School History of North Carolina Part 7

12. The rivers were full of fish every spring, and with little trouble large supplies were caught in the nets and weirs. Indian corn, tobacco and lumber were sent in vessels to New England and the West Indies. In return sugar, coffee and rum were brought to Albemarle, and an active trade grew up, which was almost wholly conducted by the New England vessels.

13. These vessels all pa.s.sed through the inlet at Nag's Head, where, as late as 1729, twenty-five feet of water was found upon the bar. This afforded entrance to ships of considerable size. Cape Hatteras was then, as now, a place of great peril to ships, and many were wrecked upon the terrible outlying sand bars; but this did not deter the brave mariners from the trade which they found was growing each year more profitable.

QUESTIONS.

1. What was the character of King Charles II. ? What was said of him by Lord Rochester?

2. Who was appointed the first Governor of Albemarle? What kind of man was he?

3. How long did Governor Drummond stay in North Carolina? Can you tell something of "Bacon's Rebellion"? What part did Governor Drummond take, and what was the result? What can you tell of Mrs. Sarah Drummond?

4. What further is said of Mrs. Drummond? How is Governor Drummond's name commemorated in the State? Point out this lake.

5. What additional piece of land was given to the Lords Proprietors in 1665?

6. What expedition came to Carolina in 1663?

7. What is said of Sir John Yeamans?

8. What was the object of Yeamans' visit? What colony did he form in 1665?

Where was it located? What is the history of this colony?

9. What previous settlement had been made in this same vicinity? Why was it deserted?

10. How had the people of Albemarle been pleased with the administration. of Governor Drummond?

11. Who was George Durant? Point out "Durant's Neck "on the map.

12. Give some account of the prosperity of Albemarle. What vessels conducted the trade?

13. Through what inlet did vessels enter the sound? Describe the neighborhood of Cape Hatteras.

CHAPTER XII.

GOVERNOR STEPHENS AND THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSt.i.tUTIONS.

A. D. 1667 TO 1674.

After Sir William Berkeley had put Governor Drummond to death in the manner described, Governor Stephens was sent in 1667 to take his place. Stephens was a ruler of ordinary abilities, and probably did his best for the interests of the province, so far as was consistent with a keen regard for instructions from the Lords Proprietors.

1668.

2. The government, in his day, consisted of the Governor, his council of twelve, and twelve members of the House of a.s.sembly, elected by the freeholders. Every white man having an estate of inheritance, or for life, in fifty acres of land, was a freeholder.

Perfect religious liberty was allowed, and there was no check at that day upon the government, provided it preserved its fealty to the King and the Lords Proprietors.

3. A wide margin was left to the Grand a.s.sembly of Albemarle for the display of its power. Neither the Legislature nor the Governor had any capital city for the transaction of business.

The Governor lived on any farm he pleased, and the General a.s.sembly met at such place as it deemed most convenient.

1669.

4. Their earliest known legislation allowed no settlers to be disturbed for the collection of debts contracted before coming to live in Albemarle. Another law exempted all newcomers from taxes for one year; and prohibited the transfer of any land by a settler during the first two years of his residence. These laws were evidently pa.s.sed to encourage immigration.

5. As there were no Church of England preachers then in the colony, another statute allowed people to get married by simply going before the Governor, or any of his council, and declaring a purpose to become man and wife.

1670.

6. Albemarle at that time was divided into the precincts of Carteret, Berkeley and Shaftesbury. The settlements extended rapidly down the seacoast, and soon reached as far south as the present town of Beaufort, on old Topsail Inlet.

7. Governor Stephens soon reached the conclusion of his administration and the term of his natural life. The closing months of his rule were embittered by the nature of the instructions he received from the Lords Proprietors and the Board of Trade in London.

8. One of these instructions, materially changing the simple government previously existing in the province, was concerning the colonial trade. English merchants saw that New England vessels were visiting the scattered settlements on the watercourses and establishing a lucrative exchange of manufactured goods for the tobacco, corn and lumber of Carolina.

9. It was determined in London to stop this, and appropriate to English factors whatever of profit might be realized. The old English Navigation Act, pa.s.sed under Cromwell, to break down the Dutch trade, was revived against the Boston skippers. Governor Stephens accordingly told the colonists they must exchange the products of their farms with none but English traders, but he quickly found that the people were resolute in refusing obedience to any such regulations.

10. It was further announced that a new scheme of rule had been prepared in England. This was the work of Lord Shaftesbury and a distinguished philosopher named John Locke. This, familiarly known as "Locke's Grand Model," was called by the Proprietors "The Fundamental Const.i.tutions of Carolina," and was a c.u.mbrous and elaborate system, full of t.i.tles and dignities. It involved a large expenditure, and was as unsuited to the Carolina wilderness as St. Paul's Cathedral in London was for a meetinghouse for the Quakers of Pasquotank!

11. The people who were constantly enduring danger and privations in Albemarle at once resolved that they would have no part in the t.i.tles and pageants concocted by these wise men of England. They had been promised freedom if they would come to America, both by the king in the Great Deed of Grant and by the Lords Proprietors, and nothing less than the privileges of Englishmen would satisfy them.

12. The "Navigation Act" was intended to destroy their commerce and manufactures, and the "Fundamental Const.i.tutions," if submitted to, would have put an end to their home rule. They waged a long opposition to these two things, and a century went by before, in the blood of the Revolution, American commerce became free. They were denounced as unruly subjects, but they were, in all truth, wise and resolute patriots. They were protecting not only themselves, but the generations of the future.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who succeeded Governor Drummond as Governor of Albemarle?

What kind of a man was Governor Stephens?

2. In what did the government consist at that time?

3. What is said of the Grand a.s.sembly? Where did the General a.s.sembly usually meet?

4. Mention some of the earliest laws.

5. What law was enacted concerning marriage?

6. How was Albemarle divided? How far had the settlement extended?

7. What trouble came to Governor Stephens?

8. What kind of trade was carried on between Carolina and New England?

9. What was determined by the Lords Proprietors? What old law was revived? How did the people receive the orders from Governor Stephens?

10. What two celebrated Englishmen prepared a form of government for Carolina? What was this system called? State its nature.

11. What was resolved by the colonists concerning the Grand Model?