War of the Regulation
Encyclopedia
The War of the Regulation (or the Regulator Movement) was a North Carolina
uprising, lasting from approximately 1760 to 1771, in which citizens took up arms against corrupt colonial officials. While unsuccessful, some historians consider it a catalyst to the American Revolutionary War
.
In 1764, several thousand people from North Carolina, mainly from Orange
, Anson
, and Granville
counties in the western region, were extremely dissatisfied with the wealthy North Carolina officials, whom they considered cruel, arbitrary, tyrannical and corrupt. Taxes were collected by local sheriffs supported by the courts; the sheriffs and courts had sole control over their local regions. Many of the officers were deemed to be very greedy and often would band together with other local officials for their own personal gain. The entire system depended on the integrity of local officials, many of whom engaged in extortion; taxes collected often enriched the tax collectors directly. At times, sheriffs would intentionally remove records of their tax collection in order to further tax citizens. The system was endorsed by the colonial governor, who feared losing the support of the various county officials.
The effort to eliminate this system of government became known as the Regulator uprising, War of the Regulation, or the Regulator War. The most heavily affected areas were said to be that of Rowan
, Anson, Orange, Granville, and Cumberland
counties. It was a struggle between mostly lower class citizens, who made up the majority of the population of North Carolina, and the wealthy ruling class, who comprised about 5% of the population, yet maintained almost total control of the government.
The primary aim of the Regulators was to form an honest government and reduce taxation. The wealthy businessmen/politicians that ruled North Carolina at this point, saw this as a grave threat to their power. Ultimately they brought in militia to crush the rebellion, and then hanged their leaders. It is estimated that out of the 8,000 people living in Orange County at the time, some six or seven thousand of them were in support of the Regulators.
Although the "War of the Regulators" is considered by some to be one of the first acts of the American Revolutionary War, it was waged against corrupt local officials and not against the king or crown. In reality, many anti-Regulators went on to become Patriots
during the American Revolution
, such as William Hooper
, James Robertson
, and Francis Nash
; while many Regulators became Loyalists
.
became one of the unofficial leaders of the Regulators. Husband was originally from Maryland
, born into a Quaker family. One of the major flaws in Husband's campaign was that he tried to invite good relations with the eastern regions of North Carolina, mostly unaffected by local sheriffs. Husband retained very little control over the group of Regulators, which generally went against his policies of winning over public sentiment by committing acts of minor violence at regular intervals.
Another leader of the Regulators was James Hunter. He refused to take control of the Regulators after Husband's departure before the Battle of Alamance
.
Captain Benjamin Merrill had about 300 men under his control and would have assumed control over military leadership after James Hunter, but he was unable to serve in the Battle of Alamance.
, who authored popular works at the time such as "Trade and Improvement of H'elend" and "Captain Middleton's Defense," served as the Royal Governor of North Carolina until his death in 1765.
Governor William Tryon
assumed the position following the death of Governor Dobbs. Tryon had an extremely lavish home built in 1770 in New Bern
(now known as Tryon Palace
), which became one of the main points of resentment for the Regulators, who were already paying substantial taxes. William (The Regulator) Butler was quoted as saying "We are determined not to pay the Tax for the next three years, for the Edifice or Governor's House, nor will we pay for it."
Governor Josiah Martin
succeeded Governor Tryon in office just after the end of the rebellion. His policies eased the burden on former Regulators and allowed them to be assimilated back into society.
Edmund Fanning
was the main opposition to the Regulators. He graduated from Yale University
, and he was generally regarded by his friends as well disciplined and firm. He held many political offices in Orange County. He was found guilty of embezzling money (along with Francis Nash) but was fined only one cent per charge.
. In 1768, the Regulators entered Hillsborough, broke up the court, and dragged those they saw as corrupt officials through the streets.
The mob attempted to have the judge try the cases that were pending against several regulator leaders, including Husband. The presiding judge (Richard Henderson) quickly adjourned the court until the next morning to avoid being forced to make a ruling in the presence of an angry mob of regulators, and escaped in the night. The regulators rioted, destroying public and private property alike. Fanning was among the lawyers beaten, found after taking refuge in a shop neighboring the courthouse. According to judge Richard Henderson, Fanning's beating was so severe that “one of his eyes was almost beaten out.” The courthouse was systematically and symbolically vandalized. Human waste was placed on the judges seat, and the body of a long deceased slave was placed upon the lawyers bar. The mob continued to destroy shops and property in the town, and ultimately brought their destruction to Fanning's personal residence. After destroying all of the furniture and drinking all of his alcohol, the entire house was picked apart. Henderson's barn, along with his stables and home were also burned to the ground. They cracked the church bell of the Church of England, but stopped short of looting the church further due to their religious beliefs.
in 1765. Settlers in the region, who were there illegally, forced away surveyors of the region assigned with designating land. Minor clashes followed for the next several years in almost every western county, but the only true battle of the war was the Battle of Alamance
on May 16, 1771.
