Marjoleine Kars in Breaking Loose Together: The Regulator Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina attempts to shed light on what has previously been a under examined conflict out shined by the revolutionary war. Kars explores the defiance of frontier piedmont farmers who took up arms against a corrupt government that was happy filling their wallets, at the expensive of the farmers. She follows the regulators story from their oppression by corrupt official to the battle of Alamance, using a plethora of primary sources along the way. Kars attempt to discover the regulators origins forces her to focus on four main points of economics, religion, politics and war to help explain how farmers were pushed so far they had no other option but to
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After unsuccessful attempts to fight the unjust elites the legal way at assembly’s or through petition the regulators had finally had enough. The regulators took up arms against the government upwards of 2000 of them in hope to finally get the justice they deserved. However it would end as soon as it began with a colonial militia stomping out the rebels by the end of the battle of Alamance “around 20 regulators were killed, along with about 9 militiamen” a small number but if the fighting were to continue surely many more regulators would have died. (201) however this was not the end for the regulators their tales continued to be told and some even stayed loyal to their leaders. “Even Though Regulators had been defeated as an organized movement, individually remained defiant and continued to support their former leaders.” (211) Reading Kars story of the regulators I feel as if I was their while the events unfolded because of the amount of primary sources she uses. She is able to paint a picture of the hardships they had to endure you actually begin to feel bad for them. Her work here does a great service to history overall shedding light on an issue that should not have been as underreported as it is. Hopefully because of Kars work here the forgotten North Carolina regulators story can to the forefront of North Carolina
After unsuccessful attempts to fight the unjust elites the legal way at assembly’s or through petition the regulators had finally had enough. The regulators took up arms against the government upwards of 2000 of them in hope to finally get the justice they deserved. However it would end as soon as it began with a colonial militia stomping out the rebels by the end of the battle of Alamance “around 20 regulators were killed, along with about 9 militiamen” a small number but if the fighting were to continue surely many more regulators would have died. (201) however this was not the end for the regulators their tales continued to be told and some even stayed loyal to their leaders. “Even Though Regulators had been defeated as an organized movement, individually remained defiant and continued to support their former leaders.” (211) Reading Kars story of the regulators I feel as if I was their while the events unfolded because of the amount of primary sources she uses. She is able to paint a picture of the hardships they had to endure you actually begin to feel bad for them. Her work here does a great service to history overall shedding light on an issue that should not have been as underreported as it is. Hopefully because of Kars work here the forgotten North Carolina regulators story can to the forefront of North Carolina