- Title
- North Carolina historical review [1926 : October]
-
-
- Date
- October 1926
-
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
North Carolina historical review [1926 : October]
Hits:
(0)
























NORTH CAROLINA LOYALISTS
By Isaac S.
Наивны,
“No man is either good or bad merely for his opinions ; in political
questions there is room for almost an infinite diversity of sentiment,
among even the wise, as well as men of little understanding; and no
man in a civil war is justly censurable for anything but insincerity
in choosing his side, or infidelity in adhering to it.”1 Such was the
standard by which James Iredell judged his fellow-citizens during
the American Revolution, and it is by this same high standard that
posterity has come to appraise the men of Revolutionary days. The
justification of the faithful and sincere loyalist may be relegated
safely to the background. The object of this paper is to make some
investigation of the number of active loyalists in North Carolina,
and especially to examine the punishment of these loyalists by the
patriot government.
Upon what basis should the number of active loyalists in North
Carolina be determined — contemporary estimates, opponents of the
patriot government, the number punished for their political mis¬
deeds? Contemporary estimates are confusing and often contradic¬
tory. Shortly after the battle at Cross Creek Samuel Johnston
wrote Joseph Hewes concerning the loyalists that took part: “ I have
the pleasure to inform you that not one man of influence or leading
in public affairs appears to have had any share in it. No man except
Thomas Rutherford ever had a seat in the Assembly and of the five
or six hundred of these poor deluded men no one except T. Ruther¬
ford had property of £100.”2 Governor Martin’s estimate of the
number of loyalists in 1775 and 1776 is very different; “I am per¬
suaded to believe that loyal subjects yet abound and infinitely out¬
number the seditious throughout all the very populous western
counties of this Province.”3 Ho urged Lord Dartmouth to send
him arms for he fully trusted the loyalists would give him “suffi¬
cient strength to maintain the sovereignty of this Country to the
1 James Iredell to A. Neilson, June 15, 3784, McRce, JAfe and Correspondence of James
Iredell, II, 105.
2 Johnston to Hewes, March 10, 3 776, Hayes Papers, North Carolina Historical Com¬
mission.
8 North Carolina Colonial Records, X, 325.
Select what you would like to download. If choosing to download an image, please select the file format you wish to download.
The Original File option allows download of the source file (including any features or enhancements included in the original file) and may take several minutes.
Certain download types may have been restricted by the site administrator.