Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-07-01
THE MEckLENeuRG MYTH.
No Declaration Adopted Prior to the
Great Declaration.

No Declaration Adopted Prior to the
Great Declaration.
The Mecklenburg declaration of indie
pendence is one of the most persistent of
our myths; but the patient researches Of
the historian has uncovered its fallacious
foundation, albeit the people of North
Carolina still religiously celebrate May
20 as the anni~c-sary of the alleged adop-
ton of the so cali,jl declaration of indie
pendence" in ITS.
The Mecklenburg myth owes its origin
to one of the earliest attempts at yellow
journalism made by the American press.
In other words, it was an audacious
fake" but as fakes were not so COM
mon in early days as now, the Mecklen-
burg fake was taken seriously and las
become a part Of the accepted history Of
the country, surviving the lapse of nearly
century and still retaining a tenacious
hold upon public belief.
The story of the Mecklenburg ''declar-
alton of independence" delusion is this:
On April 80. 1919. the Raleigh On. CO
Register published FIVE resolutions and an
accompanying statement purporting TO
have been written at the time, which said
that the resolutions were adopted on May
20, 1775, by delegates from the different
parts OF Mecklenburg County, North
Carolina. at meeting in Charlotte, in
that county. The third of these resolu-
tons read thus: THAT we do hereby de-
clare ourselves a free and independent
people. and of right ought to be SOW
ereign and self-governing association, I'M
der the control of TO power other than
that OF our God and the general govern
ment of the Congress; to the maintenance
of which independence we solemnly
pledge to each other our mutual co-opera-
ton. our lives. our fortunes and our most
sacred honor"
1t was a clever invention. circumstan-
TALLY fortified forty-four years after the
aueged event. But unfortunately for the
inventors Of the yarn. Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams and other prominent mem
bers of the Continental Congress declar-
ed in 1919 that they never heard of the
Mecklenhurg resolutions Furthermore
DIR. Williamson made no mention Of il N
his history of North Carolina. and. final
IL, three months after the alleged adop-
ton Of the resolutions. the Legislature
of North Carolina, including the members
from Mecklenburg County, reported a
test Of loyalty" which all the members
signed. and which began with thes
words: we. the subscribers. professlng
our allegiance to the King" etc. AL OF
Mecklenbnrg County's representatives, n
the assembly signed this test of loyalty
10 George III. and four OF these repre-
Sentatives were among the reputed sign
ers Of the alleged paper OF May 20 OF
that wear. two OF them being the leaders
N sha r,rafavra1 movement which that
imagined document was said 10 have
voiced.
As a matter OF fact no community
adopted a declaration OF independence IN
advance OF the year of the monentous
pronouneement drawn up by Thomas def
ferson and sign-aa BY himself and col
leagues Of the Continental Congress on
July 4. I116. Protests against the pre-
-.saons Of the British government were
made By resolutions in several communi-
ties. but no declaration Of Independence
Of the colonies.
From al Of which It appears that yes-