Carolina Charter

1663

              There is no text for this item.

Rating
Title	Carolina Charter
Date	1663
Creator	Charles II, King of England, 1630-1685.
Subject	Carolina--Charters North Carolina--History
Index Terms	Charles II, King of England, 1630-1685; Albemarle, George Monck, Duke of, 1608-1670; Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of, 1609-1674; Berkeley of Stratton, John Berkeley, Baron, 1663-1697; Craven, William Craven, Earl of, 1606-1697; Carteret, George, Sir, 1610-1680; Berkeley, William, Sir, 1605-1677; Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of, 1621-1683; Colleton, John, Sir, 1606-1666;
Place	England North Carolina
Description	The Charter of 1663, composed of four pages, marks the beginning of organized, representative government in the province of Carolina. In the 1580s, English adventurers had attempted to colonize the area now called North Carolina, but they had failed. The first permanent English settlers in the area moved southward around 1650 from the tidewater section of southeastern Virginia into the Albemarle area of what is now northeast North Carolina. In England, Charles II returned the Stuart dynasty to the throne in 1660 and proceeded to reward his loyal supporters. The king gave the Province of Carolina to eight of them in return for their service to the royal cause. Known as the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, these men received a charter in 1663 for the territory stretching from latitudes 31 degrees N to 36 degrees N and extending east to west from ocean to ocean-land they came to learn had been previously granted to King Charles I's attorney general, Sir Robert Heath. Furthermore, the Lords Proprietors learned that the active settlements in the Albemarle region that had attracted them in the first place, lay primarily a few miles north of the territory originally granted. Therefore, in 1665 they secured from the king a new charter extending the territory one-half degree north, close to today's border of North Carolina-Virginia, and about one hundred miles south of the present Georgia-Florida line. Even though the Proprietors had substantial power, the colonists were given rights through the charter that were to have lasting influence on the region's population and its history. For example, the charter provided for an assembly that the Proprietors would call, composed of delegates of the "Freemen of said Province;" there was a provision calling for religious tolerance; there was assurance that colonists would be guaranteed the rights of that Englishmen might expect to enjoy, including owning and disposing of property; and there was authorization for the establishment of various courts in the Province. In 1670 a settlement began to develop to the south on the Ashley River. Originally part of Craven County set up by the Lords Proprietors in 1664, this area became the nucleus of South Carolina. Ultimately, proprietary rule in the Carolinas proved unsuccessful and most of the entire province was taken back by the Crown in 1728. Within fifty years, North Carolina would join the other colonies in the struggle for independence and in the next decade adopt the United States Constitution as the twelfth state to join the Union.
Time Period	(1600-1763) Colonial Period
Format	charters
Call Number	V.C.
Collection	Vault Collection. State Archives of North Carolina
Physical Characteristics	Oversized Document
Language	English
Copyright	May be protected by copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Obtain proper release forms prior to reproducing this material.
Digital Format	image/jpeg
Digital Collection	Treasures
Audience	All

Find results with:

Searching collections:

Home NC_Charter-Pg1

Carolina Charter

Object Description

Description

Carolina Charter

Carolina Charter

	All
	Pages Enter page numbers or page ranges separated by commas. For example: 1,3,5-12