The Start Of The Regulator Movement In North Carolina

The Regulator Movement took place in the mid-eighteenth century in Central North Carolina. It started because people thought that local governments were charging excessive fees and taxes (Powell). The Regulator Movement has been viewed as a spark of the American Revolution because the two movements seem to share the same ideals and goals, however, the Regulator Movement was against local governments and not against British rule in the colonies. The Regulator Movement was a movement to change the way the government ran in North Carolina. It was started by small farmers protesting “the corruption and extortionate practices of sheriffs and court officials, the Regulators, strongest in Orange, Granville, Halifax, and Anson counties, at first

For instance, the farmers in central North Carolina resented the actions of local court officials. This feeling was particularly strong in Ansons, Granville, Halifax, Orange, and Rowan counties (The Regulator Movement). Efforts to reform the “assessment of taxes and fees were unsuccessful; the courts and assembly were not responsive and seemed to favor the causes of the wealthy tidewater elements. Regulator groups arose to close down local courts and suppress tax payments” (The Regulator Movement). The courts and assembly was unresponsive because they seemed to favor the people with more

A new governor was appointed in 1765. William Tryon was a veteran army colonel and became the cause of renewed unrest, in part because he built a large new building which he constructed in New Bern at public expense (Powell). Public officials became fearful of the violence because in 1770 Edmund Fanning was dragged down steps by a mob. Edmund Fanning had been a corrupt multiple office holding official from Orange County (Powell). On May 16, 1771 the Regulators tried to confer with Tryon. They could do so, he replied, but only if they laid down their weapons and dispersed within the hour. When they made no response, “Tryon sent an officer to say that unless they disbanded promptly he would fire on them. "Fire and be damned" was their answer, and orders were issued” (Powell). The Battle of Alamance Creek lasted two hours, and in the end Tryon’s men defeated the Regulators (Powell). Six of the leaders of the movement were hung, but the rest were pardoned, and went into hiding