The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1890-05-08
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
Du0wTu TOWARD DEMOCRACY.

evident that at the time Of the re
violation North Carolina had already
made wonderful progress toward un~
ler..andiDg the possibility and the
necessity Of selfgorernment. She
showed this in the bod stand Whlc2
she took for liberty during the EARL
est DAYS Of that great struggle; foE
Will the other colonies were seeking
method cf rccopcIiiDg resistance
10 tYrrany with the. position Of sub
,ccts andcr the British crown, she
cav that the only true solution Of the
queeUous at issue was TO be found
il absolute independence, and gave
practical proof Of her conclusion by
the Necklenburg Declaration.
That this State should have been
90 well prepared for decisive action
could not have been the result OF
any sudden change in The minds or
nature8 Of the people. 1t was, We
app.ehend, largely the consequence
If education in the great school Of
se!ryovernment. III which she hal
hccu passing through q proscess OF
training for many years. There was
IN Tie very circumstances attending
the earliest settlement Of Carolina
that which had a tendency to pro
mo'e the growth OF democracy.
TIE same is true Of ell the other
States: but il her that tendency was
more pronounced and farther degel-
0pcd than elsewhere.
Lit Us inquire what we're some Of
th0se conditions which were favora-
bic 20 independence. Ia the first
place the people were wretchedly
misgoyerned from the beginning.
None Of the colonies owed much to
the fostering care Of the mother
country: North Carolina least Of all.
Her people were not, during the early
years Of their history. directly under
the control Of the crown. This seems
! to have excited the s~Orn Of some OF
her more favored neightors. Thus
! Eirglrio, despisjag tie sut Jets Of B
set Ct petty masters, refused to en-
gage IN commerce with Carolina and
allowed the daring navlgatOrs Of
! New England 10 molopOilze g luCra-
, tive trade ia tobacco and other pro
duct. BY grant Of King Charles to
certain English notiemer, the colony
had become the property Of cor
p0rotiOn known as the Lords Pro
pretors. THIS rcdoubtabIc body Of
saGes DO not seam to have troubled
themselves much about The welfare
Of their subjects, aud took but little
interest in them fuItber than to col
Iect the revenue acCTaing to them
from the royal grant. In gratifica
ton Of their own pride they sought
to force on North Carolina a con-
stitution, which for absolute IN
aiaptability to the purpose for which
it was intended, stands without
parallel. 1t was known as the fun~
damental constitution and was
Drawn up ct the request Of the Lords
Proprietors by the distinguished
English philosopher John Locke
Such system Of government might
perhaps have been suited to an
Utopian condition Of society bot
was not able to provide for the ex-
cgencles which the pioneers of that
day were compelled to ueet. The
governors Of the colony. for the
NEST part, were destitute of adminis-
tr@:iYe capacity aud in many in
staNces OF moral character.
And so the men Of Alhemarle
soon learned that taey had but little
to expect from their iniquitous mas
ter. or from the servants whom
those masters appointed. Whatever
help they received % relieve neces-
sites. they saw mast come from
within and not from without. To
them was given the task not o1ly
Of spreading the l,oht Of civilization
in naked land. but Of spreading it
in spite Of tie checks and restraints
which were continually thrown
around them by the government at
home. It was with them q matte-
of life end death, whether they could
retain the hold which they had o.
tanned ca North Carolina, for they
had the ocean on one side and the
wilderness on the other.
I0e whole history Of those days is one
OF continual struggle. They were not
always in the right, and sometimes
we're found c0ntending for men and
measures that were not TO be justi-
fed. And often in this tumultuous
settlement we find the most neon
9Tuous elements united for mutual
protection as when Luaker, Presby-
terrain and Cavalier all combined TO
defeat the establishment Of the Eng
lsh church in the Colony. Theirs
was a rough experience but it taught
then many useful lessons. What
ever Of manhood and courage they
posed was fGily developed by the
disadvantages with which they had
% contend. Thrown upor their own
resources they !caCncd to Think and
to plan. and forced by necessity. they
resisted the hI1ber powers which
wCre cncI0achjng on their rights. In
Tine they came to fully understand
the principle unjcrlviog that Old
aphorism "IIeavan helps those who
ualp thcmselves.'
in all this it is easy to trace that
democratic spirit which was so CON
spicuous later on, but which could
never have been manifested, had it
rot been silently at work in all the