The governor and his forces which numbered just over 1,000, with roughly 150 officers, arrived at Hillsborough on May 9. At the same time, General Hugh Waddell
, supporting Governor Tryon, en route with his contingent of 236 men was met by a large contingent of Regulators. Realizing his force was outnumbered, he fell back to Salisbury
. On May 11, having received word of the retreat from a messenger, Tryon sent the force to support General Waddell. He intentionally chose a path that would lead his forces through Regulator territory. He made strict mention that nothing was to be looted or damaged. By May 14, his troops had reached Alamance and set up a camp. Leaving about 70 men behind to guard the position, he moved the remainder of his force, slightly under 1,000 men, to find the Regulators.
About 10 miles (16 km) away, a force of approximately 2,000 Regulators (by some accounts, 6,000) without any clear leadership or supplies was gathered mainly as a display of force, and not a standing army. The general Regulator strategy was to scare the governor with a show of superior numbers in order to force the governor to give in to their demands. The first clash of the battle was on May 15 when a rogue band of Regulators had captured two of the governor's militia soldiers. Governor Tryon had informed the Regulators that they were displaying open arms and rebellion and that action was to be taken if they did not disperse. The Regulators did not understand the severity of the crisis they were in and ignored the warning. Despite hesitation from his own forces, Governor Tryon allegedly initiated the main battle of Alamance on May 16 by shooting Robert Thompson, who was the first death of the battle. The Regulators resistance crumbled somewhat quickly. Captain Merrill, a Regulator, was supposed to arrive on the battlefield but was delayed. The battle was over with nine deaths for the governor's forces and about the same for the Regulators. Virtually everyone captured in the battle was fully pardoned in exchange for an allegiance to the crown; however, seven Regulators were executed for their part in the uprising.
At the time of their defeat at the battle of Alamance, public opinion was decidedly against them. They were seen as a bunch of “lawless desperadoes” and Governor William Tryon was praised for his actions in stamping out the rebellion. As news articles spread the word of his victory, Tryon was branded a hero of the colonies for defeating the larger group of regulators with his small, well prepared militia. However as the initial excitement over the glorious battle died down, many newsmen, especially in the Boston area, began to question the reasons behind the rebellion and investigated further to find its cause. Several reasons were found to see the destruction of the regulators as an act of an oppressive government. Most particularly admonished was the methods in which Tryon himself had used to win the battle of Alamance. The use of a riot act, and the execution of rebellion leaders after the battle was frowned upon. Reports also indicated that severe battlefield misconduct had taken place on the governor's side, including giving the farmers a 2 hour warning period before the battle began, and subsequently breaking that agreement to bombard them with artillery fire.
Several trials were held after the war, resulting in the hanging of six Regulators at Hillsborough on June 19, 1771. Many of the main leaders remained in hiding until 1772, when they were no longer considered outlaws.
Many Regulators moved further west into places such as Tennessee
, notably establishing both the Watauga Association
at Sycamore Shoals
(1772) in present day Elizabethton, Tennessee
, the first independent white republic on American soil, and the State of Franklin
(1784), another short-lived republic that failed to join the Union of the United States
.
The Regulators are important characters in Jimmy Carter
's historical novel
The Hornet's Nest (2003).
The Regulators of South Carolina were formed during the mid 1760s, and active mainly between 1767 and 1769. Over the past few decades the population of the frontier had boomed, thanks to the planning of governor Robert Johnson. His enthusiasm for sending yeoman out to the frontier in mass was in fact to provide a buffer for the coastal cites from Cherokee attacks. The slave population alone grew 19% (however the entire slave population of the frontier only accounted for 8% of total of the colony).
