Under its leafage he read the constitution of the
new colony. It would be too great a stretch of fancy to call it a
democratic document, for it was not that, except in deft phrases.
Power was certainly declared to be vested in the people; but the
substance of power remained in the hands of the Proprietors.
Terms for land grants were generous enough in the beginning,
although Henderson made the fatal mistake of demanding
quitrents--one of the causes of dissatisfaction which had led to
the Regulators' rising in North Carolina. In September he
augmented this error by more than doubling the price of land,
adding a fee of eight shillings for surveying, and reserving to
the Proprietors one-half of all gold, silver, lead, and sulphur
found on the land. No land near sulphur springs or showing
evidences of metals was to be granted to settlers. Moreover, at
the Company's store the prices charged for lead were said to be
too high--lead being necessary for hunting, and hunting being the
only means of procuring food--while the wages of labor, as fixed
by the Company, were too low. These terms bore too heavily on
poor men who were risking their lives in the colony.
Hence newcomers passed by Boonesborough, as the Transylvania
settlement was presently called, and went elsewhere.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142