While it is more important that independence should be an accomplished fact, than that the particular manor set of men who first decided to sever their relations with Great Britain should be discovered, yet in the interests of history, this volume, containing much that is new in support of the Mecklenburg Declaration and much that has been heretofore presented in .an inconvenient form through newspaper and magazine articles and historical works, I compiled in a convenient form and arranged in such a manner that the reader is able to consult in chronological order the events connected with the convention in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, which gave to the world an example of patriotic daring hardly if ever equaled in the deliberations of freemen seeking a more open road to liberty. In addition to the mass of proof which has been compiled for the purpose of settling the question of the actual contents of the Mecklenburg Declaration, and the fact, and the date of its passage, the author has collected much interesting historical matter relating to the lives of the men who signed this interesting and spirited document thirteen months before the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The portion of the volume devoted to the lives of the signers is important in giving us additional light upon the times in which these hardy pioneers of Freedom lived, and in settling their portion in the work of independence which was destined to become universal in 1776.

Between May 19 and 20, 1775 delegates assembled in Charlotte, NC, declared Mecklenburg Co. independent of Great Britain, established a code of laws for their new government. These resolutions were presented to, but not ratified by, the Continental Congress. Brief biographical sketches of the signers (and a few spectators) include: Gen. Thomas Polk, Col. Abraham Alexander, Dr. Ephraim Brevard, Col. Adam Alexander, Gen. Robert Irwin, John McKnitt Alexander, Rev. Hezekiah Balch, Hezekiah Alexander, Capt. Zaccheus Wilson, Neil Morrison, Richard Barry, John Flennikin, William Graham, Matthew McClure, John Queary, Ezra Alexander, Waightstill Avery, Col. William Kennon, Col. James Harris, David Reese, Henry Downs, John Foard, Charles Alexander, Robert Harris Sr., Maj. John Davidson, Col. Ezekiel Polk, Capt. James Jack, Rev. Francis Cummings, Gen. Joseph Graham, and Gen. George Graham.

This is a comprehensive history of one of the greatest mysteries in American history--did Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, declare independence from Great Britain more than a year before anyone else? According to local legend, on May 20, 1775, in a log court house in the remote backcountry two dozen local militia leaders met to discuss the deteriorating state of affairs in the American colonies. As they met, a horseman arrived bringing news of the battles of Lexington and Concord. Enraged, they unanimously declared Mecklenburg County "free and independent" from Great Britain. It was known as the "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence" ("MecDec" for short). A local tavern owner named James Jack delivered the MecDec to the Continental Congress, who found it "premature." All of this occurred more than a year before the national Declaration of Independence. But is the story true? The evidence is mixed. John Adams believed the MecDec represented "the genuine sense of America" while Thomas Jefferson believed the story was "spurious." This book sets out all of the evidence, pro and con.

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