During this time violent crimes and organized bandit raids threatened the welfare of the settlers inland of the colony. The fallout of the Cherokee war of 1760-1761 left many settlers without homes, and children were abandoned during native raids. These people would fall back on the only trade they could use to sustain themselves and their families, which was hunting for their food. In the colonial period on the western frontier this was not seen as an honorable profession, and hunters were labeled as vagrants and universally hated by the planters. The planters had no short list of reasons not to like hunters, as many of them were also bandits that would steal livestock. The method of fire hunting, which was a practice of hunting at night, and using fire to blind deer. However this endangered the livestock of farmers, as hunting in the dark often led to cattle being mistaken for deer. Many unused animal corpses were also left as a result, which drew wolves and scavengers closer to populated areas. Along with this, hunting also pushed well into the boundary of the local natives, the Creek Indians, hurting the already tense relationship with colonists. The bandit problem had become so bad that it was found they had an organized network even larger than the regulators, numbering at roughly 200 strong. Eventually the thieves were bold enough to attack members of the magistrate, and one regulator James Mayson was dragged from his home in the night. The bandits, while originally being composed of the hunting groups, were not an exclusive group. Into their fold they accepted Mulattos (free blacks) and runaway slaves, and any outlaw available. Some members of the bandit network were well established farmers as well.
The South Carolina regulators were a much smaller organization than their North Carolina counterpart. There were 100 known regulators, and of these 32 of them went on to be come justices of the peace, and 21 were militia leaders. Of the regulation members, 31 of them owned slaves, and 14 in fact owned 10 or more.11 These men banded together initially to form a vigilante law force to protect themselves and their assets from bandits. Much unlike their neighbors to the north, this was not a rebellion, and in fact South Carolina regulators were in cooperation with their colonial government for their entire active time. The secondary cause of this group was to get courts, churches and schools established in their quickly growing communities. Unfortunately the only court in the colony was in Charleston, through which all legal documentation had to go. In fact the inland settlers had the sympathy of the coastal elite, but the circuit court act, which would establish the jails, courts, sheriffs and judicial districts needed14 was held up due to a dispute with Parliament concerning the tenure of judges.
In stark contrast to the outcome of Herman Husband's Sandy Creek association and regulators, the South Carolina regulation movement was a great success. Eventually a series of acts were passed that met the needs of the yeoman frontiersman. These included vagrancy acts, which outlawed many staples of hunter lifestyle, such as their trespassing on native lands. This, coupled with the 1769 ordinance for the preservation of wolfs, which prevented the act of fire hunting, led to many hunters being whipped and banished from the area. In 1768 the Charleston grand jury began urging the creations of new schools in the back country, as per regulator request. And finally in 1769 the circuit court act was passed, making way for the new courthouses and jails, as well as setting up four new judicial districts. The cooperation between frontier and coastal colonists was so effective, that by 1771 Governor Montague of South Carolina had issued a full pardon for any actions taken by the regulators in his state.
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
uprising, lasting from approximately 1760 to 1771, in which citizens took up arms against corrupt colonial officials. While unsuccessful, some historians consider it a catalyst to the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
Causes
The origins of the war of regulation stem from a drastic population increase within North Carolina during the 1760s, followed by immigration from the large eastern cities to the rural west. While the inland section of the colony had once been predominately composed of planters with an agriculture based economy, merchants and lawyers from the coastal area began to move west, upsetting the current social and political structure. At the same time, the local agricultural community was suffering from a deep economic depression, due to severe droughts throughout the past decade. The loss of crops caused farmers to lose not only their direct food source, but primary means of income, which led many to rely on the goods being brought in by newly arrived merchants. Since income was cut off, the local planters often fell into debt, which could not be paid off immediately. In turn the merchants would rely on lawyers and the court to settle the debate. Debts were not uncommon at the time, but from 1755 to 1765 the number of cases brought to the docket increased 15 fold, from 7 annually to 111 in Orange County alone. Court cases could often lead to planters losing their homes and property, who naturally grew to resent the presence of the new merchants and the lawyers. The shift in population and politics eventually led to an imbalance within the colony's courthouses, where the newly arrived and well educated lawyers used their superior knowledge of the law to their sometimes unjust advantage. A small clique of wealthy officials formed, and became an exclusive inner circle in charge of the legal affairs of the area. The group was seen as a 'courthouse ring', or a small bunch of officials who obtained most of the political power for themselves.In 1764, several thousand people from North Carolina, mainly from Orange
Orange County, North Carolina
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,801. Its county seat is Hillsborough...
