I | INTRODUCTION |
North
Carolina, state in the southeastern United States. It is bounded by
Virginia on the north, Tennessee on the west, and South Carolina and Georgia on
the south. The Atlantic Ocean forms its long irregular eastern boundary. Long an
important agricultural state, North Carolina is the nation’s leading producer of
tobacco. Since the 1920s, however, it has also been a major source of
manufactured goods, especially tobacco products, chemicals, textiles, and
furniture. Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina. Charlotte is the largest
city and the center of the state’s most populous metropolitan region.
The site of an early attempted English
settlement in the 1580s, North Carolina has played a significant role throughout
U.S. history. North Carolinians were leaders in the American Revolution
(1775-1783) and, through the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, contributed
significantly to the ultimate American victory. North Carolina joined the Union
on November 21, 1789, as the 12th of the original 13 states. Although hesitant
to join the Union in 1789, they were equally reluctant to leave it during the
American Civil War (1861-1865). However, once they joined the Confederacy, they
gave wholeheartedly of North Carolina’s men and wealth. The state has been a
pacesetter in internal improvements and public education. From a high sand dune
called Kill Devil Hill, located near Kitty Hawk on North Carolina’s Outer Banks,
Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful airplane flights in
1903.
North Carolina’s name is derived from the Latin
word Carolinus, meaning “of Charles.” The state was named in honor of
King Charles I and King Charles II of England by their friends and supporters
who were establishing colonies in the southern part of the Virginia colony. The
state is nicknamed the “Tar Heel State.” While time has obscured the source of
the name, some historians believe it refers to one of the state’s major
colonial-era products—tar—which was derived from slowly burning the stumps of
longleaf pine trees. More commonly accepted is that the name came about during
the Civil War. Some say the name may have originally been used derisively,
applied to North Carolina soldiers who could not hold a position against Union
troops because they had forgotten to “tar their heels” and thus could not stick
to their ground. Others contend the name was applied to North Carolina troops by
Confederate leaders as a tribute to their sticking quality during battle. The
state, once the northern part of the original Carolina colony, is also referred
to as the “Old North State.”
II | PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY |
North Carolina, 29th in size among the 50
states, has a total area of 139,391 sq km (53,819 sq mi), including 10,256 sq km
(3,960 sq mi) of inland water. Its maximum dimensions are 809 km (503 mi) from
east to west and 301 km (187 mi) from north to south. The state’s mean elevation
is about 210 m (700 ft).
A | Natural Regions |
Largely on the basis of its topography and
landforms North Carolina is often divided into three natural regions, or
physiographic provinces: the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, and the Blue
Ridge (or Mountain) province.
The Atlantic Coastal Plain makes up about 45
percent of the state (see Coastal Plain). It is a low, flat to gently
sloping plain that tilts slightly seaward. Much of the region is less than 75 m
(250 ft) above sea level. The western margin is marked by the Fall Line, in
actuality a zone where the rivers descend over small waterfalls and rapids from
the ancient, harder rock of the Piedmont to the more easily eroded sands, clays,
and shales of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. At the Fall Line the land of the
Coastal Plain rises in some places to elevations of 120 m (400 ft). The Coastal
Plain is actually a series of broad, very flat terraces or steps, which are
bounded on their western edges by abrupt rises in elevation that represent
ancient beach ridges. The easternmost of these terraces are poorly drained in
places, giving rise to large swampy areas or “pocosins,” an Algonquian word
meaning “swamp on high ground.” The Great Dismal Swamp is one of these pocosins.
Others are Holly Shelter Swamp and Green Swamp. The river valleys in the eastern
Coastal Plain were flooded by a rise in sea level since the end of the last
period of glaciation, creating the broad sounds and rivers, which are called
estuaries.
Most of the Atlantic Coastal Plain has a
sandy surface, and solid rock is very deep below many layers of sediments. Marsh
grass and water-tolerant trees cover the wetter areas. Pine forests occupy the
better-drained sandy sections.
The seaward part of the Atlantic Coastal
Plain, extending from 50 to 130 km (30 to 80 mi) inland, is usually referred to
as the Tidewater. Marshes, swamps, and lakes cover wide areas. The irregular
shoreline has numerous bays and sounds that penetrate westwardly into the
Coastal Plain. Sand dunes are numerous near the shore in many places. Low narrow
sandbars, called barrier islands, enclose quiet lagoons, or sounds, and provide
long stretches of attractive beaches. The outermost barrier islands are called
the Outer Banks, which enclose the large body of water known as Pamlico Sound.
At three locations along the coast—Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape
Fear—the sandbars project far out under the Atlantic Ocean, creating dangerous
shoals that are hazards to shipping. Just offshore from Cape Hatteras are the
treacherous Diamond Shoals, site of hundreds of shipwrecks. This coast is
nicknamed the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” North Carolina’s coastline measures
484 km (301 mi). The tidal shoreline, which includes islands, bays, and river
mouths, stretches for 5,432 km (3,375 mi).
The inner portion of the Atlantic Coastal
Plain is somewhat higher in elevation and much better drained than the outer
Coastal Plain. The gently rolling surface and light sandy soils have helped mold
it into a leading agricultural region. In its southwestern part, near the South
Carolina border, is found the Sandhills, a hilly area of ancient beach sand
dunes with heights up to 180 m (600 ft) above sea level. This area is known for
its peach orchards and for its winter golf resort areas.
