What is known today as the Tryon Resolves (entitled at the time the Tryon Declaration of Rights and Independence from British Tyranny)^[1] was a brief declaration adopted and signed by "subscribers" to the Tryon County Association that was formed in Tryon County, 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 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 "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.)^[1] The Association was formed in response to the April 19, 1775, Battle of Lexington. The Resolves was among the earliest of many local colonial declarations against the 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.^[1]

As tensions between the North American colonies and the British government continued to increase, county residents began forming 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 Tryon County Militia in preparation for British retaliation against American revolutionaries.^[2]

Text summary and effect

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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 were:^[1]