Abstract:
Between the end of royal government and the creation of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, local committees of safety assumed roles of provisional governance. When other locals disagreed with or criticized the actions taken by the new committees, serious consequences could occur. One example is provided by the response taken in New Hanover County by the Wilmington Safety Committee to the so-called “Musquetoe,” a scandalous set of hand-drawn and privately circulated caricatures of members of safety committees in the Lower Cape Fear.