The Mecklenburg Resolves, or Charlotte Town Resolves, were a list of statements adopted at Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina on May 31, 1775; drafted in the month following the fighting at Lexington and Concord.[1] Similar lists of resolves were issued by other local colonial governments at that time, none of which called for independence from Great Britain. The Mecklenburg Resolves are thought to be the basis for the unproven "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence". While not a declaration, the Resolves annulled and vacated all laws originating from the authority of the King or Parliament, and ended recognition of the Crown's power in the colony of North Carolina and all other American colonies. It became the first colony to formally do so, taking place about a year before the Halifax Resolves were passed by the Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress.[2][3]
- ^ "Mecklenburg Resolves, Bold Step Toward Independence". www.ncdcr.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
- ^ Blythe, Legette; Brockman, Charles Raven (1961). "Mecklenburg Resolves, Preamble and Resolution 2". Hornet's Nest: The Story of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Charlotte, NC: Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. p. 429.
- ^ Henderson, Archibald (1912). "The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence". The Journal of American History.
Henderson notes that it had been previously thought that Governor Martin had sent a copy of the Mecklenburg Declaration on to England, but it is "now established beyond doubt" that he had sent a copy of the Resolves.