North Carolina’s Piedmont is about the same
size as the Atlantic Coastal Plain, comprising about 45 percent of the state’s
area (see Piedmont Plateau). Lying between the Coastal Plain and the
Appalachian Mountains, this rolling to hilly transitional region ranges from 150
m (500 ft) above sea level in places on its eastern border to as much as 460 m
(1,500 ft) in the west.
The mountain region of North Carolina
occupies about 10 percent of the state. It is part of the southern portion of
the Appalachian Mountain province, which extends from New England in the north
to Alabama in the south. In the southern part of the Appalachian system, the
easternmost mountain ridge is called the Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge province
attains its greatest width, height, and ruggedness in the area along the North
Carolina-Tennessee border. In places the boundary between these two states
follows the crest of the mountain ridges. The region is divided into a number of
smaller mountain ranges. The easternmost range is specifically called the Blue
Ridge, while along the western margin lie several ranges, including the Unaka
Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains. Several ranges, such as the Black
Mountains and the Plott Balsam Mountains, connect the easternmost and
westernmost ranges, enclosing lower-lying basins and valleys. The Asheville
Basin, in the French Broad Valley, is the most significant.
The general elevation within the mountains
varies from 600 to 1,200 m (2,000 to 4,000 ft), with valleys considerably lower.
Many peaks are considerably higher; 50 exceed 6,000 ft (equivalent to 1,829 m).
Mount Mitchell in the Black Mountains, 2,037 m (6,684 ft) high, is the highest
point not only in the state but also in the entire eastern United States east of
the Black Hills of South Dakota.
B | Rivers and Lakes |
The drainage divide in North Carolina
follows the Blue Ridge range on the eastern margin of the mountain region. This
is called the “Eastern Continental Divide.” West of this divide, rivers drain
into the Mississippi River through the Tennessee River and other tributaries of
the Ohio River. The French Broad, the largest, and the Little Tennessee flow
into the Tennessee River. The New River flows into the Kanawha River of West
Virginia which in turn flows into the Ohio River.
Most of the state’s rivers flow
southeastward across the Piedmont and the Atlantic Coastal Plain. In the
mountains and in the Piedmont they are relatively swift-flowing streams. In
places the rivers have cut valleys 60 m (200 ft) or more below the upland
surface. Major rivers and their tributaries provide good drainage, and excellent
sites to use the rivers to generate electricity are numerous. Most rivers have
developed falls or rapids where they cross the Fall Line from the Piedmont into
the Atlantic Coastal Plain and become sluggish as they wend their way across the
flatter Coastal Plain. Floodplains are wide and river swamps are common.
The Cape Fear River, one of the principal
rivers in the state, begins in the Piedmont and flows southeastward as a stream
laden with yellow muds and silts until it converges with a large backwater
tributary known as the Northeast Cape Fear River. From the junction point of
these two rivers at Wilmington, a broad estuary is formed that flows south to
empty into the Atlantic Ocean at Smith Island just west of Cape Fear. The Neuse
and Tar-Pamlico rivers flow into different arms of the Pamlico Sound. The
Roanoke, Chowan, Perquimans, and Pasquotank rivers enter Albemarle Sound. The
New River (which is a different river from the New River in the Blue Ridge
province) empties into Onslow Bay. The Yadkin-Pee Dee, Catawba, Broad, and
Waccamaw rivers originate in North Carolina and reach the ocean through South
Carolina.
North Carolina’s few large natural lakes
are in the outer Coastal Plain. Lake Mattamuskeet, near Pamlico Sound, is the
largest. Lake Phelps, nearby, is second in size. Lake Waccamaw, near the South
Carolina border, is the state’s third largest lake. Of the numerous swamps, the
Great Dismal Swamp, astride the North Carolina-Virginia border, is the best
known.
C | Floods and Flood Control |
The rivers of the Atlantic Coastal Plain
flow through broad flat valleys and sometimes can cause damaging floods to large
areas. Flooding in the mountains and the Piedmont, however, is restricted more
to the immediate stream valleys. The early spring is usually the flood season,
but hurricanes in the late summer and autumn can sometimes cause tremendous
flood damage both along the coast and in the river valleys of the Piedmont and
mountains.
Most of the dams and reservoirs on the
Yadkin, Catawba, Roanoke, and other North Carolina rivers play a double role of
hydroelectric power production and flood control, although some dams are used
for power generation or for flood control only. By far the largest reservoir is
Lake Norman, on the Catawba River, completed in 1964. Others include Lake
Tillery, Badin Lake, High Rock Lake, and Wilkesboro reservoir on the Yadkin
River, and John L. Kerr Reservoir and Lake Gaston on the Roanoke River. Fontana,
Nantahala, and Cheoah reservoirs, in the west, are Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) multipurpose dams for both flood control and power.
D | Climate |
North Carolina has a humid subtropical
climate, with precipitation in all seasons and few temperature extremes.
D1 | Temperature |
In January temperatures average 4° to 7°C
(40° to 45°F) in most areas, except in the mountains, where the range is from 1°
to 3°C (34° to 38°F). There cold raw weather lasts much of the winter. In the
Coastal Plain and the Piedmont, cold spells are brief. On the highest peaks,
January averages are well below freezing and heavy snowfalls occur. July
temperatures range from an average of about 20°C (about 68°F) in the mountainous
regions to as high as 27° C (80°F) in the Coastal Plain. Hot days are common at
lower elevations, and temperatures occasionally rise into the upper 30°s C
(lower 100°s F). Summers are cooler in the mountains.
