Welcome to the North Carolina Society,
Sons of the American Revolution

The Great State of North Carolina played many important roles during the American Revolution. North Carolinians reacted strongly to British taxation and reorganization schemes introduced in 1763. The Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts drew the growing radical element's ire in particular and led to the emergence of a Sons of Liberty group. Pressure was exerted on colonial officials in the colony, which forced them to abandon efforts to implement the Stamp Act; only the royal governor held firm and attempted to enforce the law.

North Carolina responded to the Tea Act of 1773 by creating and enforcing non-importation agreements that forced merchants to drop trade with Britain. In the following year, when Massachusetts was punished by Parliament for the destruction of a shipload of tea in Boston Harbor, sympathetic North Carolinians sent food and other supplies to its beleaguered northern neighbor.

North Carolina governor Josiah Martin opposed his colony’s participation in the First Continental Congress. However, local delegates met at New Bern and adopted a resolution that opposed all Parliamentary taxation in the American colonies and, in direct defiance of the governor, elected delegates to the Congress.

During the War for Independence, the opposing sides in North Carolina took on the name of English Parliamentary parties. The "Whigs" were the patriot side and the "Tories" were the Loyalists. Tory forces were defeated in the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in February 1776, the first military action in North Carolina and the last until near the end of the war.

A provincial assembly met in Halifax in late 1776 and adopted a state constitution and bill of rights, which were notable for the establishment of a strong legislature and weak executive — clearly a reaction to their recent history under royal governors.

Soldiers from North Carolina did see action in neighboring Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia. In March 1781, American forces under General Nathanael Greene fought a major battle with British forces under Lord Cornwallis.  While the British technically “won” the battle, they did so at such great cost it was labeled a “pyrrhic victory”.  The British then painfully withdrew, first to Wilmington, NC, then to Virginia where they eventually surrendered at Yorktown..

Membership in the SAR is open to all men 18 and over who can prove descent from someone who aided in the Patriot cause.

For more information, click on 'Membership Information'  or contact NCSSAR Webmaster Jay Joyce at: jay@mecklenburgsar.org

The Formation of the North Carolina Society,
Sons of the American Revolution

From a history of the North Carolina Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, by Thomas "Nat" Clark and Leonard W. Topping:

"The North Carolina Society was organized at Washington, NC, on the afternoon of February 22, 1911. There were present: 

Dr. J. C. Rodman, L. D. Bonner, R. T. Bonner, F. H. von Eberstein, Lyndon Y. Shaw, Frank C. Kugler, W. B. Harding, Dr. John G. Blount, Jr., John A. Wendell, Sr., E. W. Myers, R. L. M. Bonner, B . T. Bonner, Dr. H. M. Bonner, and Stephen C. Bragaw. 

Mr. Bragaw was made temporary Chairman and Mr. Shaw temporary Secretary. Mr. Bragaw explained the purposes of the meeting and the objects of the Society. A constitution and by-laws were read and adopted, and the following officers were elected: 

The Society started with thirty members, brought together through energetic work by Commander John H. Moore, USN, Chairman of the Organization Committee, SC, and
Mr. R. T. Bonner, of Aurora, NC."