"Who Died and Made Them Boss?"

Saluting MeckDec Birthday #95: May 20, 1928 🎂 May 20, 2023

Greetings in honor of mom-Jane’s 95th, her special day that just happens to be on the NC state flag!?

The milestone arrives with aptly uncanny timing amid news stories and events most likely to evoke Jane’s classic pithy summation via today’s title question.

“Who died and made them boss?” was also a go-to favorite of her mother, my informed avid-reader late grandmother Ruby who’d be 123 this September. Often it was about issues strikingly similar to those today. (The question itself carries inherent democratic protest of monarchies’ divine birthright of kings!)

Jane’s actual-date birthday festivity with folks at her residence has been mere warmup for next week’s Memorial Day weekend gathering of extended family, human and canine, here at the lake.

So today’s edition is Jane- and Ruby-spirit comment on two examples from the core newShrink perspectives of current news and history.

First news, starting with the above photos depicting the week’s national headline-grabbing abortion restriction activity in the North Carolina General Assembly. At left are the Republican-only women influencing the closed-door negotiations that excluded annd ignored input of any kind from Democrats — or from a strong majority of NC voters.

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The basic outcome story:

North Carolina Senate Reapproves Abortion Ban, Overriding Governor’s Veto (The New York Times)

🔵Here’s some excellent but disturbing reporting behind closed doors. (This saved link on later openings had awkward revealed code in midst of text that I’m unable to correct or replace. It’s distracting, but full text is here.)

How the GOP came to a ‘mainstream’ abortion compromise (The News & Observer of Raleigh)

For months, a working group of Republicans from the North Carolina House and Senate met to hash out what abortion restrictions a bill would include — everything from a total ban to no change to the law at all.

The range of discussion was “all over,” Sen. Vickie Sawyer, an Iredell County Republican and key member of the abortion bill working group, said about the process Democrats have criticized for excluding their voices.

Sawyer said keeping the Republican working group’s conversations confidential resulted in a more encompassing bill with policy and funding, beyond restrictions, that “helps moms say yes.”

Here’s a sad glimpse of how some women can passive-aggressively — and routinely — wield unearned power to compete with and damage other women.

[Alamance County Senator Amy Scott] Galey told The N&O that “We bring our own experiences and our perspectives to all the work that we do. And the same was true with that working group. So we talked about our lives, our families, our friends, and shared experiences. We were very honest with one another about what our lives have been like, and that is why it should be confidential,” Galey said about the meetings.

The tragic irony here is the blatant and blind abuse of the very right to protected privacy that is the core tenet of abortion, all other reproductive and many more of our freedoms — in order to erase those freedoms.

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At right above is now-infamous Mecklenburg Rep. Tricia Cotham, newly Republican. She captured national attention and created a one-vote red supermajority with her recent defection from lifelong near-dynastic family Democratic Party ties. In the process she abandoned among other things firmly stated recent and long-term campaign commitments on abortion rights. Her story’s psychological dimensions merit further focus sometime.

According to the caption of the above apparent-sneer, or perhaps it’s a hiss, photo:

Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Mecklenburg County Republican and former Democrat, mouths the words “I see you,” as demonstrators are escorted from the House gallery by General Assembly police after a vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of an abortion restriction bill Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C. (Photo by Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com)

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Rep. Tricia Cotham votes for new NC abortion law, says it ‘strikes a reasonable balance’ (The Charlotte Observer)

Cotham released a statement expressing her support for the new restrictions, saying the new law represents “a middle ground that anyone not holding one of the two extremist positions can support.”

[stating she understands] there are “extremists on both sides of the abortion issue. Some of the absolutists believe abortion is unacceptable in any circumstance and some of the absolutists believe aborting a perfectly healthy child in the 40th week of pregnancy is morally acceptable. I cannot support either of these extreme positions.”

After extensive review, I believe this bill strikes a reasonable balance on the abortion issue and represents a middle ground that anyone not holding one of the two extremist positions can support.

Um, no, Rep. Cotham. Based on your firmly stated commitment you were elected to uphold the judgment and decision-making of each of your constituents who elected you regarding this. You never commited to, nor were you elected to, abandon your constituents’ right to decide based on your own imagined “middle ground” for “anyone.” You did not campaign with any “strike a reasonable balance” message. (And had you done so you might well have been defeated, not elected.)