D2 | Precipitation |
Yearly precipitation averages 1,000 to
1,300 mm (40 to 50 in) over most of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Piedmont.
The sheltered basins and mountain valleys receive 1,000 mm (40 in). The
southern-facing slopes of the mountains in the extreme southwestern part of the
state receive about 2,000 mm (80 in) due to the moist prevailing winds blowing
northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Summer is the rainiest season, and autumn is
generally the driest, except that near the coast, autumn can be very rainy
because of tropical storms and hurricanes. Snowfall ranges from 25 to 250 mm (1
to 10 in) a year over the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Piedmont. In the
mountains annual snowfall averages as much as 1,300 mm (50 in) in places, and
the snow cover can last for several weeks at a time.
D3 | Growing Season |
At the low elevations the growing, or
frost-free, season is from seven to nine months long. The mountain region in the
northwestern part of the state has a growing season of as short as five
months.
E | Soils |
North Carolina’s well-drained mature soils
belong mainly to the group known as the red-yellow podzolic soils (ultisols),
that covers most of the southeastern United States. In the mountains are
gray-brown podzolic soils and a few small areas of podzols, two soil types that
are similar to the soils of the northeastern United States.
Most of the soils of the Atlantic Coastal
Plain are light colored and of sandy texture. They are low in most elements
essential to crop growth and are moderately to strongly acidic. Many of them
respond to proper treatment and become quite productive for agriculture when
limed and fertilized. Drainage is the major soil problem of the Atlantic Coastal
Plain.
Clay and clay loam textures typify
Piedmont soils, and stoniness is common. Many of the flatter upland areas and
some basins have light-colored sandy and sandy loam soils. The parent material,
which is derived from old deeply weathered crystalline rocks, is high in iron
oxide, which gives most Piedmont soils their distinctive red color. Piedmont
soils are richer in most essential elements than are most Coastal Plain soils.
Some of the Piedmont’s best crop soils are derived from water-laid, or alluvial,
materials on river floodplains and terraces.
Most of the mountain soils are thin,
stony, and not fully developed. At lower elevations are many red-yellow podzolic
soils typical of the Piedmont. In the higher parts the cooler climate accounts
for gray-brown podzolic soils. The best agricultural soils are on floodplains
and terraces in valleys and basins.
F | Plant Life |
Forests today cover 62 percent of North
Carolina’s total area. Originally they covered the entire land area, except for
grassy marshes and some bald treeless areas at high elevations. The highest
proportion of forest land exists where there is little farming, in the steep
mountains and the poorly-drained outer Coastal Plain.
The forests of the Atlantic Coastal Plain
consist largely of southern loblolly pines and longleaf pines. Cypresses, gums,
Atlantic white cedars, and other water-tolerant species are found in river
bottomlands and in Coastal Plain swamps. A rare carnivorous plant called the
Venus’s-flytrap is native to the swamps of southeastern North Carolina. The
coastal pine forests have been cut over repeatedly, and all that remains is
second-growth timber.
The forests of the Piedmont and the
mountains at the time of the European settlement consisted of red oaks, white
oaks, hickories, gums, yellow poplars, and other deciduous trees mixed with
smaller numbers of pines. Pines predominate in some parts of the Piedmont today,
but most of the region is covered by a mosaic of hardwood and pine stands. In
the mountains low temperatures, a shorter warm season and abundant rainfall have
favored northern species and abundant undergrowth. These species include the
maple, birch, beech, hemlock, fir, and spruce.
G | Animal Life |
Although North Carolina’s wildlife has
diminished over the years, it is still plentiful and varied. Land birds include
quail, doves, wild turkeys, and many songbirds. Ducks and geese are plentiful
near the coast. Most wooded areas have squirrels, rabbits, opossums, raccoons,
foxes, and other small game. Deer are widespread. Bears are not numerous but are
found in the mountains and the Coastal Plain swamps. Wild boar can be found in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Nantahala National Forest.
Snakes, including poisonous species such as rattlesnakes and water moccasins,
are common throughout the state, and even alligators are native to the
southeastern corner of the state. Most inland waters are stocked with fish,
including trout, bass, bream, and perch.
H | Conservation |
Twenty divisions of the North Carolina
Department of Environment and Natural Resources are responsible for aspects of
environmental quality. Included are the Division of Air Quality, which monitors
the quality of outdoor air (including problems such as smoke, haze, and noxious
fumes), and the Division of Water Quality, which monitors the quality of surface
and groundwater resources. Each of these agencies also carries out enforcement
actions against violators. The Division of Soil and Water Conservation conducts
programs to slow loss of topsoils, control agricultural pollution, protect
watersheds, and map wetlands.
In 2006 the state had 31 hazardous waste
sites on a national priority list for cleanup due to their severity or proximity
to people. Some progress was being made in efforts to reduce pollution; in the
period 1995–2000 the amount of toxic chemicals discharged into the environment
was reduced by 29 percent.
III | ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES |
From colonial times to the 1920s,
agriculture dominated the economy of North Carolina. Manufacturing surpassed
farming as a source of income in the 1920s and as a source of jobs, as well, by
the 1950s. In the late 1990s manufacturing remained the principal economic
activity, but government, commercial and financial services, and tourism also
were important. In addition, a large number of research and development
industries have been established in North Carolina, in facilities such as
Research Triangle Park, located between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.
Handicrafts, such as baskets and pottery are important products of the Blue
Ridge and Piedmont regions.
