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Foreword
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| The early history of the United States is replete with heroes and villains, legendary figures of Olympian stature who changed not only our young nation but the world through thought, speech, and action. One of the most intriguing figures of this formative age was Herman (Harmon) Husband (1724-1796), an early settler of what would become Somerset County. Variously described as a patriot, a zealot, and even a lunatic, Husband played a major role in two key events that helped shape the evolution of democracy in the United States — the War of the Regulation in North Carolina (1771–1772), and the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. Born in Maryland, Husband was raised in the Anglican Church but later embraced the Quaker faith. Husband’s fervent beliefs drew him to settle on the North Carolina frontier, where he saw the opportunity to fashion a New Jerusalem with a just government that would guarantee the economic liberty and religious freedoms necessary to allow mankind to prosper. Husband’s utopian vision was put to a severe test in the mid-1760s. North Carolinians on the western frontier became increasingly disturbed by what they saw as the tyrannical rule of the colony’s eastern elites, particularly corrupt officials who manipulated tax laws for their own personal enrichment. Husband emerged as the unofficial leader of members of the opposition movement, who became known as the Regulators. A skilled pamphleteer, Husband advocated winning over public sentiment to their cause through constructive engagement with the government and was elected to the North Carolina Assembly in 1769. In reality, Husband had little control over the Regulator movement, some of whose members increasingly resorted to acts of violence. Husband was soon forced from the Assembly, and overt combat broke out between the Regulators and North Carolina militia led by the Royal Governor, Lord William Tryon. The War of the Regulation, as it came to be known, was settled at the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771, in which government militia crushed the Regulator rebellion outright. Husband tried to the end to dissuade his fellow Regulators from fighting, but in the aftermath of the rebellion he was named an outlaw and forced to flee North Carolina, resettling on the western Pennsylvania frontier. The ensuing years of difficult pioneer life did nothing to dim Husband’s vision of a utopian frontier democracy, however. The revolution that ultimately freed the American colonies from English rule left the newly created United States of America saddled with heavy foreign debt. To raise funds in 1791 Congress passed an excise tax on distilled spirits. Western Pennsylvania farmers were outraged — there was little cash on the frontier to begin with, and given the difficulties of travel common to the region, farmers had no practical means of getting their crops to market other than converting them into portable distilled spirits. To add insult to injury, the tax was regressive — smaller producers of distilled spirits, most of whom were farmers, were taxed at a higher rate than larger commercial producers. Western farmers began a campaign of harassment against the federal tax collectors that by 1794 bordered on outright rebellion. The parallels with the Regulator movement were obvious. To Herman Husband it must have seemed all too familiar — once again he found himself a leading figure of frontier protest against an unresponsive government perceived to be in the service of an eastern elite. A delegate to the Parkinson’s Ferry and Redstone meetings in the summer of 1794, Husband advocated moderation, eschewing violence in favor of a campaign petitioning for the repeal of the tax. Events moved quickly beyond Husband’s control, however. An army of 13,000 militia under the personal command of President George Washington crushed the rebellion, and Husband was one of the first figures taken into custody. He was sent to Philadelphia, where he spent seven months languishing in prison before the charges against him were dropped. He was eventually freed, but the ordeal had broken his health. Herman Husband died shortly after being released. Considered an eccentric by many for his wild manner of speech and biblical references on the subject of political reform, Husband’s belief that the role of government was to ensure equality of opportunity for every citizen was in the finest republican tradition. Husband firmly believed that a better way of life and a perfect form of government could be had by one and all, provided one was willing to risk life and property to achieve it. Despite his religious zeal, Husband was a realist. He sought to work within existing frameworks of government, and placed the ultimate responsibility for creating perfect government squarely on the shoulders of the common man and the power of the ballot, entreating his fellow citizens to use their votes wisely, only after thoughtful and due consideration, an entreaty that still echoes today. Two centuries after Herman Husband’s death, the nature of American democracy is still the subject of impassioned debate. The publication of Husband’s long-lost pioneer journal provides rare insight into the life and thoughts of this complex and compelling man, as well as a snapshot of frontier life at a time when the future of our young nation was very unclear. This look into the lives of the pioneers who fashioned American democracy is a glimpse into our common past, a past that may yet help inform our future.
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