Noeleen Mcilvenna's A Very Mutinous People

Though often dubbed the “Rip Van Winkle” state for its backwards nature, North Carolina has long been forward thinking in terms of its independence. The people that have filled the region, from its earliest formation in the middle of the 17th century as the Albemarle colony, have been progressive thinkers, impacting the formation of its government. The state’s unique history is characterized by bold personalities, distinguishing its path from its fellow colonies in interesting, if sometimes violent, ways. As history professor Noeleen McIlvenna proves in her book, A Very Mutinous People, the settlers of North Carolina were early pioneers in rejecting outside rule, creating strong local government, and providing rights and privileges to its citizens. …show more content…
Geographic features that were not seen beneficial elsewhere, such as swampy landscapes, helped new settlers secure the isolation they desired. McIlvenna proves the importance of the state’s geography in relationship to the colonists’ preferred lack of interference by stating,“the settlers carved out an independent society on a dangerous coast with no luxuries save one: the opportunity to answer to no one but themselves” (1). Unfortunately, a charter was soon created pulling these settlers back into the British Empire. It was difficult for the group who had been running their own government to find themselves back under outside authority, and ensuing rebellions were not surprising. The author dedicates the majority of the work to describing the multiple significant rebellions that occurred in response to increased intrusion of government, diving deeply into both Culpeper's Rebellion and Cary’s Rebellion. When discussing Culpeper’s Rebellion of 1677, McIlvenna uses declarations of its leader against the government of ‘“hee denied a free election of an Assembly”’ and economic cheating to connect this outrage to that of the Regulators and revolutionaries in the next century (57). When she discusses Cary’s