North Carolina had a work force of
4,465,000 in 2006. Of those, the largest share, 33 percent, worked in the
diverse services sector, doing such jobs as working in tourist facilities or
computer programming. Another 20 percent of the workers were employed in
wholesale and retail trade; 13 percent in manufacturing; 17 percent in federal,
state, or local government, including those in the military; 6 percent in
construction; 17 percent in finance, insurance, or real estate; 19 percent in
transportation or public utilities; and 3 percent in farming (including
agricultural services), forestry, or fishing. Only 0.2 percent held jobs in
mining. In 2005, 3 percent of North Carolina’s workers were unionized, one of
the lowest rates in the country. The state has a right-to-work law, which
prohibits union membership as a condition of employment.
A | Agriculture |
In 2005 there were 50,000 farms in North
Carolina. Of those farms, 40 percent had annual sales of more than $10,000. Many
of the remainder were sidelines for operators who held other jobs. Farmland
occupied 3.6 million hectares (8.9 million acres); crops were grown on 60
percent of the land. The rest was divided between pasture and woodlots.
Chickens and broilers and hogs outranked
all other agricultural products as sources of farm income, accounting for
three-fifths of total farm sales in 1997 and nine-tenths of all livestock sales.
North Carolina ranked first among the states in production of turkeys, second in
hogs, and fourth in broilers (young chickens used for meat). During the 1990s
huge hog farm operations began to dominate the rural countryside of the inner
Coastal Plain.
Tobacco growing was the dominant and
best-known agricultural activity in the state for many years. It is still the
leading crop, but in 1997 tobacco accounted for only one-seventh of total
agricultural sales. Soybeans are the most widely grown crop in North Carolina,
accounting for almost one-quarter of the harvested crop acreage, and corn is the
second leading crop by acreage planted. Cotton, the state’s leading crop as late
as 1952, went through a period of decline, but has become more important since
the early 1980s. Greenhouse and nursery items are now the second most valuable
crop group in the state’s agricultural economy.
The Atlantic Coastal Plain is North
Carolina’s leading agricultural region. It has nearly three-fifths of the
state’s cropland. About three-fifths of North Carolina’s tobacco acreage is in
the Coastal Plain. In the inner Coastal Plain, where sandy well-drained soil is
plentiful, the state’s tobacco crop is most abundant. Over wide areas it is
grown on practically every farm. Tobacco acreage is rigidly controlled by a
government quota system. Practically all Coastal Plain tobacco is the bright
leaf flue-cured kind, which is used almost exclusively for cigarettes.
Nearly three-fourths of North Carolina’s
corn acreage is in the Coastal Plain. Most of the state’s peanuts are raised in
the northeastern part of the plain. This peanut-growing region extends into
Virginia and is one of the leading peanut areas in the nation. Soybeans, sweet
potatoes, Irish potatoes, and a wide variety of vegetables are much more
important in the Coastal Plain than in other regions of North Carolina. Truck
farming is significant in the Morehead City and Wilmington areas. Faison, in
Duplin County, is one of the largest wholesale produce markets in the nation.
The Sandhills is the state’s main peach-producing area.
The Piedmont is less important than the
Atlantic Coastal Plain as a farming region. The heavily textured red clays and
clay loams are adapted to a variety of grains, hay crops, and pasture, but they
are not well suited to high-value cash crops. Soil erosion is a problem, but
much of the hillier land that was badly eroded is now used for profitable
livestock raising.
The Piedmont grows all the major crops
found in the Coastal Plain, except peanuts. Tobacco, largely bright leaf but
also some burley, is the leading money crop. The scale of production and acreage
quotas are much smaller than in the Coastal Plain, but farming methods are
similar. The Piedmont produces most of the state’s cotton crop, mainly in the
southern Piedmont.
Corn leads all Piedmont crops in acreage.
It is grown on most farms and is used mainly to feed stock. Among small grains,
winter wheat is grown largely as a cash crop. The growing of oats is second and
barley a distant third. Lespedeza leads all hay crops.
The Piedmont produces many of the state’s
cattle, with about equal numbers of beef and dairy animals. High-quality
Hereford, Angus, and other beef cattle are raised on many large livestock farms.
However, small farms produce most of the beef.
The mountains contain the least important
farming region. Most mountain farming is carried on in valleys, coves, and
basins. Alluvial soils, covering narrow ribbons of floodplains along swift
streams, are very restricted in total area. However, these soils are highly
productive when they escape flooding. The largest and best-developed
agricultural area of the region is the Asheville Basin. The Waynesville Basin
and other smaller basins, coves, and valleys are also important.
As in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and in
the Piedmont, tobacco is the leading cash crop of the mountains. Almost all of
the tobacco is the air-cured burley kind. The crop is widely grown but on a
small scale. In many areas it is the chief source of farm income. Corn is grown
on practically all mountain farms. Most of it is fed to cattle and poultry, but
the Asheville Basin grows a considerable amount of corn as a cash crop. Several
varieties of hay crops are harvested in the region. The Asheville Basin grows
vegetables and many flowers, particularly gladiolus. Apples are also widely
grown. Orchards usually occupy slopes well above the valley floors. There are
also vineyards, the most famous of which are at the Biltmore Estate near
Asheville.
In addition to cattle raising, the
mountain region produces most of the state’s sheep. Both broilers and laying
hens give the mountains a significant poultry industry. Farms in the Asheville
Basin produce hatching eggs, which are shipped out by air to markets in other
states and overseas.
