GENESIS OF AGRARIANISM IN THE U. S. 105 



In 1679 Lord Culpepper succeeded Berkeley as Gov- 

 ernor. By this time the royal commissioners recog- 

 nized the necessity of making overtures to the dis- 

 contented farmers. A call was made for a free 

 expression of grievances. This resulted in a 

 "charter" of privileges which received the approval 

 of the King and produced a number of reforms. 



It was about this time that tobacco planters re- 

 sorted to the practice of destroying the growing 

 crops to relieve over-production which had caused 

 low prices. 



Thus the spirit of protest against injustice and 

 the conflict between class interests produced social 

 discontent and political commotion in the Colony 

 of Virginia. It required a long time to establish 

 social order in the colonies, where charter rights pro- 

 duced great inequalities and where indifferent or 

 arbitrary administration of land laws made possible 

 a system of land tenure which caused great discon- 

 tent among the farm population. 



The quit-rent controversy in North Carolina 

 represented another aspect of agricultural protest 

 that developed during the colonial period. The 

 assessment of quit-rents took both the form of a tax, 

 and of rent for the use of the land. When it was 

 assessed by proprietary interests, it was classified as 

 a rent, but when fixed by the British government it 

 took the nature of a tax. Great opposition developed 

 to the payment of quit-rents. There was much more 

 objection to paying this rent when assessed by pro- 



