This marker notes an important event during the Colonial Era. There is a small spot to stop here if you wish and the marker is in excellent condition.
It reads, "Stamp Act. Armed citizens led a protest in Feb. 1766 at Brunswick, seat of royal power, 2 miles southeast." The spot is the nearby Brunswick Town historic site, https://www.yelp.com/biz/brunswick-town-fort-anderson-state-historic-site-winnabow?hrid=-SdScFPXQAgnBgruEnXR1w
Online, "As England was having difficulty maintaining order in the colonies, Parliament turned to economic measures such as the Stamp Act of 1765. The law placed taxes on most forms of paper in the colonies, including newspapers, letters, pamphlets, and wills. While Parliament intended to defray costs incurred from stationing British troops in the colonies at critical sites such as Boston, the imposition of the tax drove many colonies to the brink of rebellion."
"A collective shudder raced through the colonies at the news of the approval of the Stamp Act. On October 19 1765, angry mobs collected in the streets and alleys of Wilmington to burn the likeness of "a certain honorable gentleman," most likely the state tax collector, William Houston."
"A series of events unraveled in North Carolina that illustrated the colony's stern resistance to the tax. In February of 1766, Speaker John Ashe, Cornelius Harnett, James Moore, and Col. Hugh Waddell, led several hundred citizens through Brunswick, arresting key royal officials and forcing the comptroller to resign. Other similar acts of defiance in North Carolina and elsewhere took their toll on British resolve. Within a few months, the colonies learned that Parliament had repealed the Stamp Act."
I knew that there was rebellion in Boston, of course. I did not know that there was so in North Carolina so this was interesting to learn.
[Review 14027 overall, 1349 of 2020, number 2666 in North Carolina.] read more