A History of North Carolina in the Proprietary Era, 1629-1729 | Lindley S. Butler

470 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 28 halftones, 5 maps, 5 tables, notes, bibl., index

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-6756-0
Published: May 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-6755-3
Published: May 2022
E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-1-4696-6757-7
Published: March 2022
E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-5452-0
Published: March 2022

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In this book, Lindley S. Butler traverses oft-noted but little understood events in the political and social establishment of the Carolina colony. In the wake of the English Civil Wars in the mid-seventeenth century, King Charles II granted charters to eight Lords Proprietors to establish civil structures, levy duties and taxes, and develop a vast tract of land along the southeastern Atlantic coast. Butler argues that unlike the New England theocracies and Chesapeake plantocracy, the isolated colonial settlements of the Albemarle—the cradle of today’s North Carolina—saw their power originate neither in the authority of the church nor in wealth extracted through slave labor, but rather in institutions that emphasized political, legal, and religious freedom for white male landholders. Despite this distinct pattern of economic, legal, and religious development, however, the colony could not avoid conflict among the diverse assemblage of Indigenous, European, and African people living there, all of whom contributed to the future of the state and nation that took shape in subsequent years.

Butler provides the first comprehensive history of the proprietary era in North Carolina since the nineteenth century, offering a substantial and accessible reappraisal of this key historical period.

About the Author

Lindley S. Butler is professor emeritus of history at Rockingham Community College and former historian and lecturer on the Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project.
For more information about Lindley S. Butler, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

"Butler knows his stuff, he has mastered the primary sources, and he brings his subject to life. . . . History enthusiasts with an interest in North Carolina will love this book. It is rich in detail, chock-full of anecdotes, light on analysis and historiography, and eminently readable."—H-Early America

“Butler meticulously ties together disparate strands of colonial history to offer the first truly full-scale history of proprietary North Carolina.”—Jeffrey J. Crow, coeditor of New Voyages to Carolina

“A valuable compendium of elusive information that will be of great use to future researchers.”—Harry L. Watson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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North Carolina History

Colonial, Revolutionary Era & Early American History

History / United States: Southern

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