Statewide County NcArchives History - Carolina Charter of 1663 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Helen J. McMurray - December 24, 2007 TERCENTENARY OF THE CAROLINA CHARTER OF 1663 by Helen Johnson McMurray (Mrs. Carl Walker) A copy of this paper is being presented to each school and public library in North Carolina by the State Society of the DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN COLONISTS in honor of Mrs. Carl Walker McMurray, State Regent and Mrs. Samuel Hudson Lee, National Vice President, Southern Section. Both have worked untiringly to preserve the early history of North Carolina. Miss Ollie Alexander, State Librarian N.C.D.A.C. 1963 TERCENTENARY OF THE CAROLINA CHARTER OF 1663 by Helen Johnson McMurray The year 1963 marks the 300th anniversary of the Carolina Charter of 1663. Stored in a fireproof vault in the Hall of History in Raleigh, North Carolina, is the original Carolina Charter granted in 1663 by King Charles II of England to eight of his personal friends known as Lords Proprietors. This Charter has been called the "birth certificate of the two Carolinas." It ranks among the most important documents in North Carolina history, including the other charters for the region, namely, the Fundamental Constitutions of 1669 and the State Constitutions of 1776 and 1868. This Charter of 1663 was the 5th Charter issued to separate persons by the British Crown, which included the area, or part of the area, that is now North Carolina. The first Charter was issued to Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1578; the second to his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584; the third to the Virginia Company of London in 1606; and the fourth to Sir Robert Heath in 1629 the purpose of each of them being to colonize America. By 1663 the word, "Charter," was obsolete in technical usage, but not in popular usage. Technically, "Charter" meant a "Land Patent." British Kings and Queens have succeeded themselves since 613 A.D. until the present time. By 1215 man had succeeded in freeing himself from tyranny and oppression when, that year, the English Barons of Runnymede forced King John of England to sign the Magna Charta of Liberties, which included the right of the people to govern themselves, exercised through their chosen representatives. By the time Queen Elizabeth the First ascended the English throne in l558, the English people were recognized as the freest people on earth at that time. When Elizabeth began her reign, England and Spain were vying with each other for the supremacy of the sea. English ships and privateers preyed upon Spanish commerce, and Spanish ships seized English trade. While Spain was at war on the continent, England began wider explorations of foreign lands, more especially toward the Western World, with its promise of gold and adventure. But, Spain having settled in America at an earlier date, arrogated to herself the sole right to America and its trade, and treated all adventurers into Western waters not only as intruders, but as pirates. Undaunted, Queen Elizabeth seized her opportunity to colonize, and granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert the first Charter in 1578 to settle the New World. In 1583 his efforts in Newfoundland failed, and he perished at sea on the way home. The following year, Elizabeth renewed the grant of the deceased Gilbert in a second Charter, in the name of his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, for a vast region to be called "Virginia" for the virgin Queen, Elizabeth. Raleigh himself, however, was never permitted to put foot on American soil, being forbidden as her favorite courtier by Queen Elizabeth to leave England. Acting in accordance with his Letters Patent, Raleigh sent five expeditions to Roanoke Island on the North Carolina coast, first called Virginia. (Few are cognizant of the fact that present North Carolina was first "Virginia" before present Virginia became Virginia although it embraced the territory). Two of these expeditions brought settlers, the other three were either exploratory, or to bring supplies to those colonizing America. The first expedition was an exploration in l584 under Amadas and Barlowe, whose glowing reports caused Raleigh to be knighted on their return. The second, in 1585, was known as the first English colony in the New World and was composed of 108 men under the command of Sir Richard Grenville. These settlers returned to England the next year with Sir Francis Drake. The third was in 1586 when Sir Richard Grenville returned with supplies for them after the first colonists had sailed for England, and Grenville left fifteen men to protect Fort Raleigh which had been built. The fourth was in 1587, with Captain John White as Governor, which became known as "The Lost Colony." John White had twelve assistants, one of whom was Annanias Dare, who had married Captain John White's daughter, Eleanor. After arriving at Roanoke