A royal colony

BY DAVID WALBERT The story of Carolinas first fifty years is one of turmoil political conflict, corrupt officials, unpaid taxes, incompetent proprietors, open rebellion, angry Indians, and rapacious pirates. But at the same time, the colonists were building a new society along the coast, with farms, towns, and quietly effecti e local go ernment. In !"#$, %orth Carolina was ta&en o er by the &ing, the turmoil quieted down, and for the next few decades, colonists en'oyed relati e peace and stability.

Two Carolinas
(ince the !))*s, the Proprietors had recogni+ed that one go ernor and one assembly couldnt manage a colony as big as Carolina not when the settlements at ,lbemarle, Cape -ear, and Charles Town were so far apart and transportation up and down the coast was so difficult. In !)$!, the .roprietors appointed a go ernor for all of Carolina and a deputy go ernor for its northern half, and this arrangement pro ided better administration. In !"!#, %orth and (outh Carolina were officially di ided. The /nglish go ernment, though, was unhappy with its proprietary colonies. 0ing and .arliament wanted taxes collected, colonists defended, and order maintained 'ust as most residents of %orth Carolina did and they didnt belie e that the proprietors were running their colonies properly. In !"!$, (outh Carolina, which had more resources than %orth Carolina and was therefore more aluable to /ngland, was ta&en bac& from the .roprietors and made a royal colony. 1hile a proprietary colony was ruled by proprietors or owners in the &ings place, a royal colony was ruled directly by the &ing. The &ing, or his officials, appointed the colonys go ernor and had the right to appro e 2or disappro e3 its laws.
By !"#$, there were settlements on each of %orth In !"#$, se en of the eight 4ords Carolina;s ma'or ri er systems. But the biggest .roprietors agreed to sell their shares of settlements, on the ,lbemarle and .amlico (ounds, %orth Carolina to 0ing 5eorge II, and %orth were a long way from (outh Carolina;s ma'or Carolina, too, became a royal colony. 6ne settlement of Charles Town 2Charleston3. proprietor, though, held out7 8ohn Carteret, the descendant of (ir 5eorge Carteret, one of the original 4ords .roprietors. Carteret continued to own one9 eighth of the colonys land, though he had no say in its go ernment. Carteret would later inherit the title /arl 5ran ille, and the management of his land, &nown as the 5ran ille :istrict, would cause problems for colonists later on.

%orth Carolina under royal rule

%ow that the &ings officials appointed provincial go ernors, %orth Carolinas go ernment became more stable and effecti e after !"#$. But many precedents had been established during the years of chaos that would continue to define the colony. The ,ssembly had gained a great deal of power at the expense of wea& go ernors, and would &eep that power throughout the colonial period. County and town go ernments, and especially courts, were what most people relied on and had the most contact with. %orth Carolinians had come to rely on themsel es and on local officials, whom they &new and trusted, and they had come to thin& of high9le el officials as being incompetent and croo&ed an association they would &eep throughout the eighteenth century. In !"#$, %orth Carolina had about >),*** inhabitants 2people li ing there), most of whom li ed in the ,lbemarle ,rthur :obbs, one of fi e royal go ernors of %orth Carolina, region. (mall towns, many of which were too small to ser ed from !"A@ to !")@. -or be incorporated, had become the focus of local much of his term in office, he go ernment, where courts were held. 1hen towns grew was able to ser e the interests larger and were incorporated, gaining their of the Crown and &eep colonists own municipal go ernments, they became homes to and happy, as well. craftspeople and centers for further settlement. (ettlement gradually spread down the coast, reaching the Cape -ear by the mid9!"#*s. ?ost people continued to li e in rough, poor conditions, but they seem to ha e been relati ely content.! By the !"@*s, settlers were arri ing in the .iedmont from /urope or from northern colonies, bringing with them new cultures, languages, and religions. ,nd as the economy of the more established Coastal .lain grew, colonists began to import more sla es from ,frica. Those de elopments are the story of the next two chapters. Glossary
Proprietary Colony < .roprietors rule colony in place of the 0ing Royal Colony < 0ing rules colony directly provincial 9 Belonging to a pro ince 99 a region go erned as a unit of a country. incorporated 9 5ranted a charter by the state and recogni+ed as a legal entity with its own elected officials. municipal - =a ing to do with a city or town, especially with its go ernment.