, Anson
Anson County, North Carolina
-See also:*National Register of Historic Places listings in Anson County, North Carolina-External links:*...
, and Granville
Granville County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 59,916 people in 20,628 households residing in the county. The population density was 111.6 people per square mile . There were 22,827 housing units at an average density of 42.5 per square mile...
counties in the western region, were extremely dissatisfied with the wealthy North Carolina officials, whom they considered cruel, arbitrary, tyrannical and corrupt. Taxes were collected by local sheriffs supported by the courts; the sheriffs and courts had sole control over their local regions. Many of the officers were deemed to be very greedy and often would band together with other local officials for their own personal gain. The entire system depended on the integrity of local officials, many of whom engaged in extortion; taxes collected often enriched the tax collectors directly. At times, sheriffs would intentionally remove records of their tax collection in order to further tax citizens. The system was endorsed by the colonial governor, who feared losing the support of the various county officials.
The effort to eliminate this system of government became known as the Regulator uprising, War of the Regulation, or the Regulator War. The most heavily affected areas were said to be that of Rowan
Rowan County, North Carolina
-Demographics and economics:As of the census of 2010, there were 138,428 people, 53,140 households, and 37,058 families residing in the county. The population density was 270.7 people per square mile . There were 60,211 housing units at an average density of 117.7 per square mile...
, Anson, Orange, Granville, and Cumberland
Cumberland County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 302,963 people, 107,358 households, and 77,619 families residing in the county. The population density was 464 people per square mile . There were 118,425 housing units at an average density of 181 per square mile...
counties. It was a struggle between mostly lower class citizens, who made up the majority of the population of North Carolina, and the wealthy ruling class, who comprised about 5% of the population, yet maintained almost total control of the government.
The primary aim of the Regulators was to form an honest government and reduce taxation. The wealthy businessmen/politicians that ruled North Carolina at this point, saw this as a grave threat to their power. Ultimately they brought in militia to crush the rebellion, and then hanged their leaders. It is estimated that out of the 8,000 people living in Orange County at the time, some six or seven thousand of them were in support of the Regulators.
Although the "War of the Regulators" is considered by some to be one of the first acts of the American Revolutionary War, it was waged against corrupt local officials and not against the king or crown. In reality, many anti-Regulators went on to become Patriots
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, such as William Hooper
William Hooper
William Hooper was an American lawyer, politician, and a member of the Continental Congress representing North Carolina from 1774 through 1777...
, James Robertson
James Robertson (early American)
James Robertson was an explorer and pioneer active primarily in what is now the State of Tennessee during the second half of the 18th century. An early companion of explorer Daniel Boone, Robertson helped establish the Watauga Association in the early 1770s, and helped defend Fort Watauga from an...
, and Francis Nash
Francis Nash
Francis Nash was a brigadier general killed in the American Revolutionary War.Nash was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia. At an early age he became prominent as a North Carolina merchant, attorney, and justice of the peace; experiences which eventually led to a seat in the North Carolina...
; while many Regulators became Loyalists
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
.
Regulators
Herman HusbandHerman Husband
Herman Husband , also known as Harmon Husband, was a farmer, radical, pamphleteer, and preacher. He was born in Cecil County, Maryland and raised as an Anglican...
became one of the unofficial leaders of the Regulators. Husband was originally from Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, born into a Quaker family. One of the major flaws in Husband's campaign was that he tried to invite good relations with the eastern regions of North Carolina, mostly unaffected by local sheriffs. Husband retained very little control over the group of Regulators, which generally went against his policies of winning over public sentiment by committing acts of minor violence at regular intervals.
Another leader of the Regulators was James Hunter. He refused to take control of the Regulators after Husband's departure before the Battle of Alamance
Battle of Alamance
The Battle of Alamance was the final battle of the War of the Regulation, a rebellion in colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control. In the past, historians considered the battle to be the opening salvo of the American Revolution and locals agreed with this assessment...
.
Captain Benjamin Merrill had about 300 men under his control and would have assumed control over military leadership after James Hunter, but he was unable to serve in the Battle of Alamance.
Opposition
Governor Arthur DobbsArthur Dobbs
Arthur Dobbs was a wealthy landowner in North Carolina and served as colonial governor from 1754 to 1765.-Early life and career:...
, who authored popular works at the time such as "Trade and Improvement of H'elend" and "Captain Middleton's Defense," served as the Royal Governor of North Carolina until his death in 1765.