B | Fishing |
North Carolina’s long shoreline is washed
by warm Atlantic waters that abound in fish. The area is high in shrimp
production, and shrimp boats operate from many fishing ports. The most valuable
shellfish catch is blue crabs. Other shellfish harvested include sea and bay
scallops and oysters. By far the major part of the catch by weight, however,
consists of finfish that are found in great variety. Food fish taken
commercially include flounder, Atlantic menhaden (used in industrial processes),
sea trout, tuna, grouper, shark, and Atlantic croaker. In 2004 the value of the
fish catch was $77.1 million.
C | Forestry |
North Carolina is one of the leading
states in lumber production. All areas of North Carolina produce lumber. The
pine is by far the leading lumber tree. Many medium-sized sawmills and a few
large ones operate on a permanent basis, turning out finished lumber for
construction and other uses. However, much of the state’s lumber is rough sawn
by the hundreds of small portable mills that operate in the midst of the woods.
The mills spend only a few weeks in one place. Pine is also the leading wood cut
for the state’s paper and pulp industry. Gums, soft maples, poplars, and some
oaks are also cut for pulp. Tree growth is rapid in North Carolina’s mild rainy
climate. Also, the forest area continues to expand with the abandonment of
farmland.
D | Mining |
A wide variety of metals and nonmetallic
minerals occur in North Carolina, but in most instances they are produced on
only a small scale. By value, the leading mineral products in the late 1990s
were stone (mostly granite), phosphate rock, and sand and gravel. One of the
largest known deposits of phosphate rock in the United States is located in
Beaufort County. In the late 1990s the state ranked first in the nation in the
production of feldspar, lithium ores, and mica, and third in phosphate
rock.
E | Manufacturing |
North Carolina is the second largest
industrial state in the South, behind only Texas, and one of the more important
manufacturing states in the nation. About 856,000 workers were employed in
industry in 1996. North Carolina produces more than two-fifths of the nation’s
tobacco products and one-quarter of its textile manufactures. The world’s
largest furniture mart, at High Point, attracts buyers from all over the United
States. These traditional industries of the state have been joined by the
manufacturing of chemicals, industrial machinery, and electrical equipment.
Textile manufacturing is the leading
source of industrial jobs and wages. The state’s textile industry underwent a
contraction in the 1980s, however, because of competition from new plants in
foreign countries. From 1980 to 1986 some 43,000 textile manufacturing jobs in
North Carolina disappeared. Important textile centers are Burlington, Charlotte,
Durham, Gastonia, High Point, Kannapolis, and Winston-Salem.
The decline of the textile industry has
lifted the chemical industry to first place in terms of total income generated,
but this sector provides far fewer jobs than textile production. Leading
employers are firms making pharmaceuticals, organic fibers, cleansers, toilet
articles, and plastics and resins.
Industries centered on tobacco rank
second behind chemicals in production value. Cigarettes are the main product.
Pipe tobacco, cigars, and snuff are also manufactured. The entire tobacco
products industry is located in the Piedmont, although most of the bright leaf
cigarette tobacco is grown in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Four regions, Durham,
Greensboro, Reidsville, and Winston-Salem, are the centers of production.
Also important for the state are firms
making electronic and electrical equipment, such as telephones, electric
housewares, and industrial controls. Another large contributor to the state’s
economy is the manufacture of industrial machinery, such as computers, power
hand tools, machinery for the textile industry, engines, construction equipment,
turbines, and pumps.
North Carolina has a large and
diversified food processing industry. The biggest source of employment in this
sector is the processing of poultry and eggs, much of it done in small factory
operations.
Furniture manufacturing once ranked
second, behind textile manufacturing, as a source of jobs, but since has
declined in relative position. Many leading furniture firms have factories in
the state, and they make all grades and kinds of wooden household furniture, as
well as a relatively wide variety of office furniture. The furniture plants are
widely distributed. Towns with large factories include High Point, Lenoir,
Lexington, Hickory, Mount Airy, Statesville, and Thomasville, home of one of the
world’s leading chair manufacturers.
Lumber and paper industries have
developed as a result of North Carolina’s rich forest resources. Nearly 200
firms making pulp, paper, and paper products operate in the state. Large paper
mills in the Coastal Plain are located in Plymouth, Roanoke Rapids, and
Reigelwood. In the mountains, at Canton, a large mill makes paper from pines and
other softwoods. Another large mill, located at Brevard, makes most of the
state’s cigarette paper. There are plywood and veneer mills in the
Piedmont.
The red clay soils of the Piedmont region
provide an excellent raw material for the manufacture of bricks. Much of the
brickmaking industry is located around Sanford.
North Carolina’s progress in
manufacturing since the beginning of World War II (1939-1945) has been rapid.
Geographically, the expansion has been most marked in the central Piedmont.
Raleigh, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, Charlotte,
and many smaller manufacturing towns lie in a crescent-shaped region, covering
roughly 12 counties in the central Piedmont, and usually called the Piedmont
Crescent.
F | Electricity |
Steam plants burning fossil fuels,
principally coal, generate 63 percent of North Carolina’s electricity
production. The state has 5 nuclear power plants, two near Southport, two at
Cowan’s Ford Dam, and one southwest of Raleigh. Combined, the nuclear plants are
responsible for 31 percent of the state’s electrical generation. Hydroelectric
power, which accounts for the remaining electricity produced in the state, is
generated at plants in the mountains.
