Editing Wilmington, North Carolina (section)

===Revolutionary era===
[[File:Bellamy Mansion in Wilmington, NC IMG 4280.JPG|thumb|The [[Bellamy Mansion]] draws many tourists annually to downtown.]]
[[File:U.S. Courthouse, Wilmington, NC IMG 4357.JPG|thumb|[[Alton Lennon Federal Building and Courthouse]], the backdrop of [[Andy Griffith]]'s ''[[Matlock (1986 TV series)|Matlock]]'' [[television series]]]]
Due to Wilmington's commercial importance as a major port, it had a critical role in opposition to the British in the years leading up to the revolution. The city had outspoken political leaders who influenced and led the resistance movement in North Carolina. The foremost of these was Wilmington resident [[Cornelius Harnett]], who was serving in the [[General Assembly of North Carolina|General Assembly]] at the time, and where he rallied opposition to the [[Sugar Act]] in 1764. When the [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament]] passed the [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]] the following year, designed to raise revenue for [[the Crown]] with a kind of tax on shipping, Wilmington was the site of an elaborate demonstration against it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Stamp Act Crisis in North Carolina |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/stamp-act-crisis-north |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=NCpedia}}</ref>

On October 19, 1765, several hundred townspeople gathered in protest of the new law, burned an effigy of one town resident who favored the act, and toasted to "Liberty, Property, and No Stamp Duty." On October 31, another crowd gathered in a symbolic funeral of "Liberty". Before the effigy was buried, though, Liberty was found to have a pulse, and celebration ensued.<ref name="Saunders">William L. Saunders, ed. ''The Colonial Records of North Carolina'', 10 vols. Raleigh, NC: P.M. Hale, 1886–1980. 7: pp. 124–25, 131, 143.</ref><ref>E. Lawrence Lee. ''The Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days''. Chapel Hill, NC: Univ of North Carolina Press, 1965. p. 245.</ref>

William Houston of [[Duplin County, North Carolina|Duplin County]] was appointed stamp receiver for Cape Fear. When Houston visited Wilmington on business, still unaware of his appointment, he recounted,

<blockquote>"The Inhabitants immediately assembled about me & demanded a Categorical Answer whether I intended to put the Act relating [to] the Stamps in force. The Town Bell was rung[,] Drums [were] beating, Colours [were] flying and [a] great concourse of People [were] gathered together." For the sake of his own life, and "to quiet the Minds of the inraged {{sic}} and furious Mobb...," Houston resigned his position at the courthouse.<ref name="Saunders" /><ref>Donna J. Spindel. "Law and Disorder: The North Carolina Stamp Act Crisis"''North Carolina Historical Review'', 56: 1981. p. 8.</ref></blockquote>

Governor [[William Tryon]] made attempts to mitigate the opposition, to no avail. On November 18, 1765, he pleaded his case directly to prominent residents of the area. They said the law restricted their rights. When the stamps arrived on November 28 on [[HMS Diligence (1756)|HMS ''Diligence'']], Tryon ordered them to be kept on board. Shipping on the Cape Fear River was stopped, as were the functions of the courts.<ref name="Saunders" />

Tryon, after having received his official commission as governor (a position he had assumed only after the death of [[Arthur Dobbs]]), was brought to Wilmington by [[Constantine Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave|Captain Constantine Phipps]] on a barge from the ''Diligence'', and "was received cordially by the gentlemen of the borough." He was greeted with the firing of seventeen pieces of [[artillery]], and the New Hanover County Regiment of the North Carolina [[militia]], who had lined the streets. This "warm welcome" was spoiled, however, after a dispute arose between Captain Phipps and captains of ships in the harbor regarding the display of their colors. The townspeople became infuriated with Phipps and threats were made against both sides. After Tryon harangued them for their actions, the townspeople gathered around the barrels of punch and [[ox]] he had brought as refreshments. The barrels were broken open, letting the punch spill into the streets; they threw the head of the ox into the [[pillory]], and gave its body to the enslaved population. Because of the unrest, Tryon moved his seat of government to [[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]] instead of Wilmington.<ref name="Watson" /><ref>Paul David Nelson. ''William Tryon and the Course of Empire''. Chapel Hill, NC: Univ of North Carolina Press, 1990. pp. 42–43.</ref>

On February 18, 1766, two merchant ships arrived without stamped papers at [[Brunswick Town, North Carolina|Brunswick Town]]. Each ship provided signed statements from the collectors at their respective ports of origin that no were stamps available, but Captain Jacob Lobb of the British cruiser ''Viper'' seized the vessels. In response, numerous residents from southern counties met in Wilmington. The group organized as the [[Sons of Liberty]] and pledged to block implementation of the Stamp Act. The following day, as many as a thousand men, including the mayor and aldermen of Wilmington, were led by Cornelius Harnett to Brunswick to confront Tryon. The governor was unyielding, but a mob retrieved the seized ships. They forced royal customs officers and public officials in the region to swear never to issue stamped paper.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ingram |first=Hunter |title=Revolution came early in the Cape Fear with Stamp Act rebellion |url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2020/07/01/revolution-came-early-in-cape-fear-with-stamp-act-rebellion/113363348/ |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=Wilmington Star-News |language=en-US}}</ref> The Westminster Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in March 1766.