Island in July of 1587, rebuilding Fort Raleigh and repairing the houses, within a few weeks the friendly Indian, Manteo, was baptized, his being the first recorded Protestant baptism in America. He was also given the first title of nobility ever granted an American Indian, that of "Lord of Roanoke and Dasamonguepeuk." That same year, on August l8th, 1587, Virginia Dare was born, daughter of Annanias and Eleanor White Dare, becoming the first white child born of English parents in America. During the summer of 1962 at Manteo was celebrated the 375th Anniversary of the Lost Colony. Nine days after the birth of his granddaughter, the colonists prevailed on Governor White to return to England for supplies for the colony. This he reluctantly consented to do. When White reached home, Protestant England and Catholic Spain were preparing for war and Queen Elizabeth refused all pleas for any ship to leave England for America. Three years later, in 1590, Governor White was finally allowed to return with supplies to Roanoke Island as Raleigh's fifth expedition to the New World. As is well known, the fate of his daughter, Eleanor White Dare, and the other colonists had passed out of history except in speculation, leaving only the word, "Croatan," as mute evidence of their departure. Sir Walter Raleigh made a final, but unsuccessful effort to locate his ill- fated colony in the year 1602 by sending Samuel Mace to Virginia. Documents reveal that searches also were made by other groups, in 1609, 1610, l6ll, and 1622. Sir Walter Raleigh, now almost bankrupt, fell on evil days. In 1603, his beloved Queen Elizabeth and patron, died. James the First of Scotland succeeded to the throne of England. On a trumped up, false charge, known as Cobham's Plot, the King imprisoned Sir Walter Raleigh in 1603, where he languished for twelve years in the Tower of London, being finally beheaded in l6l8 without a trial. King James, also approving new attempts at the settlement of Virginia which included the area of Carolina, granted a third Charter in 1606 to the Virginia Company of London, which was renewed in 1609 and 1612. Under the 1606 Charter, Jamestown, Virginia, became the first permanent English Colony in 1607. Under the Charter of 1609, the administration of local affairs was delegated to a Governor and a Council to reside in the colony. Under the Charter of 1612, plenary powers to govern the colony were given to the London Company and more territory was added. The colony of the London stock company was composed of two types of individuals - Adventurers and Planters. Planters were those who would go to the colony and dwell. Adventurers were those who would invest their money but remain in England. Grants were of two sorts: one, to those who were Adventurers, who were allowed 100 acres of land for every single share of 12 pounds 10 shillings; the other, to Planters who were allotted two shares for every person transported. In 1624, the administration of the London Company came under attack and the Charters were revoked by King James. The colony immediately came under the control of the Crown. A year later, James died, and his son, Charles the First, ascended the throne of England. In 1629, Charles I conveyed to his Attorney General, Sir Robert Heath, the region south of Virginia, which was called by Heath, "Carolana," in honor of the King. This became known as the fourth Charter. Heath did nothing to colonize the area. King Charles I attempted to exercise "absolutist" powers in England, and his gross interference with the rights of Parliament resulted in civil war and finally, the loss of his own head. After Charles I was beheaded, his son, Charles the Second, was seated on the English throne after Cromwell's Commonwealth failed. Prominent men began to emerge from exile to support the new king, and Charles being hard-pressed for funds, revoked the Charter of Carolana given to Sir Robert Heath by his father, and as a token of his appreciation to his supporters, in 1663, he granted the same territory to the eight Lords Proprietors who had aided him in his restoration to the English throne. This Charter of 1663 was the fifth Charter granted by the English crown for colonizing America. In this document, now in the Hall of History in Raleigh, appears the first official use of the name, "Carolina." The eight Lords Proprietors who had befriended Charles II were: Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon; George Monck, Duke of Albemarle; William Craven, Earl of Craven; John Berkeley, Baron of Stratton; Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury; Sir John Carteret, whose grandson, Sir John Carteret, became the Earl of Granville by inheritance; Sir John Colleton; and Sir William Berkeley, the only original Proprietor ever to come to the American continent. Shares of letters patent in Carolina, granted by the Proprietors, were either inherited by their descendants, or bought by others. Each successive