STEWART, CORY JOE, Ph.D. the Affairs of Boston in the North Carolina Backcountry During the American Revolution. (2010) Directed by Dr
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STEWART, CORY JOE, Ph.D. The Affairs of Boston in the North Carolina Backcountry during the American Revolution. (2010) Directed by Dr. Robert M. Calhoon. 228 pp. The purpose of this body of work is to explain the development of revolutionary ideology at the regional level, utilizing the backcountry counties of North Carolina from the earliest migration of white settlers through the ratification of the Federal Constitution in 1788. The North Carolina backcountry offers an important case study for the regional development of Revolutionary activity and ideology for a number of reasons. The backcountry was a region in its political, social, and economic infancy. As the region developed, so did the Revolution itself. This work will not define a single political ideology or theme, rather it traces the day to day interactions that backcountry inhabitants of all ethnicities had with those in power at the local, colonial, and later federal level. This work concludes that what pushed inhabitants to support, or oppose the Revolution, was grounded in local issues regarding land ownership, and political and social control within the region itself. The North Carolina backcountry began building a society that worked for their interests in the 1760’s and that goal was achieved in the establishment of the Federal Government in 1788. THE AFFAIRS OF BOSTON IN THE NORTH CAROLINA BACKCOUNTRY DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Cory Joe Stewart A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2010 Approved by Robert M. Calhoon Committee Chair To those who started me down this road, J.D.Willard Mike Lowe Lowanda Badget Tim Creed Gayle Garris Conrad Holcomb Joe Maye Chris Yopp Douglas Reinhardt “Oz” Prim ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair _______________________ Robert M. Calhoon Committee Members _________________________ Phyllis W. Hunter _________________________ Watson Jennison _________________________ James P. Whittenburg June 18, 2010 Date of Acceptance by Committee June 18, 2010 Date of Final Oral Examination iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of a good number of people. First and foremost is Robert M. Calhoon, whose enthusiasm and dedication to this project has often surpassed mine. I would also like to thank Watson Jennison whose has encouraged and challenged me throughout this process, as well as the rest of my committee, Phyllis Hunter and James P. Whittenburg. Aside from my committee several people have assisted in proofreading and critiquing this work by offering their time and suggestions. These include Kelly Young, Jonathan Thomas, Ralph Lents, Sheila Phipps, Chris Meekins, and most of all Susan Thomas. Alan Unsworth and David Wright in the library at Surry Community College helped me track down sources and other information. Ken Badget and Gary Freeze who willingly shared their expertise on the history of the region and sources. I would also like to thank Susan Macleod, Theresea Shugart and Candace Poole for drawing up the maps used in this work, and Sharon Edwards and Bob McPherson for help with word processing. I have benefitted from funding through graduate assistantships from the Department of History at UNCG. I was also awarded through the department the Richard G. Lane Memorial Scholarship and the Allen W. Trelease Graduate Fellowship. I also owe thanks to the North Caroliniana Society for the Archie K. Davis Fellowship. iv I would also like to thank the staff in the Department of History for their assistance throughout the graduate program. I also want to thank Angela Robbins, Jennifer Bratyanski, Terry Campbell, Kevin Greene, Missy Foy, Joseph Moore, Jackie Spruill, Therese Strohmer, Paige Meszeros, Lindsey Hinds-Brown, Chris Graham, James Broomall, Angela Diaz, Jeff Jones, Lisa Levenstein and Rick Barton for their constant moral support and encouragement. I would also like to thank Mary Early and the staff of the UNCG Graduate School for their help and guidance. Billy Joe Shaver who reminded me to try and try again and Steve Earle for releasing three albums in the amount of time it took me to do this. Last but in no way least I must thank mom and dad, Kati and Dickie for their love and support. Kassidy and Alek for taking my mind off of trivial things and reminding me wonderful things happen. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. “INFANT SETTLEMENTS OF THE BACK FRONTIERS.” THE SETTLEMENT AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BACKCOUNTRY 1750-1774 ...................................................16 II. “NEW ENGLAND HAS POISONED THE WHOLE.” THE BACKCOUNTRY’S MOVEMENT FROM REGULATION TO REVOLUTION 1774-1776 .............................................................................56 III. THE WORST KIND OF WAR: VIOLENCE AND SOCIETY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA BACKCOUNTRY 1776-1781 ........................................................................................................94 IV. TAMING A NEW FRONTIER: THE NORTH CAROLIAN BACKCOUNTRY’S WESTWARD EXPANSION 1783-1787 ......................................................................................................140 V. “THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY.” THE RATIFICATION CONTROVERSY AND THE NORTH CAROLINA BACKCOUNTRY .........................................................................................178 WORKS CITED ..............................................................................................................216 vi INTRODUCTION In the second half of the eighteenth century settlers flocked into the North Carolina backcountry to take advantage of the opportunities the region created to reshape their lives. In doing so they protested, petitioned, voted and fought to create a government and society that represented their interests. What happened during this period in the North Carolina backcountry was a civil war, a struggle for racial superiority, a social movement, an ideological struggle, and in the grand scheme was a small part of the American revolutionary period. This work is the story of that process. ********** The question that dominates the historiography of the American Revolution is why? Why did the American colonists revolt against the British Crown and seek to form their own government, and why did they create the kind of government and social structure they did? The purpose of this work is to explore the revolutionary period at the local level in the North Carolina Backcountry from the origins of the Revolution to the ratification of the Constitution.1 This work does not seek to define or trace a single political ideology rather it focuses on the individuals who created the political culture in the backcountry and the day to day interactions that backcountry inhabitants had with those who held power in the local, provincial, and later state and federal governments. 1 For this work “Revolutionary period” is defined as being the earliest settlement in the region through the ratification of the Federal Constitution. 1 This work explains why the inhabitants in the North Carolina backcountry joined or opposed the Revolution. This study also illustrates how the national debate over the ratification of the Constitution was still grounded in similar local interests. When backcountry inhabitants delivered themselves over to federal authority under the new Constitution, they did so with the certainty that the federal government would only strengthen their power and interests within the region. In much of the earlier literature on the Revolution historians traditionally focused on the intent of celebrating the elite white males of the colonies, collectively known as “the founders.” By focusing on the elite, historians conclude that the origins of the Revolution are found in a European intellectual movement that carried over into the American Colonies through American literary culture, which gave Americans the knowledge and rhetoric of “political opposition.” Historians also note that the Revolution sprang out of the slow erosion of monarchal power that took place throughout western civilization. According to Gordon Wood this drastic ideological change created an egalitarian utopia in the form of a democratic-republic. Joseph Ellis has argued that the Revolution was created by a generation of great political minds that took advantage of the lack of social and political bounds in the American colonies and broke free of Britain’s domination and the European ideas of social hierarchy. Ellis refers to this generation as “the founding brothers.” Ellis justifies this interpretation by arguing that 2 the origins of the American Revolution could not be found among “marginal or peripheral figures, whose lives were more typical.” 2 The problem with this approach is it simply leaves too many people out, those folks who were “marginal or peripheral.” In fact, it leaves out entire regions, including the southern backcountry. Recently, historians have broadened the focus both geographically and socially and argue that by focusing on the “marginal and peripheral” figures, we can gain a more complex and accurate understanding of the events leading up to the Revolution, as well as the Revolution