This bronze marker is located at the Square to commemorate two significant events in Mecklenburg County's history. The inscription reads, `Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, May 20, 1775 and the Battle of Charlotte September 16, 1780. Credit: The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
In case you missed it, on Tuesday of this week Commissioner Ridenhour and the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners (#MeckBOCC) proclaimed May 20 as MeckDec Day, honoring the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence created on May 20, 1775.
The following day, our friends over at Charlotte Agenda wrote an excellent piece on why you should care about MeckDec Day, and I have to say, there were some pretty compelling points made that I hadn’t considered before, even as a native Charlottean. It’s great that our county officials made this step purely on the basis of historical significance. But additionally, publicly recognizing MeckDec Day paves the way for city and countywide celebratory gestures in the future, to include school and government facility closures allowing residents to celebrate the day much in the way “Patriot Day” is done in Boston in April. It’s an interesting thought. This would go a long way towards public awareness of the fact that the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence or the Mecklenburg Resolves existed.
It's also worth mentioning that the date of the signing of the MeckDec is on the North Carolina "First in Freedom" license plate:
The article highlights some cool events taking place today and over the weekend, the first of which starts at noon today (Friday) at the Square in Uptown, so give it a read. A key take away from the piece is their call to action to get residents to volunteer their time for the benefit of someone else today, MeckDec Day!
As I read it, I was also selfishly happy that I had already completed and presented 2 separate Fact Friday blog posts related to the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence:
Fact Friday 9 – Charlotte Liberty Walk
Fact Friday 40 – Scandal Over the 'Meck Dec'
As an aside, is it spooky that the blog post numbers are ‘40’ and ‘9’ and this one is ‘49’…and that each of the 704 Shop owners is a UNCC ‘49er? I’ll answer for you. Yes.
Be sure to check out the Charlotte Five article on the same topic. It mentions that some of the actual documents will be on display at Founders Hall today! How cool is that!
Until next week!
Chris.
Email me at chris@704Shop.com if you have interesting Charlotte facts you’d like to share or just to provide feedback!
Find all previous Fact Friday blog posts by clicking here.
“We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.” – Frederick Douglass