In 1771 North Carolina was a sparsely populated backwoods British colony home to farmers, outlaws, and pirates. How did this rural settlement become a hotbed for class warfare that eventually grew into the American revolution?
Geography
The less than accessible North Carolina coast, home to the outer banks and shallow sand bars, rendered any attempts at establishing a deep water port useless. The colonies' northern border with Virginia was home to the Great Dismal Swamp, an area, as the name suggests, that makes traversing the terrain dangerous for any prospective settlers. Finally, all rivers flowing through North Carolina spare the Fear River empty into another state; shipping large quantities of goods for export via waterway was out of the question. These geographical factors resulted in an atomized colony governable only on an extremely local level. Asymmetrical circumstances within the colony's diverse communities left the region prone to rebellion and discontent. Furthermore these sparse settlements offered sanctuary to outlaws and ne'er-do-wells fleeing from the British crown presenting them ample space in which to hide.
Proprietary Colony
In 1663 King Charles II granted the lands of North and South Carolina to eight lords, establishing two proprietary colonies. By 1760's all but one lord had sold their holdings; Lord George Carteret remained in control of the Granville district that encompassed much of northern North Carolina. Concerned only with turning a profit from the land, Carteret, who resided in Britain, hired officials such as Francis Corbin to levy fees for land and to collect taxes from settlers. These officials often abused their authority by illegally increasing fees and levying unnecessary taxes on the rural population. In one instance governor Tryon of North Carolina stated that “the sheriffs have embezzled more than one-half of the public money ordered to be raised by them."
Judge, official, assemblyman, and militia leader of Orange County, Edmund Fanning was the embodiment of this sort of corruption. Fanning promoted his own success and fortune through illegal fees and taxes levied on the general populace. During one anti-corruption demonstration Fanning threatened to shoot blindly into the crowd in order to disperse the gathering. When Fanning was finally formally charged for his mismanagement and corruption he was fined a mere penny for each offense, an amount that failed to satisfy the local population.
The Regulators
Governor Tryon announcing a new tax to fund the construction of a new governor's mansion was the straw that broke the camels back for much of the disgruntled populace. In an effort to "regulate rampant corruption" a group of leaders including Herman Husband and William Butler became the figureheads of a local militia called The Regulators that took it upon themselves to create a list of demands and grievances to be addressed by the North Carolina State and local governments.
The list of demands was extensive: from replacing officials and monitoring their work to adjusting the payment methods in which judges received their livelihood, different groups within the Regulators saw different aspects of corruption as the most pertinent cornerstone to their cause. This led to a list of grievances so vast that the government couldn't implement them in their entirety. However, concerned with the rising discontent and at least partially willing to attempt some of these reforms, Tryon opened negotiations with the movement. Reforms were in the process of being drafted when the outbreak of violence dashed all hopes of peaceful reform becoming a reality.
An act of arson against an elected official's home brought tensions to a boiling point. A mass of discontented Regulators began to assemble outside of New Bern's courthouse where the new reforms were being authored. This tangible threat represented an unforgivable act of treason in the eyes of Tryon and other officials present; the document was quickly dashed and precautionary measures were enacted in the form of the Johnston Riot Act. This act was the complete opposite of the potential reforms, enabling the governor to recruit a militia force in order to combat the growing insurrection. Tensions came to a head at Alamance on May 16th, 1771 where, though outnumbering the governor's militia, the Regulators were heavily out-gunned and out-trained. With stark failure in government and military tactic, the Regulation movement crumbled after a difficult battle with the governor's militia.
Ultimately no lasting and pertinent changes to government were incited by the regulatory movement, however the Regulation as a whole was far from a total failure. Never before in an English colony had a mass movement such as the regulation drove officials to attempt to draft such drastic addendums to their governing charter. This demonstrated to the populace that their anger could translate into actionable change if executed correctly. Furthermore the dissatisfaction with the Crown's governing policies only grew from the Regulators defeat, culminating with the colony-wide Revolutionary War in just five years time.
