Among these insurgents there was a remarkable element, an element
whose influence upon the course of American history has been but
imperfectly understood which now looms into prominence as the
vanguard of the army of westward expansion. There were some of
the Regulators who, though law-abiding and conservative, were
deeply imbued with ideas of liberty, personal independence, and
the freedom of the soil. Through the influence of Benjamin
Franklin, with whom one of the leaders of the group, Herman
Husband, was in constant correspondence, the patriotic ideas then
rapidly maturing into revolutionary sentiments furnished the
inspiration to action. As early as 1766, the Sandy Creek leaders,
referred to earlier in this chapter, issued a call to each
neighborhood to send delegates to a gathering for the purpose of
investigating the question "whether the free men of this country
labor under any abuses of power or not." The close connection
between the Sandy Creek men and the Sons of Liberty is amply
demonstrated in this paper wherein the Sons of Liberty in
connection with the "stamp law" are praised: for "redeeming us
from Tyranny" and for having "withstood the lords in Parliament
in behalf of true liberty." Upon the records of the Dutchman's
Creek Church, of "regular" Baptists, at the Forks of the Yadkin,
to which Daniel Boone's family belonged, may be found this
memorable entry, recognizing the "American Cause" well-nigh a
year before the declaration of independence at Philadelphia: "At
the monthly meeting it was agreed upon concerning the American
Cause, if any of the brethren see cause to join it they have the
liberty to do it without being called to an account by the
church. But whether they join or do not join they should be used