Mecklenburg Resolves
The Mecklenburg Resolves , also known as the Charlottetown or Charlotte Town Resolves , was a statement passed by the Mecklenburg Security Committee on May 31, 1775 in Mecklenburg County in what is now the state of North Carolina . This committee was made up of two members of the militia from each district. In this proclamation all laws made by the British King or Parliament were declared null and void. As the only legitimate government of the American colonies was Continental Congress in Philadelphia recognized. The royal representatives should be suspended and the authority of the British crown suspended.
These resolutions, which emerged as a result of the battles at Lexington and Concord and were adopted a year before the American Declaration of Independence , were passed on by Captain James Jack to the North Carolinians at the Continental Congress. The Mecklenburg Resolves received these, but decided against submitting them in full to the Continental Congress for ratification.
According to many citizens of North Carolina, a declaration of independence was passed in Charlotte on May 20, 1775 , known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence , the existence of which is controversial. If it were actually authentic, the Mecklenburg Declaration would be the first American declaration of independence, but the existence of such a declaration could never be proven. The original was allegedly destroyed in a fire in 1800. Many historians assume that the version that emerged later is merely a reformulation of the Mecklenburg Resolves, which was misunderstood as a declaration of independence. However, the early government of North Carolina assumed the authenticity of the Mecklenburg Declaration and incorporated this date into the seal and flag of North Carolina .
literature
- Jon L. Wakelyn (Ed.): America's founding charters: primary documents of Colonial and Revolutionary era governance . Volume 1. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT et al. 2006, ISBN 0-313-33155-3 .
