Tryon Resolves
The Tryon Resolves were a brief declaration adopted by the citizens of Tryon County in the Province of North Carolina in the early days of the American Revolution. In the Resolves, the county vowed resistance to coercive actions by the British Empire against its North American colonies. The document was signed on August 14, 1775.
Background
The Tryon Resolves "association" was created in response to the Battle of Lexington, and the Resolves were among the earliest of many local colonial declarations against the policies the British government had instituted in the colonies, which were considered oppressive by the colonists. Other similar declarations from the same period included the Mecklenburg Resolves (adopted in nearby Mecklenburg County, North Carolina) and the Suffolk Resolves (adopted in Suffolk County, Massachusetts). The Tryon Resolves predated the United States Declaration of Independence by almost 11 months, but stopped short of proscribing independence from Britain, instead supporting armed resistance until a resolution with England could be made.
As tensions between the North American colonies and the British government continued to increase, county residents began forming Committees of Safety to prepare militia companies for a potential war. On September 14, 1775, many of the signers of the Tryon Resolves formed the Tryon County Militia in preparation for British retaliation against American revolutionaries.
Text summary and effect
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In the Tryon Resolves:
- The county residents refer to "the painful necessity of having recourse to arms in defense of our National freedom and constitutional rights, against all invasions;
- Vow to take up arms and risk our lives and our fortunes in maintaining the freedom of our country..."
- The colonists declare they will continue to follow the Continental Congress or Provincial Conventions in defiance of British declarations that these were illegal;
- The signers warn that force will be met with force until such a time as a "reconciliation" can be made between the colonies and Britain.
Signers
The signatories of the Tryon Resolves were:
- Robt. Alexander
- Jas. Baird
- Abel Beatty
- Thomas Beatty
- John Beeman
- George Black
- James Buchanan
- Christian Carpenter
- Samuel Carpenter
- James Coburn
- Jacob Costner
- Geo. Dellinger
- John Dellinger
- Thomas Espey
- Jacob Forney
- William Graham
- Frederick Hambright
- Andrew Hampton
- Benjamin Hardin
- Joseph Hardin
- Robert Hulclip
- David Jenkins
- Joseph Kuykendall
- Samuel Loftin
- Jas. Logan
- Perrygreen Mackness (or Magness)
- Jacob Mauney, Jun.
- Valentine Mauney
- Fried Mauser
- James McAfee
- Charles McLean
- Jas. Miller
- Moses Moore
- John Morris
- Andrew Neel
- Joseph Neel
- George Paris
- Jonathan Price
- John Robison
- Peter Sides
- Adam Simms
- Samuel Smith
- William Thompson
- Joab Turner
- Richard Waffer
- John Walker
- John Wells
- Davis Whiteside
- William Whiteside
External links
- Journeys Through Time: Nixon's History of Lincoln County: The Revolutionary War Period.
- Library of Congress: Adventures of the American Mind: Student Activity Page
- Library of Congress: Adventures of the American Mind : Teachers Page
- Whiteside family signers of the Tryon Resolves
- Revolutionary Dig Saving Local History
- Sullivan, Kathy Gunter. "Tryon County Documents, 1769-1779" (The Genealogical Society of Old Tyron County, NC, copyright, 2000) "Proceedings of the Committee of Safety, 1775-1776," Secretary of State Papers, S. S. 305, pp. 184-186.