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Crest of John Harvey. Image from The North Carolina Booklet, July 1909.
Crest of John Harvey. Image from The North Carolina Booklet, July 1909.
"First in Freedom" is a slogan referring to the action of an assembly of representatives in colonial North Carolina that adopted a nonimportation agreement on 2 Nov. 1769. This document "took measures for preserving the true and essential interests of the province," according to Assembly Speaker John Harvey. The action was in line with the sentiments of many other colonies, which were resisting such measures as the Stamp Act, an act allowing Parliament the right to levy taxes in the colonies. This was reputedly the first time such a legislative body took action in protest of Parliament's right to tax the colonies. Some historians believe that the slogan "First in Freedom" refers to the Halifax Resolves, the first official state action urging a declaration of independence from England.

References:

Hugh T. Lefler and William S. Powell, Colonial North Carolina: A History (1973).

Powell, North Carolina through Four Centuries (1989).

Additional Resources:

Connor, R. D. W. History of North Carolina. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co. 1919.  https://archive.org/stream/historyofnorthca01conn#page/334/mode/2up

Connor, R. D. W. "John Harvey" The North Carolina Booklet 8. Number 1. July 1908. p. 3-42. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/north-carolina-booklet-great-events-in-north-carolina-history-1908-july-v.8-no.1/413702?item=454305 (accessed August 16, 2012).

Image Credits:

Crest of John Harvey. Image from The North Carolina Booklet 8, number 1,  July 1908. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/north-carolina-booklet-great-events-in-north-carolina-history-1908-july-v.8-no.1/413702?item=454305

Citation

Orvedahl, Ginny. ""First in Freedom"." NCpedia. Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press. Accessed on March 5th, 2025. https://www.ncpedia.org/first-freedom.