The Proprietors and their
Problems
Chapter 3 Notes
Settling the Albemarle Sound
• Necks are peninsulas located only in the
northeastern corner of the state. These
peninsulas are where the land is
surrounded by water on three sides.
• Most are found on the Albemarle Sound
and here is where the colony of Carolina
has it orgins.
Settling the Albemarle Sound
• These neighborhoods were the first
European-based communities in what
became North Carolina.
• During this time, the Carolina colony was
owned by English aristocrats called the
Lords Proprietors.
• The Proprietors and their colonists seldom
got along.
Settling the Albemarle Sound
• The Durants were among the first whites
to settle what would become North
Carolina
• George Durant was a partner in exploring
the land with two other Virginians, Richard
and Nathaniel Batts
• In 1629, King Charles I gave a vast tract
of land south of the Dismal to his attorney
general Sir Robert Heath.
Settling the Albemarle Sound
• What brought George Durant and others
to the Albemarle was the chance to grow
more tobacco with less effort and
expense.
• Durant and his neighbors were also
speculating on land.
• Speculate is buying something in the hope
that prices will later rises.
Settling the Albemarle Sound
• There was another reason for people to
settle in the Albemarle.
• Tobacco taxes, collected as customs
duties had become a way that England
could afford the expense of its colonies in
the new world
• Custom duties are fees paid when a good
was shipped out of a port.
Settling the Albemarle Sound
• Virginia was watch to make sure their
duties were paid.
• In the necks of North Carolina people
became known as rogues which means
cheater.
• That was because they often shipped their
tobacco and other products through back
channels without paying the tax collector.
Settling the Albemarle Sound
• For several years, the Durants and their
neighbors did well.
• Their ability to succeed was helped by the
fact that the status of their property was
uncertain.
The Chartering of Carolina
• Everyone of the Great Britain’s American
colonies was eventually organized by a
charter
• A charter was a contract granted by the
king to individuals of groups who were to
be in charge of settlement and then
govern the settlers
• Virginia was granted to a group called the
London Company
The Chartering of Carolina
• These people ran the colony to make a
profit
• Virginia did not do very well, so the
company sold it back to the king in 1622
• When the Durants and others moved
south of the Dismal Swamp, they still lived
in Virginia
• Everything changed in 1663, when the
king of England at that time, Charles II,
created the new Carolina colony
The Chartering of Carolina
• Charles II owned favors to those who had
put him back in charge. So, he gave a
group of English aristocrats the southern
part of Virginia
• On March 24, 1663, eight Lords
Proprietors received the Carolina charter
• In 1665, the king expanded their charter
to include all the territory that is North
Carolina
The Chartering of Carolina
• The Proprietors were also given claim to all
territory west to “the South Seas” another name
for the Pacific Ocean
• The Lords Proprietors were some of the most
powerful men in England
• These men did not want to go over there, they
just wanted to make money
• Quit-rent is when the owner actually held title to
his land, but he had to pay an annual land tax to
the Proprietors
The Chartering of Carolina
• The Proprietors saw the arrangement as a
good deal for all concerned
• The Proprietors were obligated to govern
the colony fairly for everyone
• They also had to protect the colonists from
invasion and attack
• This was put into place by “the
Concessions of 1665
The Chartering of Carolina
• To ensure that this would work they put in the
Fundamental Constitutions in 1669
• This document established a form of
government run by men with an elaborate series
of titles and ranks
• This document was also called the Grand Model
• The Fundamental Constitutions gave people
titles so that they would know what their social
class
The Chartering of Carolina
• Most of the Albemarle settlers were not
nearly as wealthy as their counterparts in
Virginia
• Most Carolina settlers lived in wood
framed huts
• They used the main room for work and
play
The Chartering of Carolina
• Farming was by no means advanced,
even for that day
• Most of the farmers that day did not own a
plow
• Most of the early Albemarle families did
the work themselves
• Only about one in ten settles was an
African slave
The Chartering of Carolina
• More than one prosperous Virginian who
came to the region called the people
“lubbers” which refers to a lazy person
• There was no schools or churches in the
Albemarle area
• The people worshiped in their homes
• A new faith came about in the area called
the Quakers
The Chartering of Carolina
• The same Albemarle “lubbers” who
seemed lazy most days reacted
energetically to any effect by the
Proprietors to impose order on them
• The Albemarle settles were very assertive
of their independence from the start
Culpeper’s Rebellion
• Albemarle settles from the start showed
their independence in political matters
• When the Proprietors convened the first
General Assembly one of the first laws it
passed was a declaration that land deeds
already held by the inhabitants be
respected
• In 1673 the Proprietors decided to enforce
the Navigation Act
Culpeper’s Rebellion
• They listed which colonial goods-such as
tobacco, dried fish, flour, or shingleswould be subject to customs duties
• The collection of those “duties” meant that
many Albemarle residents who sold to
New England shippers could no longer
avoid the duties
• Most of the Albemarle residents wouldn’t
pay
Culpeper’s Rebellion
• Some residents of the Albemarle,
however, sided with the Proprietors.