Fontana Dam, operated by the Tennessee
Valley Authority (TVA) on the Little Tennessee River, is the site of the largest
hydroelectric plant in North Carolina and is the highest dam in the TVA system.
A considerable amount of TVA power is sold to customers in North Carolina. The
Duke Power Company is the largest private company operating in the state and one
of the largest in the country. It operates the Big Duke hydroelectric plant at
Cowan’s Ford Dam, which has created Lake Norman, an enormous reservoir in the
western Piedmont region.
G | Transportation |
The rivers that served North Carolina’s
early transportation needs are little used for commercial purposes today. Only
the Cape Fear River can be considered a waterway to the state’s interior. It has
a 2.4 m (8 ft) channel and is navigable to Fayetteville, located at the Fall
Line.
A section of the Intracoastal Waterway
System, a protected route for all types of boats from Massachusetts to Texas,
serves the entire Atlantic Coast of North Carolina. Numerous coastal shippers,
together with many small local fishing, freight, and pleasure crafts, use the
waterway. Wilmington and Morehead City are ports of entry for ships from foreign
countries. They have improved harbors and channels deep enough for oceangoing
vessels that connect the harbors to the open Atlantic.
In 1840 the Wilmington to Raleigh
Railroad was finished between Wilmington and Weldon on the Roanoke River. Its
length of 259 km (161 mi) made it the longest railroad in the world at that
time. It connected with the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, creating an
interstate railroad that served to increase trade between Virginia and North
Carolina and to enable Wilmington to grow into a major port. In 2004 North
Carolina had 5,230 km (3,250 mi) of rail lines. Principal products shipped by
rail and originating in the state were lumber and wood (12 percent of total
weight), chemicals (23 percent), nonmetallic minerals (19 percent), and pulp and
paper (7 percent).
North Carolina’s major transportation
asset is its road system. Highway improvements were launched by the Highway Act
of 1921. It led to an era of unprecedented construction, which soon brought fame
to North Carolina as the “Good Roads State.” The state had 165,968 km (103,128
mi) of public roads and highway in 2005, of which 1,743 km (1,083 mi) were
national interstate highways. The Blue Ridge Parkway, a particularly scenic
drive along the crest of the Blue Ridge, is part of the National Park
System.
Several airlines and 15 airports and
airfields serve the state. Several modern airports have been built since 1950,
of which Douglas International Airport in Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham
International Airport are the busiest.
IV | THE PEOPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA |
In the 2000 census, North Carolina ranked
11th in population in the nation. It had 8,049,313 people, an increase of 21.4
percent over the 1990 population of 6,628,637. In 2006 North Carolina’s
population density was 70 persons per sq km (182 per sq mi). North Carolina is
less urbanized than most other states. In 2000 only 60 percent of the state’s
inhabitants were classified as urban dwellers.
A | Population Patterns |
In colonial days the English constituted
the largest group of settlers. Scots-Irish, Highland Scots, Germans, and Welsh
also arrived in the 18th century, many from the colony of Pennsylvania.
Sometimes certain dialects and accents can be detected in the speech of more
isolated rural North Carolinians, especially on the Outer Banks, where
descendants of early English settlers remained spatially isolated for many
decades.
North Carolina had about 100,000 black
inhabitants in 1790, and by the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865)
blacks accounted for one-third of the population. In 2000 blacks accounted for
21.6 percent of the state’s population. Whites comprised the largest share of
the population, representing 72.1 percent of the people. Asians were 1.4
percent, Native Americans 1.2 percent, and those of mixed heritage or not
reporting race were 3.6 percent. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders
numbered 3,983. Hispanics, who may be of any race, were 4.7 percent of the
people.
B | Principal Cities |
The largest cities in North Carolina are
Charlotte (2006 population, 630,478), Raleigh (356,321), Greensboro (236,865),
Durham (209,009), and Winston-Salem (196,990). All are located in the industrial
Piedmont region. Charlotte is the chief distribution center for the area.
Raleigh, the state capital, has a modern legislative building designed by Edward
Durell Stone. Greensboro is the site of much textile and tobacco manufacturing,
and many insurance companies also have their home offices there. Tobaccoville,
near Winston-Salem, has the world’s largest plant for manufacturing cigarettes.
Asheville is the largest industrial city in the state outside the Piedmont. It
is the central city of the mountain region and is an important resort and
cultural center.
C | Religion |
The early settlers who came to North
Carolina brought various forms of Protestantism. Nearly one-half of church
members are Baptist, and the second largest group is Methodist. Roman Catholics
form the third largest religious group. Others in the state are the United
Church of Christ, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, Quakers,
Moravians, Jews, and small numbers of other religious groups, including some
non-Christian world religions such as Islam and Buddhism.
V | EDUCATION AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS |
A | Education |
At the turn of the 20th century, North
Carolina’s educational system was one of the weakest in the nation. School
attendance was not required, and most school-age children did not go to school.
Furthermore, there were few professionally trained teachers. Governor Charles B.
Aycock, who took office in 1901, began a series of improvements that were
continued under subsequent administrations. Schools were built at a rapid rate.
The school year, originally four months, was gradually lengthened until, in
1943, it became nine months long. Over the first half of the 20th century many
professional schools for training teachers were founded.
A1 | Primary and Secondary Education |
School attendance is compulsory for
children from the ages of 7 to 16. Private schools enroll 8 percent of the
state’s children. In the 2002–2003 school year North Carolina spent $7,529 on
each student’s education, compared to a national average of $9,299. There were
15.1 students for every teacher (the national average was 15.9 students per
teacher). Of those older than 25 years of age in 2006, 82 percent had a high
school diploma, while the national norm was 84.1 percent.
