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The earlier declaration of independence

By GEORGE F. WILL
The Washington Post
MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — The impatient patriots here had splendidly short fuses in 1775. Those whoWill tilled the startlingly red clay or who lived in the town named for George III’s wife Charlotte might have been bemused had they foreseen the annual hoopla that commemorates July 4, 1776.

    

What occurred that day in Philadelphia might have been a Declaration of Independence, but the first such was enacted here on May 20, 1775. Presbyterians, meaning most Mecklenburgers, were incensed by Anglican meddling from London, such as the Vestry and Marriage Acts of 1769, which imposed fines on Presbyterian ministers who conducted marriage ceremonies. Marriage as a political issue is not just a recent phenomenon....

  • Saturday Letters to the Editor

     Metts needs increase to keep growing county safe
    I read with interest David Whetsell’s June 18 letter, “Metts’ tantrum shows costly to taxpayers.”
    While his Stoptax.org may be a taxpayer’s watchdog, his “old dog” needs to widen his perspective or it may wind up bitten itself!
    Sheriff James Metts did and always will show “his true colors” to all us citizens. I recently retired from 30 years of law enforcement in Charleston. The reason my family now resides in Sheriff Metts’ county is the high quality of public safety his department consistently provides...

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