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Resistance Becomes Revolution: North Carolina, 1776

By 1774, North Carolina had spent years learning to resist authority. The Regulation had exposed resentment toward corrupt colonial officials, the Stamp Act crisis had produced organized resistance to Parliament, and the women of Edenton had demonstrated that the Patriot cause was no longer confined to male politicians.

Events beyond North Carolina were forcing its people to choose. Within less than two years, the colony would move from protesting British policies to creating its own government, fighting a war within its own borders, and authorizing its representatives to support independence.

On Aug. 8, 1774, Rowan County freeholders adopted the Rowan Resolves, asserting the General Assembly’s authority over taxation and that Parliament’s attempt to tax the colony violated their constitutional rights. Yet they still professed loyalty to King George III; North Carolina was resisting Parliament while insisting that it remained loyal to the Crown.

That same month, the First Provincial Congress met at New Bern. Seventy-one delegates gathered to coordinate resistance, approve a boycott of British goods, and select William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and Richard Caswell for the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

A parallel political structure was emerging—one increasingly operating outside the authority of the royal governor.

During her 1775 visit to Wilmington, Scottish gentlewoman Janet Schaw recorded another remarkable display of resistance: the town’s women burned their tea in a solemn procession.

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Whether inspired by Edenton or acting independently, Wilmington’s women were joining a movement that had already attracted attention across the Atlantic. The previous autumn, 51 women in Edenton had signed their names to a declaration supporting the boycott of British goods. “The Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser” printed their declaration, calling it an........

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