Historic Maps: North Carolina Room Collection

MILLIONS of words, often impassioned and frequently more resonant than reasoned, have been spoken and countless tens of thousands have been written in letters, books, historical journals, magazines, and newspapers on the subject of the Mecklenburg declaration of indepenence. It has been one of the nation's liveliest historical controversies, a continuing debate that has engaged the interest of historians from time to time in many sections of the nation.

MECKLENBURGERS insist that few counties in America have as intriguing a story to tell as their own. They are convinced that Mecklenburg is unique; they declare that they can trace through their region's history from the earliest days a pattern of attitude and action demonstrably different from that of even the closest neighbors.

THE writing of history more than any other literary enterprise puts writers in debt to other people. Historians, if left to their own devices, would never find much of the important data that gives color and life to their work. One of the wonders of civilized life is that there should be so many people willing to go to a great deal of trouble for a handful of infinitely less agreeable individuals who regard it as their mission to write books.

THE first Mecklenburgers, according to historian D. A. Tompkins, were producers. They believed than any work, so it was faithfully and honestly done, was worth doing, and that manhood was more than wealth. Mecklenburg could have existed comfortably cut off from the rest of the world. That makes a people feel independent . . .