May 19, 2020

Scott Syfert’s “The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775″”

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:16:34 — 70.3MB)

In this episode 106, we visit with Scott Syfert, author of The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775, and we explore the facts behind the controversy as to whether Mecklenburg County was first to declare independence from Great Britain.

Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker, says: “Scott Syfert has rescued and brought vividly to life a little-known story of our Revolutionary past and the urgent need by our ancestors for freedom.”

President John Adams called the controversy over the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence “one of the greatest curiosities and one of the deepest mysteries that ever occurred to me.”

Andrew Roberts, author of “Storm of War” and “Masters and Commanders” calls the book, “One of the finest pieces of historical detective work I’ve ever read…engaging, scholarly and wholly convincing.”

Scott starts the show with a reading from the Prologue, where early on the morning of Friday, May 19, 1775, John McKnitt Alexander of Mecklenburg County rode his horse along a narrow path toward the small village of Charlotte.

Find the book:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17940432-the-mecklenburg-declaration-of-independence

Connect with the author

https://www.facebook.com/scott.syfert

Connect with the May 20^th Society

http://may20thsociety.org

https://www.facebook.com/May20thSociety/

https://www.instagram.com/meckdec/

Check out Charlotte’s early history at the Charlotte Museum of History

Tour the homesite of Hezekiah Alexander, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.

The Revolutionary War-era home of Hezekiah Alexander is located on the grounds of the Charlotte Museum of History. Built in 1774, this two-story stone house is the oldest surviving structure in Mecklenburg County and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house was preserved through the efforts of area chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution starting in 1949. A second era of restoration was begun in 1969 by preservation architects and craftsmen drawing on archaeological evidence and using construction materials and techniques of the mid-1700s. Thanks to their efforts and the tireless determination of staff and volunteers to locate authentic period furniture, visitors can see the home as it might have looked when Hezekiah and Mary Alexander and their ten children lived there.

For more information about the Museum and the homesite, click this link:

https://charlottemuseum.org/about/hezekiah-alexander-homesite/

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About the Author

Scott Syfert is a co-founder of the May 20th Society whose goal is to continue the commemoration of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence but more broadly to celebrate Charlotte’s revolutionary spirit. The Society has brought many national historians to speak in Charlotte, including David McCullough and Ken Burns; completed the Charlotte Liberty Walk; and erected a statue to Captain James Jack on the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.

Scott’s first book is The First Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775 (2013) a definitive study of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence Controversy, and his latest book is Eminent Charlotteans (2018).

To pay the bills, Scott is a partner at Moore & Van Allen, where he practices business and corporate law with a focus on international business transactions. He studied history and political science as an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill and the London School of Economics. He received his Master’s Degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill. Scott is Vice Chairman of the Trail of History; and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art; and was named among Who’s Who Legal M&A and Governance (2015, 2018); Best Lawyers in America for Corporate Law (2013-2018); and North Carolina Super Lawyers (2012-2015).

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The Mecklenburg Resolves, the document that survived. Supporters believe that the Mecklenburg Declaration burned in a fire.

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