Regulator Movement

War of the Regulation
British Royal Governor William Tryon confronts the North Carolina Regulators in 1771.
Date 1765–1771 Location Central North Carolina Result Colonial government victory
Belligerents
Regulators	North Carolina Provincial Militia, Province of North Carolina
Commanders and leaders
Herman Husband James Hunter James Few (POW) Charles Harrington † Benjamin Merrill (POW)	William Tryon Hugh Waddell
Strength
2,300+	1,500
Casualties and losses
unknown	unknown

Herman Husband
James Hunter
James Few (POW)
Charles Harrington †

William Tryon

The War of the Regulation or the Regulator Movement was an uprising in the British North America's Carolina colonies, lasting from about 1765 to 1771, in which citizens took up arms against colonial officials. Though the rebellion did not change the power structure, some historians consider it a catalyst to the American Revolutionary War.

The origins of the War of Regulation stem from a dramatic population increase in North and South Carolina in the 1760s, following migration from the larger eastern cities to the rural west. The inland section of the colonies had once been predominantly composed of planters with an agricultural economy.

Merchants and lawyers began to move west, upsetting the social and political structure. They were joined by new Scots-Irish immigrants, who populated the backcountry.

At the same time, the local inland agricultural community suffered from a deep economic depression because of severe droughts throughout the previous decade. The loss of crops cost farmers not only their direct food source but also their primary means of an income, which led many to rely on the goods being brought by newly arrived merchants. As income was cut off, the local planters often fell into debt. The merchants, in turn, relied on lawyers and the court to settle disputes. Debts were common at the time, but from 1755 to 1765, the cases brought to the docket increased nearly sixteen-fold, from seven annually to 111 in Orange County, North Carolina, alone.

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