Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-07-02
THE MEckLENeuRe MYTH.
No Declaration Adopted Prior to the
$500 C Axax.1

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 anniversary of the alleged adop-
ton of the so-called "declaration of indie
pendence" in 17T5.
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 us fnkes were not so COM
mon in early days as now, the Mecklen-
burg fake was taken seriously and mas
become part of the accepted history of
the country, surviving the lapse of nearly
a century and still retaining tenacious
hold upon public belief.
The story of the Mecklenburg "declar-
alton of Independence" delusion is this:
On April 30. 1919. the Raleigh IN. o.
Register published five resolutions and an
accompanying statement purporting to
have been written Mt the time, which said
that the resolutions were adopted on May
70, 1910, by delegates from the different
parts of Mecklenburg County, North
Carolina, at a meeting in Charlotte, in
that county. The third of these resolu-
tons read thus: '.rhat we do hereby de-
clare ourselves n free and independent
people, and of right ought to be n SOW
ereign and self-governing association, un-
der the control of no 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
alleged event. But unfortunately for the
inventors of the yarn, Thomas Jefferson
John Adams and other prominent mem
beers of the Continental Congress declar-
ed in 1910 that they never heard of the
Mecklenburg resolutions. Furthermore,
DIR. Williamson made no mention Of it in
his history of North Carolina, and, final
ly, three months after the alleged adop-
ton Of the resolutions, the Legislature
Of North Carolina, including the members
from Mecklenburg County, reported q
test of loyalty" which all the members
signed, and which began with these
words: I'VE, the subscribers, protesting
our allegiance to the King" etc. All of
Mecklenburg County's Representatives in
the assembly signed this test of loyalty"
to George I'LL, and four of these repre-
sentatives We're among the reputed sign
ers of the alleged paper of May 20 OF
that year, two of them being the leaders
In the pretended movement which that
imagined document was said to have
voiced.
ASA matter of fact no community
adopted declaration of independence in
advance of the year of the momentous
pronouncement drawn up by Thomas JEFF
ferson and signed by himself and col
leagues of the Continental Congress OF
July 4, 17T6. Protests against the pre-
tensions Of the British government were
made By resolutions In several communi
ties, but NO declaration of Independence
Of the colonies.
ynu ~ u which II aPpssrs that ysl'