STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL RESOURCES
OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
ARCHIVES INFORMATION CIRCULAR
Number 1 1973 CFWC/DRL Revised February 2002 (LO) Raleigh, North Carolina
NORTH CAROLINA'S REVOLUTIONARY WAR PAY RECORDS
Preserved at the North Carolina State Archives, the Revolutionary pay vouchers and certificates, as well as the Revolutionary Army accounts were records maintained by the Treasurer and Comptroller. As copies of these records are frequently requested by individuals or agencies seeking genealogical information or information for applications to patriotic societies, for grave markers, or for other reasons, this circular will cover some of the frequently asked questions. In addition, please see our “Information by Mail” sheet.
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
During the Revolutionary War years, 1775-1783, there was very little hard cash (specie) in the new states. Paper money (currency) was printed both by the Continental Congress and by the individual states, but rarely, if ever, was there sufficient specie or bullion in the Continental or state treasuries to back up these issues of paper money. The saying, "Not worth a Continental," is based on the public lack of faith in the paper money which was issued between the outbreak of the Revolution in 1775 and the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1789. A depreciation in the value of paper money resulted in an inflationary situation. At one point, near the end of the war, one dollar in gold or silver was worth $800 in paper money.
Notwithstanding their weak financial condition, however, the newly independent states were confronted with enemy troops to fight. Fighting--then as now--was an expensive operation. Soldiers had to be paid, and weapons, ammunition, clothing, food and transportation had to be provided.
PAY VOUCHERS AND CERTIFICATES
With little or no gold or silver in their treasuries, yet obliged to provide for necessary expenditures, North Carolina and the other states resorted to a complicated system of credit notes. In North Carolina this did not represent a new system, having been used during Governor William Tryon's administration (1765-1771) to defray the expenses of the War of the Regulation.
Very simply stated, the following procedure was used: In place of hard cash for military service, soldiers were issued vouchers or certificates as written promises that they would be paid a specified amount in hard cash at some time in the future. The same system was adopted to pay for goods or other services that were bought or impressed as the war progressed. (As a comparison, the situation would have been the same had the U. S. Government decided to pay its soldiers in World War II in savings bonds instead of dollars.)
Why did the state adopt the voucher-certificate system instead of issuing larger quantities of paper money? There was little public faith in paper money. As the value of paper money decreased, it became 1