On
May 16, 1771, a group of rebellious backcountry farmers who called
themselves “Regulators” met the loyalist militia of Governor William
Tryon in open battle in Alamance County. The spark for this conflict was growing resentment in the Carolina
colony against the taxes, dishonest sheriffs and illegal fees imposed
by the British Crown. In response, the Regulators were formed and began
to fight back. Though the rebellion was crushed, a few years later their
tactics became a model for the colonists fighting the British in the
American Revolutionary War.Source: North Carolina Department of Cultural and Natural Resources
