to the Board of Trade: "I apprehend the British Parliament may lay duties upon goods imported into the several colonies to support the troops necessary to secure our great acquisitions on this continent, as also to support the additional McCulloh C. R., VI, 1021 The right to tax claimed RISE OF THE FOURTH ESTATE officers of the revenue." Such was the drift of official sentiment. The Assembly of 1764 public At the session of the Assembly held in Wilmington in February, 1764, that town began to be regarded as the seat of government for the province. Andrew Steuart, a Steuart printer located there, was employed to publish the laws. printer Brunswick and Bute counties were erected. An act was passed for building a school-house and a residence for a schoolmaster in New Bern, and John Starkey and Joseph Montfort were appointed the public treasurers for the term of three years. John Ashe was again elected speaker of the Assembly. The early newspapers Perhaps the conflicting interests of New Bern and Wilmington, or the more personal ambitions of two printers, in the summer of 1764 led to the revival of Davis' newspaper, now under the name The North Carolina Magazine, or Universal Intelligencer. And in September Andrew Steuart began at Wilmington the publication of The North Carolina Gazette and Weekly Post Boy. The Post Boy, however, was short-lived, and ceased to exist in 1767, being succeeded two years later by The Cape Fear Mercury, published by Adam Boyd. Tryon appointed to relieve Dobbs of North 307 1764 Weeks Press Eighteenth Governor Dobbs, who was now nearly fourscore years of age and very infirm, asked leave to return to England; and to relieve him, William Tryon, a young officer of the Queen's Guards, was, on April 26, 1764, appointed lieutenant-governor, and in July received his final instructions. On Octo- Arrives ber 10th he arrived at Brunswick, expecting to enter at once on his duties; but to his disappointment he found that Governor Dobbs would not depart until the coming spring. Oct. 10, 1764 It was expected that there would be warm disputes when The public the General Assembly should meet in October, 1764. In the agitated previous March the suggestion of McCulloh had been acted on and a resolution had passed Parliament, without question, 1764 The power to tax The firm stand of the Assembly Oct., 1764 C. R., VI, 1314-1318 Claims the exclusive privilege of imposing taxes C. R., VI, 1261 Assembly concurs with Massachu setts Bancroft, V, 204 that it was expedient to lay stamp duties on the colonies, and the public mind was greatly agitated. For a century England had restricted and regulated the commerce of her colonies, and in recent years Parliament had exacted heavy duties on trade with the adjacent French and Spanish settlements, while no manufactured goods could be imported except alone from English ports. But that had been for the expansion and regulation of commerce. Now a different interest was to be subserved, and Parliament proposed to tax the colonies for purposes of revenue. In England no one disputed the right; in America it was a question so novel and so momentous that at first public opinion was not pronounced. The omnipotence of Parliament had never been disputed. But on the passage of the resolution in March came an examination into the subject. The illumination was gradual. The power to tax was the power to destroy, and America became enshrouded in a turmoil of anxious thought. Such were the conditions when the Assembly met in October. As if to emphasize the spirit of the house, the governor and council having appointed a printer "under the sounding appellation of his Majesty's printer," the house declared it knew of no such office, and it resolved that James Davis should print the laws; and when the governor claimed for himself as a representative of the Crown, in conjunction with the king's councillors, the right to direct payment out of the funds allowed the province by the king, the house resolved "that the treasurers do not pay any money out of any fund by order of the governor and council without the concurrence or direction of this house." It proposed to hold the purse strings. And in reply to the opening address of the governor the house said: "It is with the utmost concern we observe our commerce circumscribed in its most beneficial branches, diverted from its natural channel, and burdened with new taxes and impositions laid on us without our privity and consent, and against what we esteem our inherent right and exclusive privilege of imposing our own taxes." As yet no other Assembly in any other colony had made so positive a declaration. Incidentally the power of Parliament was flatly denied. Massachusetts had addressed a cir THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO TAX 1296 309 1764 cular letter to the other colonies asking concert of action in making a representation to the Crown and desiring "their united assistance." The speaker, John Ashe, on November 17th laid this letter before the house, and it was resolved that "Mr. Speaker, Mr. Starkey, Mr. McGuire and Mr. Har- C. R., VI, nett and Mr. Maurice Moore be a committee to answer the above letter," and "to express their concurrence with the sentiments of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts." Such was the first movement on the surface of the troubled waters. The house asserted its exclusive right to Martin, lay taxes, and to direct payment out of the public funds, and Carolina, it sent to Massachusetts its concurrence in the proposed II, 188 remonstrance. North 1765 C. R., VII, 44 THE FIFTH EPOCH-1765-75 CONTROVERSIES WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY CHAPTER XXI TRYON'S ADMINISTRATION-1765-71: THE STAMP ACT Governor Tryon's administration.-Unrest in Mecklenburg.— The cause of complaint in Orange.-The Assembly of May, 1765. -The vestry act.-The stamp act passed.-Desire for independence imputed to the colonists.-Popular ferment.-Speaker Ashe declares the people will resist to blood.-The Assembly prorogued.-Patrick Henry in Virginia.-Barré's speech in Parliament. -Sons of Liberty.-An American congress called.-Dr. Houston stamp-master.--North Carolina not represented.-Famine and disease in the province. The people set up looms.-Action at Wilmington.-Liberty not dead.-Dr. Houston resigns.-Governor Tryon feels the people.-Deprecates independence.—The reply.-Desire for independence disclaimed.-The act not observed.-Non-importation. -The people united.-Conditions in England.-British merchants and manufacturers clamor for repeal.-Pitt.-Camden.-Conditions in America. No business transacted.-The West settled.-In Granville's territory.-Judge Berry commits suicide.-The rising on the Cape Fear. The people form an association.-They choose directors. -Fort Johnston seized.-Tryon's house invaded.—The act annulled. -Business resumed.-The Assembly prorogued.-The stamps stored. -The act repealed.—London rejoices.-America grateful.—Mayor DeRosset's manly sentiments.-Judge Moore suspended. Governor Tryon On March 28, 1765, Governor Dobbs, who was then preparing to depart for England, died at his villa at Brunswick, and William Tryon assumed the reins of government as lieutenant-governor, he having qualified as such in the preceding November. An officer of the army and a cultured gentleman, just turned thirty-six years of age and in the flush of vigorous manhood, and in many respects a masterful man, he at once gained the esteem of the people. To the Assembly on its meeting he promised his best endeavors to render acceptable service to the province, and declared that |