Governor William Tryon
William Tryon
William Tryon was a British soldier and colonial administrator who served as governor of the Province of North Carolina and the Province of New York .-Early life and career:...
assumed the position following the death of Governor Dobbs. Tryon had an extremely lavish home built in 1770 in New Bern
New Bern, North Carolina
New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...
(now known as Tryon Palace
Tryon Palace
Tryon Palace is a modern reconstruction of the historical colonial royal governors' palace of the Province of North Carolina. It was constructed in the 1950s across the original mansion site located in the city of New Bern, North Carolina. Today it is a State Historic Site. The Palace gardens are...
), which became one of the main points of resentment for the Regulators, who were already paying substantial taxes. William (The Regulator) Butler was quoted as saying "We are determined not to pay the Tax for the next three years, for the Edifice or Governor's House, nor will we pay for it."
Governor Josiah Martin
Josiah Martin
Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah Martin was the last colonial governor of the Province of North Carolina .-Family and connections:...
succeeded Governor Tryon in office just after the end of the rebellion. His policies eased the burden on former Regulators and allowed them to be assimilated back into society.
Edmund Fanning
Edmund Fanning (colonial administrator)
Edmund Fanning first gained fame for his role in the War of the Regulation, but later had a distinguished career as a colonial governor and British general.right| Sketch of Edmund Fanning...
was the main opposition to the Regulators. He graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and he was generally regarded by his friends as well disciplined and firm. He held many political offices in Orange County. He was found guilty of embezzling money (along with Francis Nash) but was fined only one cent per charge.
Breaking up the court
North Carolina's colonial court met in HillsboroughHillsborough, North Carolina
Hillsborough is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,653 at the 2008 census. It is the county seat of Orange County....
. In 1768, the Regulators entered Hillsborough, broke up the court, and dragged those they saw as corrupt officials through the streets.
The mob attempted to have the judge try the cases that were pending against several regulator leaders, including Husband. The presiding judge (Richard Henderson) quickly adjourned the court until the next morning to avoid being forced to make a ruling in the presence of an angry mob of regulators, and escaped in the night. The regulators rioted, destroying public and private property alike. Fanning was among the lawyers beaten, found after taking refuge in a shop neighboring the courthouse. According to judge Richard Henderson, Fanning's beating was so severe that “one of his eyes was almost beaten out.” The courthouse was systematically and symbolically vandalized. Human waste was placed on the judges seat, and the body of a long deceased slave was placed upon the lawyers bar. The mob continued to destroy shops and property in the town, and ultimately brought their destruction to Fanning's personal residence. After destroying all of the furniture and drinking all of his alcohol, the entire house was picked apart. Henderson's barn, along with his stables and home were also burned to the ground. They cracked the church bell of the Church of England, but stopped short of looting the church further due to their religious beliefs.
Documents
There were several different publications and petitions circulated to promote the end of taxation and other issues. A number of influential members of the area communities signed the Regulator Advertisement and the Regulator Petition, of which there were several versions of each. Each document identified concerns and issues relevant to the Regulator Movement. The terms "Regulation" and "Regulator" were introduced in the Regulator Advertisement in 1768.War
While small acts of violence had been taking place for some time, mainly out of resentment, the first organized conflict was in Mecklenburg CountyMecklenburg County, North Carolina
-Air:The county's primary commercial aviation airport is Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte.- Intercity rail :With twenty-five freight trains a day, Mecklenburg is a freight railroad transportation center, largely due to its place on the NS main line between Washington and Atlanta...
in 1765. Settlers in the region, who were there illegally, forced away surveyors of the region assigned with designating land. Minor clashes followed for the next several years in almost every western county, but the only true battle of the war was the Battle of Alamance
Battle of Alamance
The Battle of Alamance was the final battle of the War of the Regulation, a rebellion in colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control. In the past, historians considered the battle to be the opening salvo of the American Revolution and locals agreed with this assessment...
on May 16, 1771.
The governor and his forces which numbered just over 1,000, with roughly 150 officers, arrived at Hillsborough on May 9. At the same time, General Hugh Waddell
Hugh Waddell (general)
Hugh Waddell , the foremost soldier in colonial North Carolina, led provincial militia in the War of the Regulation.-References:*Butler, Lindley S. "Waddell, Hugh". American National Biography Online, February 2000....
