Never before published, this book by the noted historian, Lyman C. Draper, examines in critical detail the controversy surrounding the alleged "Declaration of Independence" from Great Britain by the citizens of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in May 1775. Was the entire matter a hoax? Draper looks at the scanty contemporaneous evidence, the questionable testimony of eyewitnesses taken many years after the event, and the reasoning and conflicting deductions of other historians before drawing his own conclusions, which may still not please some North Carolinians. Genealogical data on numerous North Carolina families, both prominent and obscure, who were in some way connected with the events of 1775 include: Alexander, Avery, Balch, Barry, Brevard, Cummins, Davidson, Downs, Flenniken, Foard, Graham, Harris, Hunter, Irwin, Jack, Kennon, Martin, McClure, Morrison, Ochiltree, Patton, Phifer, Polk, Pollock, Queary, Reese, Rutherford, Simeson, Waddell, and Wilson. Draper left the manuscript of the book, together with all his other papers, to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, of which he was Secretary. Now, more that 125 years after its completion, Draper's "The Mecklenburg Declaration" appears in print for the first time, with the added benefit of a full index.
Craig L. Heath
2005, 5.5" x 8.5", paper, index, 464 pp.
ISBN: 9780788425707
101-H2570