A2 | Higher Education |
Founded in 1789, the University of North
Carolina is now a consolidated state institution with 16 constituent campuses.
Six campuses, with locations in Asheville, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro,
Raleigh (North Carolina State), and Wilmington, were joined with ten other state
institutions by legislation passed in 1971 to create the existing system. In
2004–2005 North Carolina had 75 public and 52 private institutions of higher
learning.
Among the many private universities
serving the state, the most well-known are Duke University, in Durham; Wake
Forest University, in Winston-Salem; and Davidson College, in Davidson. Other
schools include Bennett College and Guilford College, both in Greensboro;
Lenoir-Rhyne College, in Hickory; and Shaw University, in Raleigh.
Research Triangle Park—with its apexes
focused on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University in
Durham, and North Carolina State University in Raleigh—is a unique complex for
institutional, governmental, and industrial research that was established in
1959.
A rapidly shifting economy pushed the
state to consider a different type of education for residents. Beginning in the
late 1950s, state government began funding a variety of post-high school
training centers. Known now as the North Carolina Community College System, it
has grown to encompass 59 campuses. In 1999-2000 it enrolled approximately one
out of every eight adults in the state.
B | Libraries |
North Carolina’s first library was
established at Bath soon after 1700. There were, however, few public libraries
in the state before 1900. Since then the number has grown significantly, and in
2002 the state had 76 tax-supported library systems. Each year the libraries
circulate an average of 5.4 books for every resident. The state’s largest public
library system is the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County.
C | Museums |
The North Carolina Museum of Art, in
Raleigh, is the nation’s first art museum whose collection was founded with
state funds. At Hickory is an art museum with American and European works and
Chinese porcelains. Other art collections are in Chapel Hill, Greensboro,
Durham, and Winston-Salem. Raleigh and Charlotte have natural history museums,
and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a planetarium. The state
also has many small museums devoted to special displays, such as minerals,
handicrafts, Native American lore, and the material of local historical
societies.
D | Communications |
The first newspaper in the state was
founded in 1751 at New Bern. By 1900 there were 27 dailies, but their
circulation was very small. In 2002 there were 47 dailies, of which the largest
and best-known were the Charlotte Observer, the Raleigh News
& Observer, the News & Record of Greensboro, and the
Winston-Salem Journal.
The state’s first radio station was WBT,
founded in Charlotte in 1921. In 2002 there were 146 AM and 112 FM radio
stations and 39 television stations.
E | Music and Theater |
North Carolina strongly supports country
music and old-style American folk dancing. Such events as the Mountain Dance and
Folk Festival, the North Carolina Folk Heritage Awards, and a variety of
fiddler’s conventions are typical ingredients of this cultural heritage.
Classical music is performed by the North Carolina Symphony, which is based in
Raleigh, and by several other city symphony orchestras. The American Dance
Festival has its headquarters at Duke University. Brevard, a Blue Ridge resort,
is the site of the Brevard Music Center and Festival. It presents a series that
begins in June with the opening of its music camp and runs through August.
Several outdoor historical dramas take
place each summer. One of the most popular, Unto These Hills, portrays
the events leading up to the removal of the Cherokee people from North Carolina
to Oklahoma. It is performed at Cherokee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At Fort
Raleigh National Historic Site near Manteo, The Lost Colony describes the
disappearance of the first attempted English settlement in the state. A saga of
Daniel Boone, Horn in the West, is performed at Boone. Plays and musical
comedies are presented in the state’s summer theater circuit. Flat Rock
Playhouse is the state theater. Year-round amateur drama is presented at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at theaters in the chief
cities.
VI | RECREATION AND PLACES TO VISIT |
Perhaps the best-known scenic attraction is
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is located astride the North
Carolina-Tennessee border. The park’s mountainous terrain and primitive
wilderness afford ideal conditions for hiking, fishing, and camping. Western
North Carolina’s spectacular mountain panoramas and quiet beauty are accessible
from the Blue Ridge Parkway, a scenic highway running from Shenandoah National
Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains. Along the route are beautiful
displays of rhododendrons, mountain laurels, and rugged terrain, including Mount
Mitchell (2,037 m/6,684 ft), the highest peak in the eastern United States.
A | Other National Areas |
A major attraction of the coastal region
is the Outer Banks, much of which has been set aside as the Cape Hatteras and
Cape Lookout national seashores. The area offers extensive opportunities for
seaside recreation. Deep-sea fishing off the Outer Banks is excellent. Cape
Hatteras Lighthouse, near the cape, is the tallest lighthouse in North America
at 63 m (208 ft). The national seashore also contains one of the state’s three
national wildlife refuges—Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Also located at
Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks is the Wright Brothers National Memorial, the
place where the first motor-powered flight was made in 1903. Fort Raleigh
National Historic Site on Roanoke Island commemorates the place where the
English first attempted to establish a colony in America. Moores Creek National
Battlefield and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park are sites of
important battles of the American Revolution (1775-1783). The home of the poet
Carl Sandburg, Connemara, at Flat Rock, is a national historic site.
