Regulators were landowning protestors who organized in North and South Carolina in the 1760s and 1770s to demand that the eastern-controlled government provide western districts with more courts, fairer taxation, and greater representation in the assembly. They carried out a rebellion known as the War of the Regulation.
Explanation:
In 1764, several thousand people from North Carolina, mostly from Orange, Anson, and Granville, were very dissatisfied with the wealthy government figures, as they were perceived as vicious, self-deprecating, tyrannical, and corrupt. Local sheriffs collected taxes, and supported by the courts, these two institutions had control over their local regions. The whole system depended on the righteousness of the officials, but no power controlled the power. Many of the government officials were greedy, many of them extortionate common people, taxes that were collected often enriched the government officials themselves.
Efforts to remove this board became known as the War of the Regulation. The most affected areas must have been Rowan, Anson, Orange, Granville, and Cumberland. There was a conflict between the predominantly lower class, which made up the majority of the hinterland population in North and South Carolina, on the one hand, and the wealthy plantation owners, who made up the minority, perhaps around five percent of the population, but who had control over the legislation, administration and management. The stated goal of the regulators was to form an honest government without corruption and reduce taxation. The wealthy businessmen and politicians who ruled North Carolina perceived this as a serious threat to their power. They were transported into the militia which crushed the rebellion and hanged the rebels. The rebellion was subsequently considered a catalyst for the American War of Independence by waging war on corrupt government officials representing the British Crown. Almost 300 regulators became part of the patriotic movement while only around 30 retained their loyalty to the British crown.