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Here is a more strategic overview of both sides of this broader political moment.

IDEAS

Has North Carolina Found an Abortion Compromise? (The Atlantic)

Or is this just a new approach both sides can hate?

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Shifting now to historic focus, at top center above that’s the North Carolina flag. At bottom the bronze statue is colonial militia Captain James Jack.

And for those not from or around here very long, the what-the-heck-is-Meck-Dec question is… complicated.

History in forever re-draft?

The birthday’s factually mixed-and-murky shared May 20th date speaks to a core newShrink theme relevant in today’s politics and news. On the one hand, history is foundational tradition to be studied and honored on its merits. And on the other, history is also living, ever-evolving story that demands re-imagining through fresh perspectives on discovery of new data and insights.

Here in accessible Q&A format is the most thorough MeckDec description and recap I’ve found of what’s known and documented, what’s surmised and missing. (Note that spellings of MeckDec vary widely among sources.) This one seems fair and thorough about centuries-long denial that any independence-leaning “MeckDec” efforts occurred in 1775 at all.

The May 20th Society: Celebrating the Spirit of Mecklenburg (website link)

The May 20th Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2003 by a group of Charlotte’s young professionals to capture and celebrate Charlotte’s rebellious and visionary spirit – a spirit defined by so many activities in which Charlotte has been a leader in the nation. In particular, The May 20th Society was founded to restore the MecDec commemoration to its rightful place in Charlotte Mecklenburg’s history.

In the most basic version of the story:

The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (widely known as the “MeckDec”) was unanimously adopted during a convention of Charlotte Mecklenburg’s civic leaders held on May 19 – 20, 1775.  It was a reaction to the news that colonists had been massacred by the British at Lexington.  On May 31, they drafted a second document—a set of Resolves, now known as the Mecklenburg Resolves, further outlining their independence and organizing their new governance.

Meanwhile, many documented accounts describe a treacherous ride from Charlotte to Philadelphia by James Jack (depicted by the statue):

Jack was the son of Patrick and Lillis Jack. The family left Pennsylvania and first moved a Presbyterian settlement west of Salisbury, NC. They later moved to Charlotte and ran a tavern. It is likely that James heard many discussions about discontent with the government, while working in his father’s business. In June 1775, James Jack was committed and volunteered to carry the MeckDec by horseback to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. If he had been captured by loyalists or British soldiers he would have been hanged for treason – and in fact, he was nearly arrested in Salisbury not long into his journey. A painting by artist Chas Fagan of Captain Jack depicts him riding north from the Courthouse on Trade & Tryon to deliver the MeckDec to the Congress.

He rode over 1100 miles and was recorded to have returned through Salem, NC, on July 7, 1775. When war broke out, he became a Captain in the militia. Later in his life, he moved to land now known as Tennessee, petitioning North Carolina to make Tennessee a state. Before this happened, he moved to Georgia to farm, where he died at about age 91.

This was the early Revolution escalation period of bloody battles between colonist militias and British troops, still with British governors and plenty of loyalist-colonists — including in the Continental Congress. Many in the Congress and more broadly sought and hoped for resolution besides a long war, still as British subjects at peace with King George.

Given this, the lack of a final, official or surviving document overtly declaring colonial discontent seems unsurprising. In fact, now with the beneift of historic hindsight, finding one would seem premature and a bit speculative.

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Here are some of the skeptical views and voices:

VERIFY: There's no evidence the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence existed (From WCNC news in 2021)

Meck Deck Day is an annual celebration of Charlotte's patriotic history, claiming local settlers declared British independence a full year before the other colonies.

Date emblazoned on North Carolina’s flag marks historical event that may not have ever happened. (Raleigh ABC affiliate WTVD in May 2021)

A date emblazoned on the most sacred symbols of North Carolina is wrong.

Front and center on the North Carolina state seal and in the top of the blue rectangle on the state flag, sits the date May 20, 1775. That date is supposedly the date the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was signed.

The only problem: the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence does not exist.

"The so-called Mecklenburg Declaration is regarded by most historians as a spurious document because there is no such document," Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow said. Crow is the former Deputy Secretary of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History.

