May 20th has long been known as MeckDec Day here in the Queen City. It’s the day that, as the legend says, Mecklenburg Militia members came together to create a document that declared Mecklenburg County as free and independent from England in May of 1775, over year before the American Declaration of Independence. It’s a great story, that the idea of our independence started in a log courthouse in a small hamlet called Charlotte…. But is it true? It’s a controversial debate that’s been going on since our country was still in its infancy, and no one seems to have been able to bury the hatchet as to the Mecklenburg Declaration’s existence, or lack thereof. On this MeckDec Day, we’re joined by the author of a new book that lays out what we DO know, the arguments for and against the truth of the existence of the document and we’ll take you through all of it. Could it be real, or just a great local legend?
Guest
Scott Syfert - corporate attorney, cofounder of the May 20th Society and author of The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775.