owner, in turn, became a Lord Proprietor in his own right. The territory granted in this Carolina Charter of 1663 extended from Virginia southward to Spanish Florida and westward to the Pacific Ocean. What provisions did this four-page, handwritten 1663 Charter, signed by King Charles the Second of England, contain? The Charter gave the Lords Proprietors "Power to plant colonies within their grant, to create and fill offices, to erect counties and other administrative divisions, to incorporate ports of entry, towns, and cities, to establish courts of justice, to commute punishments and pardon of offenses, to collect customs, fees, and taxes, to have the advowsons of churches, to grant titles of honor provided they were not the same as those in use in England, to raise and maintain a militia, to commission officers, to build forts, to put down and punish rebellion, to declare martial law, and to wage war by land or sea." The powers of the people were also set forth. They had the common rights of all Englishmen, the right of consenting to laws, of exporting and importing commodities on the same footing with Englishmen, and of not being tried for crime in another colony than Carolina. They were guaranteed the English personal and property rights, liberty of conscience, although provisions were made for the establishment of the Church, and the privileges of liege subjects of the English Crown and entitled to all "liberties, franchises, and privileges" enjoyed by the King's subjects actually resident in England. The Proprietors, with the exception of Berkeley in Virginia, had slight conception of the colonial territory over which they had such power, and confusion reigned in Carolina for fifty years, as long as the Proprietors remained in charge. The people saw one scheme and plan fail after another and were aware of their unstable government. One outstanding plan was the system based on the Fundamental Constitutions, reputedly drawn up (but now doubted) by the English philosopher, John Locke, Secretary to the Proprietory Board, and adopted by the Lords Proprietors on July 21, 1669; but this too failed, resulting later in Culpeper's Rebellion in 1677. Because of the continuous unsatisfactory government of the Lords Proprietors, the control of the colonies was transferred by purchase to the British Crown in 1728, with the exception of the grant to Sir John Carteret, Earl of Granville. Earl of Granville demanded, and was allotted, a large body of land which has come to be known in North Carolina as "Granville's Grant." This grant included approximately the northern half of present North Carolina, extending from Bath on the coast, westward to the Mississippi River, and paralleling the present Virginia line. He owned 26,000 of the 52,000 square miles in the state as it now stands. The people held their lands as tenants, paying to Granville an annual rent, and he contributed nothing to the fund that sustained the current expenses of the colony. He also neglected the accounting for those men he sent to the colonies as his agents. Their extortions, exactions, and oppressions were almost unendurable, and caused people to rise up more than once against them. The management of the district revealed all the weakness of absentee landlordism. His estate was finally confiscated by the patriot government of North Carolina during the Revolutionary War, which was confirmed by the United States Supreme Court in l8l7. Until 1949, only six other states possessed their colonial Charters - Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. It had long been assumed that no others had survived the ravages of time until word came in the spring of 1947 that the Carolina Charter of 1663 had been found in England and was being offered for sale for 2,500 pounds, or $10,000, by Charles W. Traylen, antiquarian British bookseller of Guildford, Surrey. Widespread interest was immediately shown by historians, educators, antiquarians and other citizens of the Carolinas and elsewhere. Steps were taken to establish its authenticity, its provenance, and as to whether the seller could offer a clear title. After satisfactorily seeking recognized authorities to establish its authenticity as an original document, the unusually fine, hand-sketched portrait of King Charles II, in the upper left hand corner of the Charter, was noted as being done by an artist miniaturist, possibly by Samuel Cooper, most outstanding at that time. Also, the Great Seal attached, although damaged, was of green wax with gold and silver threads for an attachment, which would have cost maximum fees. Where had the Charter been for 213 years? Evidence points to certain coincidences as to its whereabouts. Letters extant state that in 1730 the Charter became void, after the grants were sold back to the English Crown in 1729. In 1733 the Charter was in the hands of the Attorney General at Lincoln's Inn, England, and probably remained in Lincoln's Inn until it was sold in 