"The Meck Dec doesn't exist in a physical form. The one that we have is one that is cobbled together decades afterwards," Dr. Daniel Fountain said. Fountain is a History professor at Meredith College; his specialty is early American history…

In my view the historians cited here overstate and distort an apparent contradiction I don’t see between a May 20, 1775 courthouse-steps public announcement of independence and 11 days later the documented May 31, also independence-leaning, Mecklenburg Resolves. I find other accounts linking the two as steps in a related process more logical and convincing.

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On the topic there’s also plenty of effective PR.

Explore These Eight Modern Charlotte Destinations With Historic Undercurrents (Smithsonian Magazine, clearly from City of Charlotte PR and talking points)

Known for being a dynamic hub of contemporary culture and innovation, Charlotte’s rich and storied history is all around.

Charlotte Liberty Walk

A self-guided walking tour accessible to anyone with a smartphone, the Charlotte Liberty Walk highlights sites tied to Revolutionary War-era Charlotte, including a park named after the founder of Charlotte, Colonel Thomas Polk, and a plaque honoring the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence; written and signed in North Carolina, it preceded the Thomas Jefferson-penned version by more than a year.

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A more centrist view:

MeckDec needs to be discussed and revisited (Spectrum News 2022)

Meck Dec Day is here: Historian says it should open up important con­ver­sa­tions

According to legend, on May 20, 1775, the declaration was read aloud, and, if true, means the people of Mecklenburg County declared independence a year before our founding fathers in Philadelphia.

However, the existence of this document has been debated for decades.

Some say it’s a tall tale, while others believe it’s real.

According to the development director at the Charlotte Museum of History, Lauren Wallace, there are arguments both for and against the "Meck Dec" being real.

Robert Ryals, a historian on the board of the Mecklenburg Historical Association, also presents and considers both sides…

For disclosure on my part, there was lifelong annual family birthday fanfare and lore. Through my mom’s and even into my young adulthood, schools, city and county offices closed for MeckDec Day. And there were annual parades — in which she got to march back in her day. (There are still annual official commemorative events.)

History-wise I’m a third-gen. Charlotte native taught in school about MeckDec events and significance — as well as missing facts and documents. We had full-year NC history in 7th grade, US history in 8th and 11th and civics in 9th. Advanced and later college study addressed its controversial associations nearly 100 years later with Confederate secession and use as propaganda; the date was added to the long established state flag and seal only in 1861, immediately after North Carolina joined other southern states in seceding from the Union at the start of the Civil War.

As for my take on the truth or hoax questions:

Official commemoration of Meck Day Day began back in 1825. Though not an official, perhaps not yet a finished written declaration of independence (whatever that would have meant in that escalating early war period), there’s documentation that Captain Jack did exist and made the ride to Philadephia delivering something to delegates in hopes of influencing the Continental Congress.

This sounds like what was probably one of many such drafts and efforts, which would coalesce and culminate a year later in what became our nation’s July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence.

For what it’s worth, to me both the claim that the draft document was any kind of official “first” document and total debunking of the entire effort and its significant lens on Mecklenburg of the time as “hoax” or fraud are over-reaches.

From mom-Jane’s part, though memory issues now cloud the details, she has long comfortably held both sentimental association with the date and clear-eyed regard for pros and cons of historic accuracy.

One further note before closing:

More MeckDec birthday greetings are in order to another Jane, a newShrink reader and friend of many decades. With one or two others she and I actually sang and tap-danced show-tune numbers in not one but two — a junior- and a senior-high — school variety shows. (Gulp! And no, this is not a joke…) Happy birthday, Jane — I’m so glad you were born.

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On that note I leave you with another 7-year memory-shot that appeared in this week’s feed. It’s Jane’s beloved grand-dogs Jesse and Hazel at her birthday time, as just 18-week-old puppies…

OK, very large, overweight butterball puppies. (Egad, that happened fast, and I promise they don’t look like that now!) I’ve long been accused of starving my billygoat-omnivore Labs. The breed tends so much toward unhealthy obesity that shortens their lives and restricts their joy in movement. These girls dream of stolen birthday treats soon.

And, that is all I have! Talk to you next week, if perhaps briefly.

🦋💙 tish

… it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give — yes or no, or maybe —
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
— William Stafford, “A Ritual to Read to Each Other”

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