Fact or folklore? Explore the debate over the Mecklenburg Declaration and the very real Mecklenburg Resolves that followed. A bold stand—or the birth of a legend?

In this episode, host Donald Bryson is joined by Dan Gibson, attorney and adjunct law professor at Wake Forest University, to explore the mystery of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. In May 1775, citizens of Mecklenburg County may have boldly declared independence from Britain—more than a year before Jefferson’s famous document. Was it fact, myth, or misremembered history? Bryson and Gibson unpack the evidence, the controversy, and how this moment helped cement North Carolina’s claim as “First in Freedom.”