Letters+to+the+Governor

Narrative:

It was April of 1764 and in North Carolina we had a governor, Arthur Dobbs, and a newly obtained lieutenant governor by the name of William Tryon. I had been observing the political development of our state and I did think we needed a new governor. William Tryon gained his title through family connections, which we all know is shady, but after following his family for quite some years, this might be just what North Carolina needed. On April 22, 1764 I decided to send lieutenant governor Tryon a congratulations letter letting him know he had my support for his future endeavors. My letter explained how unhappy I was with our current governor, I wished him well in the rest of his journey, but I was anxious to see where Tryon would take us. I revealed that I heard about the controversy between the two men and assured him it would end soon. I decided I did not see the importance of Tryon knowing who the letter was from exactly, considering I did not want any response, so I signed “a concerned citizen.” Later on, in March of 1765, Governor Dobbs died. His successor was obviously William Tryon. July 12, 1765 I wrote Tryon another letter. This time my letter had a slightly different tone. I again congratulated Tryon, because at this time he really was the governor of North Carolina, but I also wanted him to know that we, the citizens, knew what was going on. We knew that times were tough for not just the people, but more seriously the government. With that I was hoping he would take the people of North Carolina into higher consideration when using our state’s money. I thought encouraging his idea of expanding the Church of England throughout North Carolina would give him a positive critique and he would know I was on his side; therefore, when I let him know I did not agree with the Stamp Act that was put in place he would truly think of what it was doing to North Carolinians. I let him know that I was praying for the money situation to get better and we should all take time aside to be thankful for the things we have. I ended this letter with a quote from my momma, “when life gets tough, give yourself to God,” in hopes he would make good changes. That letter had both positive and negative words included in it. I was really concerned about the Stamp Act and I wanted him to know that, but I also knew he was dealing with a lot of problems left from the previous governor, so encouragement to stay strong and do what is right was a necessity. I still decided to sign this letter “a concerned citizen” for the same reasons as stated earlier. Winter was hitting us hard. Five years had passed and times were still tough and getting tougher. February 2, 1770 I again sent a letter to Governor Tryon. This letter was much more direct. I brutally told Tryon how although I did not expect any response from him I did expect my concerns to be taken into serious consideration. I was disappointed with the way he handled the Stamp Act and requested the troops to enforce such an act. I told him I still had hope that he would correct this situation. The letter continued to discuss the new Governor’s Palace. I reinforced him with positive feedback on completing Tyron’s Palace and then followed that with the note that the extra taxes had left me and my family poor. We had already had our taxes raised and the new raise was just simply too much. I agreed that the house would serve as a “monument of opulance and elegance,” but it should have been planned on a tighter budget. At this time, the news around Raleigh was that Governor Tryon did not think North Carolina workers would be able to construct such a building; therefore, he went and hired workers from Philadelphia to break our bank even more. I finished the letter by informing him that I hoped he would re-think the taxes and make North Carolina a more comfortable state to live in, signed “a concerned citizen.” A few more summer, winters, springs and falls passed us while the political development of North Carolina improving very little. It is now July 15, 1771 and here is my letter to William Tryon… I had hope in you, but you let me and the rest of North Carolina down. The Regulator movement was expected to make you realize what you have done (tax abuse and fraud). Unfortunately, you “suppressed” the movement with help of the militia. The way you handled that situation gave citizens an eye opening experience. You have done nothing but raise taxes and cause anger for North Carolinians. I am happy you decided to leave our state after your governorship ended and I wish you never to return. New York shall be forewarned. Sincerely, Joseph Martin The state of North Carolina is now in my hands and I have better plans to make this beautiful Tar Heel state a place of “opulence and elegance” for all.

LESSON PLAN: PART TWO: **What I want students to know:** This lesson will be focusing on North Carolinas development both physically and politically, with a larger concentration on the political stand point. I want to discuss the Proclamation of 1763 and all the acts passed during the building of NC. We will look at William Tryon and his family background. I want students to understand what Tryon did as a Governor, both good and bad. I would like them to be able to understand what was being forced on the citizens of NC by Tryon and its immense effects. I do not want them to have a bad association with Tryon's Palace so we will further discuss the building and it's history and smoothly transition into the next governors and the building the Governor's Mansion in Raleigh. **Facilitate**: This will definitely be a SCIM-C lesson. I will find primary sources from citizens or just Tryon and other political figures during 1763-1771 and have my students visit at least two letters from different people and different years, preferably one in 163-64 and 1770-71, then write their SCIM-C. After this is completed we will discuss their findings and inferences as we make connections to what really did happen by using the Tryon's Palace website and mini lectures on William Tryon. As a class we will create a timeline of the events from 1763-1771 in NC. If we have time I would like this lesson to conclude with a debate over the issues Tryon was faced with. **What the students learned:** The SCIM-C will be reviewed by me with comments attached, it will be graded. The class discussion will be checked as participation points. The class timeline will have the students work in groups so each group will be responsible for a few years and what they post will be read and graded. If time allows the debate will be assessed my participation and how reliable the points they make are. They will get an overall grade for participating in everything and a performance grade.

//From Dr. Lee// - good work here, you just need to convert the ideas from the letter format to a story format. You might want to make your "concerned citizen" the central character in your story.