Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-07

power does Or can exist, at thisa time, in
these Colonies.
'IIT. As al former laws are now wholly
suspended IN this Province, and the Cen
gress have not yet provided others, We judge
it necessary, for the better preservation Of
good order, to form certain rules and regu-
lations for the internal government Of this
county, until laws shall be provided for US
by the Congress.
"IV. TEat the inhabitants Of this coun-
ty do meet, on 3 certain day appointed by
this committee, and, having formed them
selves into nine companies, viz: eight in the
comfy and one in the town Of Charlotte,
90 choose a Colonel, and other military
officers, who shall hold and exercise their
several powers by virtue Of this choice, and
Independent Of the Crown Of Great Britain
and former Constitution Of this Province"
Omitting the subsequent resolutions,
prescribing the mode for electing Off
GERS, the above is the one Unquestioned
form of the Mecklenbarg Declaration
Of Inde5endence. We reproduce it in
view of the fact that, with the revival
Of revolutionary memories, the State
OF North Carolina has determined to
celebrate It's centennial on the 20th OF
May next, and a resolution that Ten
nessee, as the daughter Of the Old
North State, should participate, is now
pending before our Legislature. The
difference between the date set by the
North Carolina Legislature, for the
centenary, May 20, and that of the doc
ument above given, May 81, opens up
a curious historical dispute which has
ragged for over half a century.
The Meeklenburg Declaration Of In
dependence appears to. have been COM
pletely forgotten by the public gene
rally and by many revolutionary he
roes still living when the Raleigh Reg
lister Of april 80, 1919, published the
following version Of It, very different
from the above, and giving as the date
Of its adoption at Charlotte May 20,
I775:
/. Resolved, That whosever, directly or
indirectly abetted, Orsn any way, form OF
manner, cOuuteIanCed the unChaTtGTed and
dangerous invasion Of our rights as claimed
by Great Britain, is an enemy to this c0an-
try, to America, and to the inherent and
inalienable rights Of man.
II. Resolved, That We, the citizens Of
Gecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve
the political bands which have connected
Us to the mother country, and he-eby alb
solve ourselves from al allegiance TO the
British Crown, and ahiuTe all political con-
mecgiOn, contract or association with that
nation, who have wantOIly tTamp,ed on
our rights and liberties and inhumanly
shed tine blood Of LulGican patriots Z.
Lexington.
III. Resolved, that Te do hereby declare
ourselves a free and Independent people,
are, and Of right ought 10 be, a sovereign
and self-gUVaTling association, under the
control Of no power other than that Of our
God and the general government Of the
Congress; TO the maintenance Of which IN
dependence We s0lemnly pledge 10 each
other our mutual cooperation, our lives
our fortunes and our most sacred honor.
". Resolved, that as we now acknOwl-
edge the existence and control Of no law
or legal officer, civil or military, within
this county, we do hereby Ordain and
adopt, as a rule Of life, all, each, and every
of our former laws-wheTein. nevertheless,
sr- g T-
considered as holding rights, privileges i'm
munities or authority therein.
This document was published by d
s)n-of John lLcKnitt Alexander, who
c.aimed to have been secretary of d
meeting held at Charlotte on May 20,
I775, and who drew NJ the above from
memory in the fall of 1900, the original
having been burned with his house on
April 6 Of that year. He accompanied
the document with a certificate that,
though fundamentally correct, 1t may
not literally correspond with the origi-
nal record Thus this second version
does not pretend to be an accurate
copy. At that time, however, and for
many years after, 1t was theonIy known
form and its date, May 20, was gener-
ally accepted. Owing to the similarity
of some Of It's phrases, such
as Inherent and inaIieaable
rights" " are, and ought to
be a free and independent people, " and
the pledge Of our lives, our fortunes
and our most sacred honor, old John
Adams accused Thomas jefferson Of
pIagiarizing from it in his draft Of the
United States Declaration Of Indepen.
dence. Caring littlefor such a charge,
Jefferson frankly stated that he Dor
rowed these phrases from resolution
introduced by Richard Henry Lee IN
the Continental Congress, July ,,
l776, only two days before Jefferson's
Declaration was adopted. Nor IS It
likely that Lee plagiarizsd them from
the MeckIenburgers. The more proba-
bic theory Is that 8ir. Alexander, en-
deavoring to reproduce a document
from memory in 1890, naturally let his
mind drift into the phrases Of Jefer-
son published twenty,four years pre-
viOusly.
In Judge Martins History Of North
Carolina, published in 1929, a new YER
sion of the "Resolves' Of May 90,
appeared, but was evidently a mere
rhetorical reviaal Of Alezander's d0cu-
ment. AS the latter was pr0fessedty
an effort Of the memory alone, the
Judge doubtless felt free to put 1t IN
more set phrase and eliminate such
crudities as the taatology Of wherein"
and therein" which occurs in its
closing clause.
In 1881 the Legislature Of North
Carolina raised a commission to Einves-