Semiquincentennial Plus One

By Wes Westmoreland | The Sunday Column

Wes Westmoreland

Listen my children, and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of… Captain Jack?

It was late May in 1775 when Captain James Jack left Charlotte Towne, North Carolina, and set out on a long journey on horseback to meet fellow North Carolinians in Philadelphia. The document he carried, dated May 20th, stowed inside his coat for protection, was of the utmost importance. And it was treasonous. By carrying the document, he carried a death warrant for himself and for all whose names were affixed. He also carried a mystery that would be debated by the second and third Presidents of a new nation, nearly fifty years later.

In 1775, many of the American colonies and their delegates argued for the appeasement to and reconciliation with Great Britain; it was only the most radical who spoke of independence, and thus far, none of the colonies had taken any formal action to suggest otherwise.

Captain Jack carried the first, 14 months prior to Mr. Jefferson’s. The document he carried included six resolutions, one of which read:

We do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people, that we are and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing people under the power of God and the general Congress; to the maintenance of which independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.

Upon arrival in Philadelphia, Captain Jack met William Harper, Richard Caswell, and possibly Joseph Hewes, North Carolina’s delegates to the Continental Congress. The men reviewed the document and assured Captain Jack that they would take the actions of Mecklenburg to other members of the Congress.

According to the historical account by Cyrus Hunter, after consulting with delegates including John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, the Captain was told, “It was clearly perceived… that the citizens of Mecklenburg County were in advance of general sentiment of congress on the subject of independence.”

Captain Jack responded, “You may debate here about ‘reconciliation’ and memorialize your king, but bear it in mind, Mecklenburg owes no allegiance to, and is separated from the crown of Great Britain forever.”

Just over a year later, the several states united in signing a Declaration of Independence from Britain, and the accounts Captain Jack and the Mecklenburg Declaration were largely forgotten, at least outside of North Carolina.

Then, in 1812, Founding Fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, former friends and allies, torn apart for a decade by intense political and philosophical disagreements, began one of the most significant correspondences in American history.

In 1819, Adams read an account of the Mecklenburg Declaration, and enclosed a copy in a letter, remarked to Jefferson, “The genuine sense of America at that moment was never expressed so well before, nor since.”

In a private letter to Reverend William Bently, Adams was even more emphatic, stating, “I was struck with so much astonishment on reading this document… for he (Jefferson) has copied the spirit, the sense, and the expressions of it verbatim, into his Declaration of the 4th of July, 1776.”

Jefferson held a different perspective, describing the accusation as spurious, questioning whether the original story was ever printed in the Raleigh Register, and noting that this information should come out after the original burned and all with direct knowledge had since passed.

Thus began a debate: Did the Mecklenburg Declaration ever exist? To many in North Carolina, it was never in dispute— we mark it with a date on our flag, on our seal, and ‘First in Freedom’ on our license plates, while a large statue of Captain Jack on horseback stands at the corner 4th Street and Kings Drive in Charlotte, marking his nearly 600 mile ride.

While the declaration may be disputed, the resolutions passed days later on May 31 are not in dispute. These did not go so far as to declare independence, but made a strong argument in favor of doing so.

As we celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial, North Carolina’s flag is a reminder that North Carolina stands alone, among the original colonies, in celebrating 251 years of Independence, when on May 20, 1775, our ancestors stated:

“…that whosoever directly or indirectly abets or in any way, form or manner, countenances the invasion of our rights, as attempted by the Parliament of Great Britain, is an enemy to his country, to America, and the inherent and inalienable rights of man.”

 © 2026 Wes Westmoreland

Wes Westmoreland is president and founder of Westmoreland Printers, Inc., co-founder and vice-chair of Pinnacle Classical Academy, and a director of Polyhymnia, a think-tank dedicated to American culture and ideas.

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