name of
"Regulators." The "Scovillites," or government party, and the
Regulators met in arms on the Saluda in 1769, but hostilities were
averted and remedial measures passed, which alleviated the difficulty
until the Revolution.[117:1] There still remained, however, the
grievance of unjust legislative representation.[117:2] Calhoun stated
the condition in these words:

The upper country had no representation in the government and
no political existence as a constituent portion of the state
until a period near the commencement of the revolution.
Indeed, during the revolution, and until the formation of the
present constitution, in 1790, its political weight was
scarcely felt in the government. Even then although it had
become the most populous section, power was so distributed
under the constitution as to leave it in a minority in every
department of government.

Even in 1794 it was claimed by the up-country leaders that four-fifths
of the people were governed by one-fifth. Nor was the difficulty met
until the constitutional amendment of 1808, the effect of which was to
give the control of the senate to the lower section and of the house of
representatives to the upper section, thus providing a mutual
veto.[117:3] This South Carolina experience furnished the historical
basis for Calhoun's argument for nullification, and for the political
philosophy underlying his theory of the "concurrent majority."[118:1]
This adjustment was effected, however, only after the advance of the
black belt toward the interior had assimilated portions of the Piedmont
to lowland ideals.

When we turn to North Carolina's upper country we find the familiar
story, but with a more tragic ending. The local officials owed their
selection to the governor and the council whom he appointed. Thus power
was all concentrated in the official "ring" of the lowland area. The men
of the interior resented the extortionate fees and the poll tax, which
bore with unequal weight upon the poor settlers of the back country.
This tax had been continued after sufficient funds had been collected to
extinguish the debt for which it was originally levied, but venal
sheriffs had failed to pay it into the treasury. A report of 1770 showed
at least one defaulting sheriff in every county of the province.[118:2]
This tax, which was almost the sole tax of the colony, was to be
collected in specie, for the warehouse system, by wh