Rowan Resolves
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Rowan Resolves is the short name for a colonial era document called ''Resolutions by inhabitants of Rowan County concerning resistance to Parliamentary taxation and the Provincial Congress of North Carolina.'' It was signed in
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, Rowan County, in the royal
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 ...
on August 8, 1774 in response to a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774, the
Intolerable Acts The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measur ...
, after the political protest against
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in
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, the
Colony of Massachusetts Bay The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
, commonly known as
Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...
. Rowan County was the first county in North Carolina to adopt such resolutions in the early stages of American Revolution.


Discovery

The document was discovered in Iredell County in 1851 among the papers of the Sharpe family which were direct descendants of William Sharpe, the last Secretary of the Rowan County Committee of Safety. The document was first published to the general public by Colonel Wheeler. Authenticity of the document was asserted by a committee of experts before the publication.


Summary

The freeholders of Rowan County opened the document with the assertion of their fidelity and obedience to
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and his right to the Crown of Great Britain and Dominions in America. Then the authors proceeded to state their position on the recent Royal measures in response to the economic and political events in the colonies. * The right to impose taxes on the colonists lies within the jurisdiction of the General Assembly of the province (as opposed to the legislature in England) * Imposition of taxes by any authority other than the General Assembly is an infringement upon the constitutional rights and liberties of the colonies. * Opposition to taxation without representation in response to the tea tax imposed on the colonies by the British Parliament. Comparison of taxation without representation to the state of slavery. * Regarding the cruel treatment of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay as the intent to deprive colonies of their rights and liberties. * Proclamation of the cause of the Town of Boston as the common cause of the colonies and calling " firmly to unite in an indissoluble Union and Association" to oppose the infringement upon the rights and privileges in the colonies. * A call not to import British goods into the colonies and banish luxury and extravagance as well as encourage local manufacturing by subscription. * Objection to African slave trade on the grounds that it prevents manufacturers and other useful immigrants from settling in the colonies. * Encouragement of raising sheep, hemp, and flax. * Assertion that wearing clothes manufactured in the colonies is a sign of true patriotism. * Appointment of Samuel Young, Moses Winslow, and William Kennon to represent Rowan County at the First Provincial Congress in anticipation of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. * Recommendation not to trade with any colony that will refuse to join the Union to preserve rights and liberties in the colonies as will be agreed upon in the future Continental Progress in Philadelphia.


Signatories

Freeholder representatives from all parts of Rowan County signed the Resolves. * James McCay * Andrew Neal * George Cathy * Alexander Dobbins * Francis McKorkle *
Matthew Locke Matthew Locke may refer to: * Matthew Locke (administrator) (fl. 1660–1683), English Secretary at War from 1666 to 1683 * Matthew Locke (composer) (c. 1621–1677), English Baroque composer and music theorist * Matthew Locke (soldier) (1974–2 ...
* Maxwell Chambers * Henry Harmon * Abraham Dinton *
William Davidson William or Bill Davidson may refer to: Businessmen * Bill Davidson (businessman) (1922–2009), Michigan businessman and sports team owner ** William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan, named in honor of Bill Davidson * William Davidson ...
* Samuel Young * John Brevard * William Kennon, Efq., Chairman * George Henry Barringer * Robert Bell * John Bickerftaff * John Cowdon * John Lewis Beard * John Nifbet * Charles McDowel * Robert Blackburn * Chriftopher Beekman * William Sharpe * John Johnfon * Morgan Bryan * Adlai Osborne, Efq., Clerk


Commemoration

On August 9, 2009 Rowan Public Library held the first annual Rowan Resolves Day to commemorate Rowan County's involvement in paving the road to American Independence.


References

One of the authors is my fourth great grandfather. You have him as Abraham Dinton. It is actually Abraham Denton. I have never seen his name spelled other than Denton. Thanks for letting me edit. Norma Drake


External links

Text of the Rowan Resolves
in Colonial and State Records of North Carolina presented online by the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
as part of Documenting the American South digital collection {{American Revolution origins North Carolina in the American Revolution 1774 in the Thirteen Colonies Documents of the American Revolution Rowan County, North Carolina 1774 in North Carolina