Confiscation Acts

Confiscation Acts were passed by the North Carolina General Assembly from 1776 through the 1780s to confiscate the property of Loyalists. This was done to punish and control the Loyalists as well as to obtain income for the state. Most of the confiscated real estate was sold in 1786 and 1787 and netted the North Carolina about £600,000. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 had provided that Congress would recommend to state legislatures the restitution of confiscated property. It also stipulated that there would be no future confiscations. The states virtually ignored both provisions. The judicial case of Bayard v. Singleton arose over the issue of confiscation and established the principle of judicial review in North Carolina.