1946 upon the settlement of an estate which was originally owned and built by a William Baker of Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire, England, whose name appears on the admission register of Lincoln's Inn in 1799. It was first sold in 1946 to Captain J. Howes of Hertford, England, and had been in the Baker family as long as anyone could remember. Captain Howes was a collector of old documents. For North Carolina to obtain the Charter, there was much discussion as to how to raise adequate funds. As a result, then Governor Melville Broughton wrote personal letters to a number of public-spirited citizens of North Carolina explaining to them the importance of the Charter of 1663 in North Carolina history, telling them of the desirability of obtaining it for the State, and requesting from them funds for its purchase. By their generosity, the following made adequate donations: Mrs. Elizabeth H. Bahnson, Gordon Gray, Mrs. James A. Gray, Ralph P. Hanes, and Wm. N. Reynolds, all of Winston-Salem; Hermon Cone, Mrs. Julius Cone, Mrs. John A. Kellenberger, Mrs. J.E. Latham, J. Spencer Love, James G.W. McClamrock, and Ralph C. Price, all of Greensboro; John Sprunt Hill, K.P. Lewis, and Wm. H. Ruffin, all of Durham; Geo. Gordon Battle and John M. Morehead, both of New York; Edwin P. Brown of Murfreesboro; Burnham S. Colburn of Asheville; Ralph W. Gardner and the Gardner family of Shelby; Reuben B. Robertson of Canton; W.H. Woolard of Greenville; and the North Carolina Society for the Preservation of Antiquities. The final cost price was $6,000 and a check was written October 24, 1949 for this authentic Seventeenth Century document - the seventh colonial Charter known to be in existence. In 1951 The North Carolina General Assembly appropriated funds for a special safe for displaying each of the four pages of the Charter, a safe which is fire-proof and artificially lighted from within for easy reading. Looking back over the centuries of our North Carolina history and that of the American colonies, we can see a brilliant tapestry portraying the settling of the New World - America. Each brave English colonist spun a thread into the larger pattern. Ever present in the tapestry, we see the hardships, suffering, and death of those brave souls who made possible the existence today of America as a nation. Yet more distinctly however, are woven into the stronger fabric, the QUALITY threads of LASTING value - those of vision, dependence upon God, freedom, morality, courage, honor, responsibility, and service. The early colonists brought with them the genius of self-government and an ethical religion. They battled a wilderness and a continent, well stocked with every mineral, vegetable, and animal resource needed by man. Very soon they became masters of survival, with tearless initiative, freeing themselves from kings' decrees, from feudal courts, and from the domination of nobles and bishops. A new civilization of the freedom of individual men was established on the American continent. They brought with them the Magna Charta of Liberties, the laws of which were incorporated into the Constitution of the United States of America in the l8th Century. Looking at the present, America is populated by the descendants of these early colonists. What do we find? Is this same Constitution of freedoms becoming a scrap of paper? Are the rights of property ownership diminishing under the government assault and confiscatory taxes? Is individual liberty being stifled by the regimentation stemming from excessive centralized government? Are the rights of the States being violated? There are those who prefer expediency to morality, who would make the government the master, not the servant of man. These people are the advocates of an all-powerful, all-providing, socialistic government to control one's destiny from the cradle to the grave. Looking to the future, there is yet hope. Out of the past, we hear words of Daniel Webster, who said, "God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it. Let your object be our country. And, by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever." With the commemoration in 1963 of the 300th Anniversary of the Carolina Charter of 1663, may God give us grace and inspiration to lift high the torch of righteousness and truth, of freedom and liberty, and to pass these on to the generations which will follow. BIBLIOGRAPHY A Hornbook of Virginia History - comp. J.R.V. Daniel Carolina Charter of 1663 - William Powell Cavaliers and Pioneers - Nell M. Nugent Explorations, Descriptions and Attempted Settlements of Carolina, 1584-1590 - N.C. State Dept. Archives & History History of England - Sir Charles Oman North Carolina - Lefler & Newsom North Carolina Charters and Constitutions - Parker (N.C. Colonial Records, 1963) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/statewide/history/other/carolina6ms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ncfiles/ File size: 20.6 Kb