![]() North Carolina representatives presented the resolves to the Continental Congress on May 27, the same day that Virginia offered a similar resolution. Two months later, on April 12, 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress passed the Halifax Resolves, officially endorsing independence from Great Britain. The Council of Safety acted swiftly to counteract their intentions, and on February 27, 1776, Patriot troops intercepted and destroyed the Loyalist force at Moore’s Creek Bridge. ![]() Soon hundreds of Highland Scots were enlisting in Tory regiments in the region and marching towards Wilmington. Word was sent to the Loyalists to organize and prepare for a landing of British regulars along the coast. In early 1776, British authorities planned to exploit the allegiances of thousands of Scottish settlers who lived along the Cape Fear River near Cross Creek (present day Fayetteville). Delegates appointed Cornelius Harnett the head of the Council, and divided the colony into six military districts for the purpose of organizing militia and arranging representation in the executive body. The body ordered the enlistment of North Carolina’s first soldiers in the Continental Army and developed the thirteen-member Council of Safety to oversee the colony’s resistance. The Third Provincial Congress of North Carolina, organized in August, elected attorney Samuel Johnston at its head. John Harvey, the former Speaker of the Colonial Assembly, oversaw the first two congresses before his death in the summer of 1775. Two such bodies had formed in 1774 and early 1775, leading to Martin’s order to close the Assembly. Provincial Congresses were called to order. Throughout 1775, North Carolina Whigs organized their resistance to the Crown. North Carolina newspaper editor James Davis wrote, “The Sword is now drawn, and God knows when it will be sheathed.” However, when word of the Lexington skirmish arrived in New Bern on May 6, open warfare seemed inevitable. Nevertheless there had been few physically violent confrontations. Legal battles had been waged between Whig and Tory forces within the state, and Governor Josiah Martin dissolved the General Assembly on April 7. Until that point, North Carolinians had maintained a strained yet loyal allegiance to the mother country. On April 19, 1775, Massachusetts militiamen clashed with British regulars at Lexington Green. ![]() Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, 2010. ![]()
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