Tryon’s Stamp Act Assembly
Many North Carolinians resisted the implementation of the Stamp Act. Therefore, William Tryon, the royal governor, worked cunningly to enforce the law. For one, he refused to allow the North Carolina Assembly to convene. (He had earlier prevented any delegates from attending the Stamp Act Congress in Philadelphia; there were only three colonies without representation at the congress: Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina.) He also called fifty leading North Carolinians to Tryon Palace and tried unsuccessfully to convince them to stop resisting the Stamp Act. Even though the tax seemed to slow the rapidly growing American economy, he promised the leading planters and merchants profit, for he assured them that he would write a letter to the Crown requesting special trade privileges for North Carolina. He also promised to reimburse each one for stamps on documents that he issued. Despite Tryon’s shrewd attempt, the North Carolina leaders rejected his offer and refused to submit to what they considered to be an unconstitutional Stamp Act.Sources:
Murray N. Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty Vol. III (Auburn, Alabama: reprint, 1999) and Milton Ready, The Tar Heel State, A History of North Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina: 2005).
See Also:
Related Categories: Political History, Colonial North Carolina, Revolution EraRelated Encyclopedia Entries: Caleb Bradham (1867-1934), Affirmations, Hillsborough Confrontation (1768), Non-Importation Movement, Ratification Debates, Angus W. McLean (1925-1929), Containerization, Headache Powders, Goody's Headache Powder, Cotton Textile Institute, Brookings Plan, Capital Punishment , The Nutbush Address (1765), Wake County (1771)
Related Commentary: An Overlooked Jeffersonian Argument: Thomas H. Hall and Internal Improvement Legislation, 1771 Alamance: The First Battle of Our American Revolution
Timeline: 1664-1775
Region: Statewide , Coastal Plain