Editing Tryon Resolves

{{Short description|Declaration of resistance to British colonial policies}}

What is known today as the '''Tryon Resolves''' (entitled at the time the '''Tryon Declaration of Rights and Independence from British Tyranny''')<ref name= "ptriot" /> was a brief declaration adopted and signed by "subscribers" to the Tryon County Association that was formed in [[Tryon County, North Carolina|Tryon County]], [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] in the early days of the [[American Revolution]]. In the Resolves—a modern name for the Association's charter document—the county representatives vowed resistance to the increasingly coercive actions being enacted by the government of [[Great Britain]] against its [[British colonization of the Americas|North American colonies]]. The document was signed on August 14, 1775, but—like other similar declarations of the time—stopped short of calling for total independence from Britain.

==Background==
The "[[Voluntary association|Tryon Association]]" was formed with the signing of the ''Tryon Declaration of Rights and Independence from British Tyranny''. (This document only became known as "''The Tryon Resolves''" in the 20th-century.)<ref name= "ptriot" /> The Association was formed in response to the April 19, 1775, [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Battle of Lexington]]. The Resolves was among the earliest of many local colonial declarations against the [[Intolerable Acts|coercive policies]] that the British government had instituted in the colonies that were considered oppressive by the colonists. Other similar associations with signed "declarations" from the same period included the [[Mecklenburg Resolves]] (adopted in nearby [[Mecklenburg County, North Carolina]]) and the [[Suffolk Resolves]] (adopted in [[Suffolk County, Massachusetts]]). The Tryon Resolves predated the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] by almost 11 months, but stopped short of proscribing independence from Britain, instead supporting armed resistance until a resolution with England could be made.<ref name= "ptriot">[https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/08/the-tryon-county-patriots-of-1775-and-their-association/  ''The Tryon County Patriots of 1775 and Their Association'']; Parker, Herschel; August 11, 2014; WebPage; "Journal of the American Revolution" online; retrieved April 2023</ref>

As tensions between the North American colonies and the British government continued to increase, county residents began forming [[Committees of safety (American Revolution)|Committees of Safety]] to prepare militia companies for a potential war. On September 14, 1775, many of the signers of the Tryon Resolves formed the [[Militia (United States)#Colonial era, pre-1774|Tryon County Militia]] in preparation for British retaliation against American revolutionaries.<ref name="KGS">'''Sullivan, Kathy Gunter''';  ''Tryon County Documents, 1769-1779: A North Carolina County'' (Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County, NC: 2000), pp. 184–186; citing Proceedings of the Committee of Safety, 1775-1776; Secretary of State Papers; S.S. 305, State Archives, Raleigh.</ref>

==Text summary and effect==
{{Wikisource|Tryon Resolves}}
In the Tryon Resolves:
* The county residents refer to "the painful necessity of having recourse to arms in defense of our National freedom and constitutional rights, against all invasions;
* Vow to take up arms and risk our lives and our fortunes in maintaining the freedom of our country..."
* The colonists declare they will continue to follow the Continental Congress or Provincial Conventions in defiance of British declarations that these were illegal;
* The signers warn that force will be met with force until such a time as a "reconciliation" can be made between the colonies and Britain.

==Signers==
The "subscribers" (signatories) to the Tryon Association in alphabetical order were :<ref name= "ptriot" />
{{colbegin|colwidth=20em}}
* Robt. Alexander
* Jas. Baird
* Abel Beatty
* Thomas Beatty
* John Beeman
* George Black
* James Buchanan
* Christian Carpenter
* Samuel Carpenter
* James Coburn
* Jacob Costner
* Geo. Dellinger
* John Dellinger
* Thomas Espey
* Jacob Forney
* [[William Graham (colonel)|William Graham]]
* [[Frederick Hambright]]
* Andrew Hampton
* Benjamin Hardin
* [[Joseph Hardin, Sr.|Joseph Hardin]]
* Robert Hulclip{{efn|The original document suffers from several transcription errors. Most notably affected is the signature of "Robert Hazelip," (aged 16 at the time), transcribed as "Hulclip." A transcription error due to an ink stain early-on has caused this name to be mis-read through history. The misprint was carried over to the original [[Daughters of the American Revolution|D.A.R.]] plaque and has been repeatedly copied since.)<ref name= "ptriot" />}}
* David Jenkins
* Joseph Kuykendall
* Samuel Loftin
* Jas. Logan
* Perrygren Mackness (or Magness) 
* Jacob Mauney, Jun.
* Valentine Mauney
* Fried Mauser
* James McAfee
* Charles McLean
* Jas. Miller
* Moses Moore
* John Morris
* Andrew Neel
* Joseph Neel
* George Paris
* Jonathan Price
* John Robison
* Peter Sides
* Adam Simms
* Samuel Smith
* William Thompson
* Joab Turner
* Richard Waffer
* John Walker
* John Wells
* Davis Whiteside
* William Whiteside
{{colend}}

==See also==
* [[Watauga Association]]
* [[Liberty Point Resolves]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* Journeys Through Time: Nixon's History of Lincoln County: The Revolutionary War Period. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070911060450/http://lelawhisnant.net/journeysthrutime/id103.htm ] 
* [http://www.ncdot.org/news/dailyclips/2002/02_07/2002-07-24o.html ''Revolutionary Dig Saving Local History'']; North Carolina D.O.T.
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/ ''Documenting the American South'']; Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, University of North Carolina

{{American Revolution origins}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Resolves, Tryon}}
[[Category:1775 documents]]
[[Category:1775 in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Documents of the American Revolution]]
[[Category:North Carolina in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Political history of North Carolina]]