, supporting Governor Tryon, en route with his contingent of 236 men was met by a large contingent of Regulators. Realizing his force was outnumbered, he fell back to Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
. On May 11, having received word of the retreat from a messenger, Tryon sent the force to support General Waddell. He intentionally chose a path that would lead his forces through Regulator territory. He made strict mention that nothing was to be looted or damaged. By May 14, his troops had reached Alamance and set up a camp. Leaving about 70 men behind to guard the position, he moved the remainder of his force, slightly under 1,000 men, to find the Regulators.
About 10 miles (16 km) away, a force of approximately 2,000 Regulators (by some accounts, 6,000) without any clear leadership or supplies was gathered mainly as a display of force, and not a standing army. The general Regulator strategy was to scare the governor with a show of superior numbers in order to force the governor to give in to their demands. The first clash of the battle was on May 15 when a rogue band of Regulators had captured two of the governor's militia soldiers. Governor Tryon had informed the Regulators that they were displaying open arms and rebellion and that action was to be taken if they did not disperse. The Regulators did not understand the severity of the crisis they were in and ignored the warning. Despite hesitation from his own forces, Governor Tryon allegedly initiated the main battle of Alamance on May 16 by shooting Robert Thompson, who was the first death of the battle. The Regulators resistance crumbled somewhat quickly. Captain Merrill, a Regulator, was supposed to arrive on the battlefield but was delayed. The battle was over with nine deaths for the governor's forces and about the same for the Regulators. Virtually everyone captured in the battle was fully pardoned in exchange for an allegiance to the crown; however, seven Regulators were executed for their part in the uprising.
Aftermath
Following the battle, Tryon's militia army traveled through Regulator territory where he had Regulators and Regulator sympathizers sign loyalty oaths and destroyed the properties of the most active Regulators. He also raised taxes to pay for his militia's defeat of the Regulators.At the time of their defeat at the battle of Alamance, public opinion was decidedly against them. They were seen as a bunch of “lawless desperadoes” and Governor William Tryon was praised for his actions in stamping out the rebellion. As news articles spread the word of his victory, Tryon was branded a hero of the colonies for defeating the larger group of regulators with his small, well prepared militia. However as the initial excitement over the glorious battle died down, many newsmen, especially in the Boston area, began to question the reasons behind the rebellion and investigated further to find its cause. Several reasons were found to see the destruction of the regulators as an act of an oppressive government. Most particularly admonished was the methods in which Tryon himself had used to win the battle of Alamance. The use of a riot act, and the execution of rebellion leaders after the battle was frowned upon. Reports also indicated that severe battlefield misconduct had taken place on the governor's side, including giving the farmers a 2 hour warning period before the battle began, and subsequently breaking that agreement to bombard them with artillery fire.
Several trials were held after the war, resulting in the hanging of six Regulators at Hillsborough on June 19, 1771. Many of the main leaders remained in hiding until 1772, when they were no longer considered outlaws.
Many Regulators moved further west into places such as Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, notably establishing both the Watauga Association
Watauga Association
The Watauga Association was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now present day Elizabethton, Tennessee...
at Sycamore Shoals
Sycamore Shoals
The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, in the U.S. state of Tennessee...
(1772) in present day Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site both of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British American colonies.Elizabethton is also the...
, the first independent white republic on American soil, and the State of Franklin
State of Franklin
The State of Franklin, known also as the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland , was an unrecognized autonomous United States territory created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered,...
(1784), another short-lived republic that failed to join the Union of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The Regulators are important characters in Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's historical novel
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
The Hornet's Nest (2003).
Regulation in South Carolina
At the same time as the regulation in North Carolina, the South Carolina colony had a similar group of men calling themselves regulators, albeit with very different goals. The regulators of the south were also farming class, landowning men who were upset with injustices of the officials. However their main problems stemmed not from corruption, but a lack of representation and of government-provided services such as courts and churches. These regulators also found an enemy in local groups of hunters (who were seen as undesirables due to their profession) and bandits. It can be argued that the South Carolina regulation is also a partial cause for the revolutionary war, as the reason it was taking so long for their demands to be met was the struggle with England.The Regulators of South Carolina were formed during the mid 1760s, and active mainly between 1767 and 1769. Over the past few decades the population of the frontier had boomed, thanks to the planning of governor Robert Johnson. His enthusiasm for sending yeoman out to the frontier in mass was in fact to provide a buffer for the coastal cites from Cherokee attacks. The slave population alone grew 19% (however the entire slave population of the frontier only accounted for 8% of total of the colony).
