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The Spirit of Mecklenburg

With "the spirit of Mecklenburg' in his heart and freedom's documents in his saddlebags, Captain James Jack mounted his horse and began the long journey to Philadelphia.
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The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was the first declaration of freedom for our country and was signed on May 20, 1775, 14 months prior to The United States Declaration of Independence. Captain James Jack left Charlotte on May 31,1775 to deliver the important news to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
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The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was the first declaration of freedom for our country and was signed on May 20, 1775, 14 months prior to The United States Declaration of Independence. Captain James Jack left Charlotte on May 31,1775 to deliver the important news to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

Captain James JackCharlotteJeff GrovesSpirit of MecklenburgChas Fagan

  • Untitled photo
  • The "Spirit of Mecklenburg" is a sculpture of Captain James Jack and was dedicated on May 20, 2010 by the May 20th Society and artist Chas Fagan to our beautiful city of Charlotte.
  • The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was the first declaration of freedom for our country and was signed on May 20, 1775, 14 months prior to The United States Declaration of Independence. Captain James Jack left Charlotte on May 31,1775 to deliver the important news to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
  • On May 20, 1775, twenty-seven men signed their names to this inflammatory document (contributing to Charlotte's nickname of the Hornet's Nest). The meeting reconvened on May 31st to draft a second document, the Mecklenburg Resolves, providing the workings of our local government. It took Captain Jack 23 days to make the journey from Charlotte to Philadelphia.
  • With "The Spirit of Mecklenburg' in his heart and freedom's documents in his saddlebags, Captain James Jack mounted his horse and began the long journey that we can only imagine today. He traced the steps of our early settlers, following the great wagon road through Salisbury into the Shenandoah Valley of Virgina and then on to Pennsylvania.
  • You can find "The Spirit of Mecklenburg" sculpture on the corner of Kings Drive and 4th Street. It represents the beginning of a new art project in Charlotte called The Trail of History. We owe a debt of gratitude to the May 20th Society for helping us remember that we were First in Freedom. (Now I understand why First in Freedom is the tag line on our license plates.)<br> Visit http://www.may20thsociety.org/ to learn more about their work.
  • Chas Fagan was present for the unveiling of "The Spirit of Mecklenburg" on May 20, 2010. Chas is a nationally recognized artist and we are fortunate to be able to call him a Charlottean. Chas grew up in Brussels, graduated from Yale University and currently resides in Charlotte. You can visit <a href="http://www.chasfagan.com/">http://www.chasfagan.com/</a> to learn more about the artist.
  • Captain Jack's ride was as significant to the birth of our nation as the ride of Paul Revere. He just didn't have the right poet tell his story.
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