The Tryon Resolves were a brief declaration adopted by the citizens of
Tryon County in the
Province of North Carolina
Province of North Carolina was a province of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712(p. 80) to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the thirteen American colonies. The monarch of Great Britain was repre ...
in the early days of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
. In the Resolves, the county vowed resistance to coercive actions by the government of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
against its
North American colonies. The document was signed on August 14, 1775.
Background
The Tryon Resolves "association" was created in response to the
Battle of Lexington
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, ...
, and the Resolves were among the earliest of many local colonial declarations against the policies the British government had instituted in the colonies, which were considered oppressive by the colonists. Other similar declarations from the same period included the
Mecklenburg Resolves (adopted in nearby
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Mecklenburg County is a county located in the southwestern region of the state of North Carolina, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,115,482, making it the second-most populous county in North Carolina (after Wa ...
) and the
Suffolk Resolves (adopted in
Suffolk County, Massachusetts). The Tryon Resolves predated the
United States Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...
by almost 11 months, but stopped short of proscribing independence from Britain, instead supporting armed resistance until a resolution with England could be made.
As tensions between the North American colonies and the British government continued to increase, county residents began forming
Committees of Safety to prepare militia companies for a potential war. On September 14, 1775, many of the signers of the Tryon Resolves formed the
Tryon County Militia
The creation of the Tryon County, New York militia was authorized on March 8, 1772, when the Province of New York passed a bill for the establishment of organized militia in each county in the colony. By 1776 (at the start of the American War of ...
in preparation for British retaliation against American revolutionaries.
[Sullivan, Kathy Gunter; "Tryon County Documents, 1769-1779"; Genealogical Society of Old Tyron County, NC; (2000); via "Proceedings of the Committee of Safety, 1775-1776;" Secretary of State Papers; S.S. 305; pp. 184–186]
Text summary and effect
In the Tryon Resolves:
* The county residents refer to "the painful necessity of having recourse to arms in defense of our National freedom and constitutional rights, against all invasions;
* Vow to take up arms and risk our lives and our fortunes in maintaining the freedom of our country..."
* The colonists declare they will continue to follow the Continental Congress or Provincial Conventions in defiance of British declarations that these were illegal;
* The signers warn that force will be met with force until such a time as a "reconciliation" can be made between the colonies and Britain.
Signers
The signatories of the Tryon Resolves were:
* Robt. Alexander
* Jas. Baird
* Abel Beatty
* Thomas Beatty
* John Beeman
* George Black
* James Buchanan
* Christian Carpenter
* Samuel Carpenter
* James Coburn
* Jacob Costner
* Geo. Dellinger
* John Dellinger
* Thomas Espey
* Jacob Forney
*
William Graham
*
Frederick Hambright
* Andrew Hampton
* Benjamin Hardin
*
Joseph Hardin
* Robert Hulclip (Original document: Robert Hazelip, age 16, misprint on plaque due to ink stain)
* David Jenkins
* Joseph Kuykendall
* Samuel Loftin
* Jas. Logan
* Perrygreen Mackness (or Magness
* Jacob Mauney, Jun.
* Valentine Mauney
* Fried Mauser
* James McAfee
* Charles McLean
* Jas. Miller
* Moses Moore
* John Morris
* Andrew Neel
* Joseph Neel
* George Paris
* Jonathan Price
* John Robison
* Peter Sides
* Adam Simms
* Samuel Smith
* William Thompson
* Joab Turner
* Richard Waffer
* John Walker
* John Wells
* Davis Whiteside
* William Whiteside
References
External links
* Journeys Through Time: Nixon's History of Lincoln County: The Revolutionary War Period
* Revolutionary Dig Saving Local Histor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Resolves, Tryon
1775 documents
1775 in North Carolina
Documents of the American Revolution
North Carolina in the American Revolution
Political history of North Carolina