One year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia brave patriots assembled in Pitt County Courthouse and in peril of their lives pledged allegiance to the Pitt Association in protest against British tyranny. Their early resolute action placed Pitt County in the forefront of the colonial movements for freedom which led North Carolina to become the first colony to vote explicit sanction to American independence.

James Hancock was a signer of the Pitt Pledge of Allegiance on July 1, 1775.