During this time violent crimes and organized bandit raids threatened the welfare of the settlers inland of the colony. The fallout of the Cherokee war of 1760-1761 left many settlers without homes, and children were abandoned during native raids. These people would fall back on the only trade they could use to sustain themselves and their families, which was hunting for their food. In the colonial period on the western frontier this was not seen as an honorable profession, and hunters were labeled as vagrants and universally hated by the planters. The planters had no short list of reasons not to like hunters, as many of them were also bandits that would steal livestock. The method of fire hunting, which was a practice of hunting at night, and using fire to blind deer. However this endangered the livestock of farmers, as hunting in the dark often led to cattle being mistaken for deer. Many unused animal corpses were also left as a result, which drew wolves and scavengers closer to populated areas. Along with this, hunting also pushed well into the boundary of the local natives, the Creek Indians, hurting the already tense relationship with colonists. The bandit problem had become so bad that it was found they had an organized network even larger than the regulators, numbering at roughly 200 strong. Eventually the thieves were bold enough to attack members of the magistrate, and one regulator James Mayson was dragged from his home in the night. The bandits, while originally being composed of the hunting groups, were not an exclusive group. Into their fold they accepted Mulattos (free blacks) and runaway slaves, and any outlaw available. Some members of the bandit network were well established farmers as well.
The South Carolina regulators were a much smaller organization than their North Carolina counterpart. There were 100 known regulators, and of these 32 of them went on to be come justices of the peace, and 21 were militia leaders. Of the regulation members, 31 of them owned slaves, and 14 in fact owned 10 or more.11 These men banded together initially to form a vigilante law force to protect themselves and their assets from bandits. Much unlike their neighbors to the north, this was not a rebellion, and in fact South Carolina regulators were in cooperation with their colonial government for their entire active time. The secondary cause of this group was to get courts, churches and schools established in their quickly growing communities. Unfortunately the only court in the colony was in Charleston, through which all legal documentation had to go. In fact the inland settlers had the sympathy of the coastal elite, but the circuit court act, which would establish the jails, courts, sheriffs and judicial districts needed14 was held up due to a dispute with Parliament concerning the tenure of judges.
In stark contrast to the outcome of Herman Husband's Sandy Creek association and regulators, the South Carolina regulation movement was a great success. Eventually a series of acts were passed that met the needs of the yeoman frontiersman. These included vagrancy acts, which outlawed many staples of hunter lifestyle, such as their trespassing on native lands. This, coupled with the 1769 ordinance for the preservation of wolfs, which prevented the act of fire hunting, led to many hunters being whipped and banished from the area. In 1768 the Charleston grand jury began urging the creations of new schools in the back country, as per regulator request. And finally in 1769 the circuit court act was passed, making way for the new courthouses and jails, as well as setting up four new judicial districts. The cooperation between frontier and coastal colonists was so effective, that by 1771 Governor Montague of South Carolina had issued a full pardon for any actions taken by the regulators in his state.
See also
Further reading
- Gross, David (ed.) We Won’t Pay!: A Tax Resistance Reader ISBN 1434898253 pp. 77–79
- Hamilton, Jon Jay. Herman Husband: Penman of the Regulation. Graduate thesis. Wake Forest University, 1969.
- Kars, Marjoleine. Breaking Loose Together: The Regulator Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
- Kay, Marvin L. M. "The North Carolina Regulation, 1766-1776: A Class Conflict." In The American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism, edited by Alfred F. Young. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1976.
- Kay, Marvin L. M., and Lorin Lee Cary. "Class, Mobility, and Conflict in North Carolina on the Eve of the Revolution." In The Southern Experience in the American Revolution, edited by Jeffrey J. Crow and Larry E. Tise. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978.
- Powell, William S., James K. Huhta, and Thomas J. Farnham (eds). The Regulators in North Carolina: A Documentary History. Raleigh: State Dept. of Archives and History, 1971.
- Walker, James Loy. The Regulator Movement: Sectional Controversy in North Carolina, 1765-1771. Graduate thesis. Louisiana State University, 1962.
- Whittenburg, James Penn. Backwoods Revolutionaries: Social Context and Constitutional Theories of the North Carolina Regulators, 1765-1771. Graduate thesis. University of Georgia, 1974.
- Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492–Present. Harper-Perennial, 2003.