• One of these residents was Thomas Miller
• Miller and Eastchurch brought about
Culpeper’s Rebellion
• In 1676, Miller and Eastchurch went to
England to tell the Lords Proprietors of
“the deplorable situation” in the colony
Culpeper’s Rebellion
• George Durant set sail for England and
presented the other side of the argument
• Since the Proprietors wanted to please the
tax-loving king, so they appointed
Eastchurch governor of the colony and
made Miller the tax collector
• Miller sailed into Albemarle Sound in 1677
with a small ship he had armed to help
collect the duties
Culpeper’s Rebellion
• When George Durant returned from
London, Miller tried to arrest him
• Eastchurch finally arrived and since he
could legally claim the Proprietors had put
him in charge, the rebels faced being
charged with treason
• Treason is the act of trying to overthrow
the government
Culpeper’s Rebellion
• Eastchurch got sick and died, and the
fighting resumed
• The proprietors were afraid that the king
would think they could not manage the
situation and take the colony back.
• They sent one of their own, Seth Sothel, to
be governor.
• But Seth Sothel did not make it to Carolina
due to pirates taking over the ship
Culpeper’s Rebellion
• Now they make John Harvey governor
because he was respected by almost
everyone.
• He sent some quit-rent and customs
duties back to England for the first time in
six years.
• Shortly after that John Harvey died
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• The Lords Proprietors were always looking
for a source of new quit-rent
• The Governor John Archdale convinced
the General Assembly to divide the
Albemarle into two counties
• County is an old English jurisdiction that
allowed for local government
• The two counties were the Albemarle and
Bath
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• So many Virginians tried to leave for the
Pamlico that Virginia tried to pass a law
that would not allow them to move
• The Pamlico grew so fast that some of the
newcomers stared the first town in
Carolina, called Bath
• Bath started with about 12 houses
• Soon more people moved in about 30
miles south of Bath.
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• In 1711, the proprietors approved the
establishment of New Bern, the colonies
second town
• Refugees are people fleeing danger or
persecution
• The settlement of the Pamlico caused a
new round of troubles for the North
Carolina colony
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• At this time, the Proprietors turned to
religion as a way to organize the colony
• North Carolina was notable for its lack of
churches.
• There was many people at this time that
did not have religion
• In 1701 and 1703, the General Assembly
passed laws “establishing” the Anglican
Church in the colony
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• Establishment meant that all colonist
offcially belonged to the Anglican faith,
whether they wanted to or not.
• This meant all citizens were expected to
pay church taxes in addition to the hated
quit-rents
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• In 1704, the General Assembly passed the
Test Act
• The Test Act said that anyone who held
public office had to take “the test.” He had
to put his hand on a Bible and swear to
uphold the principles of the Anglican
Church.
• This was the beginning of the Cary’s
Rebellion.
• The Cary’s Rebellion was fought between
the Quakers and the Anglicans
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• As Cary’s Rebellion kept the colony in an
uproar, the Tuscarora Indians attempted to
destroy the Pamlico settlements
• In 1711, they attacked when the colonist
were tried and had their guard down
• Several hundred colonist were murdered
• The most notable victim was John Lawson
• The Tuscarora torture and execute
Lawson
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• This war was not just about the lost of land
• The whites were evil people according to
the Indians
• The Pamlico was “totally wasted and
ruined.”
• Virginia would not send troops to help
because they were still mad over the land
that North Carolina had taken
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• The Pamlico had to call on South Carolina
for help
• The South Carolinians defeated the
Tuscarora in a series of battles
• But, like most things in the early history of
the colony, the struggle did not end
• The colonist angered the Tuscarora and
they attacked the Pamlico again
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• This time the Indians had an advantage
because many whites were sick with
yellow fever
• Again South Carolina had to come in and
help defeat the Tuscarora
• This time the peace terms were not as
generous, and what Indians were not
forced into slavery generally decided to
leave the region
Settling the Pamlico Sound
• By the summer of 1714, the colony had its
first “peace and quietness” since 1700
Settling the Cape Fear
• After the defeat of the Tuscarora more
land came open for settlement
• The land of the Cape Fear was the
greatest of all this land
• It became the most prosperous of all the
land in the colony
• Most settlers turned to the production of
naval stores
Settling the Cape Fear
• The potential profits from naval stores
soon drew settlers to the Cape Fear
• The Lords Proprietors considered the
Cape Fear to be apart of South Carolina
• After some negotiation, the Crown brought
back its interest in the lands that had
become the colonies of North Carolina and
South Carolina
Settling the Cape Fear
• In 1729, North Carolina went from being a
proprietary colony to a royal colony
• This means that it belongs to the king
• Just because it became a royal colony did
not mean that things got better