Pisgah, Nantahala, Uwharrie, and Croatan
national forests cover 486,000 hectares (1.2 million acres). Pisgah National
Forest lies in the mountains, as does Nantahala National Forest. Because the sun
penetrates to the bottom of Nantahala Gorge only in the middle of the day, the
Cherokee called it the “Land of the Noon Day Sun,” or “Nantahala.” About 1,600
hectares (4,000 acres) of virgin wilderness forest in the Nantahala National
Forest has been set aside as the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, to memorialize
the poet who wrote the poem “Trees.” The Uwharrie National Forest, in the
central Piedmont region of the state, is a fairly rugged area of ancient
volcanic mountains that have resisted erosion and weathering better than the
surrounding countryside. The forest received its name from German settlers, for
whom uwharrie meant “new home.” On the coast is the Croatan National
Forest, which derived its name from the name of a main town of the Algonquin
people that occupied the region when the English arrived in the 1580s.
B | State Parks |
There are 63 state parks, of which Kerr
Lake State Recreational Area is the largest at 43,246 hectares (106,864 acres);
this reservoir area includes nine different parks. Hanging Rock State Park, in
the Sauratown Mountains, is well known for its vertical cliffs and rock climbing
opportunities. Pettigrew State Park, along the shoreline of Lake Phelps, is
located on a former plantation called Somerset Place. Fort Macon, completed in
1834 and fought over during the American Civil War (1861-1865), is a state park
near Morehead City. The state has a nature preserve near Southern Pines. Also
under state administration are a number of historic sites, among which are Fort
Fisher, south of Wilmington, where a museum and remnants of the Civil War
earthwork fort commemorate one of the largest amphibious landings prior to the
invasion of Normandy in World War II. Tryon Palace Historic Site and Gardens, at
New Bern, has been restored to its appearance during colonial times. Town Creek
Indian Mounds, near Mount Gilead, is the location of some reconstructed Native
American temples. A fine example of a mountain log home is preserved at the
Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace State Historic Site near Weaverville, commemorating
the man who was governor of North Carolina from 1862 to 1865 and later a United
States senator.
The North Carolina Division of Forest
Resources operates a system of six Educational State Forests—Clemmons, Holmes,
Jordan, Rendezvous Mountain, Turnbull Creek, and Tuttle—as well as several other
state forests. The educational forests, the first of which was designated in
1977, are designed to teach the public—especially schoolchildren—about the
forest environment.
C | Other Places to Visit |
The Biltmore Estate is one of the
country’s best examples of the mansions built at the turn of the 20th century by
American millionaires. It was designed and built in the early French Renaissance
style by George W. Vanderbilt. The birthplace of President Andrew Johnson is in
Raleigh, and that of the novelist Thomas Wolfe is in Asheville. In Winston-Salem
is Old Salem, a Moravian town founded in 1766 (see Moravian Church). Many
18th-century buildings, including Salem Tavern and Winkler Bakery, are still in
use. Automobile races are held annually at speedways in Charlotte, Asheville,
Winston-Salem, Hickory, and North Wilkesboro. The U.S.S. North Carolina,
a World War II battleship, is permanently docked in a berth alongside the Cape
Fear River at Wilmington as a war memorial. A former Native American trading
post at Murphy is now the Cherokee County Historical Museum, featuring 2,000
exhibits of the Native American lifestyle.
D | Sports |
Offshore and freshwater fishing, swimming,
hiking, and hunting are popular outdoor activities in North Carolina. The state
also has many golf courses. Automobile racetracks are at Charlotte and at
Rockingham. Charlotte is the home of the Charlotte Bobcats, a men’s professional
basketball team, the Charlotte Sting, a women's professional basketball team,
and the Carolina Panthers, a professional football team. Raleigh is home to the
Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The state has a strong
tradition of college basketball, especially at schools such as the University of
North Carolina and Duke University.
E | Annual Events |
Each year, North Carolina has numerous
fairs, festivals, and celebrations in addition to those associated with drama
and music. Wilmington’s Azalea Festival and the Great Smoky Mountain Trout
Festival occur every spring. A wagon train following Daniel Boone’s trail
through the Blue Ridge range, and the Highland Games and “Gathering of the
Scottish Clans” at Grandfather Mountain, take place in July. Henderson’s Apple
Festival, Benson’s Mule Days, and the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh occur
each fall. Each December, at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, there
is a ceremony honoring their historic flight. Other annual events include boat
races on the lakes and coastal waters and fishing tournaments in the Atlantic
Ocean.
VII | GOVERNMENT |
North Carolina’s first constitution was
adopted in 1776; a second one was adopted in 1868 and revised in 1875. The
present constitution went into effect on July 1, 1971. Amendments must be
approved by three-fifths of each legislative house and by a majority of the
electorate.
A | Executive |
The executive branch of the government is
headed by the governor, who is elected for a four-year term and may serve a
maximum of two terms. The lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer,
auditor, and heads of the agriculture, insurance, justice, labor, and public
instruction departments are all elected to four-year terms. The lieutenant
governor cannot serve more than two terms.
B | Legislative |
The General Assembly, or state
legislature, has a Senate of 50 members and a House of Representatives of 120
members, all of whom are elected for two-year terms. North Carolina is the only
state in which the governor does not have a veto power over laws approved by the
legislature.
C | Judicial |
The highest court is the Supreme Court,
which has a chief justice and six associate justices, all of whom are popularly
elected to eight-year terms. The courts are split into two divisions, trial and
appellate. The intermediate appellate court is the court of appeals, with 12
judges, while the Supreme Court is the court of final jurisdiction. The trial
courts are the district and superior courts of the state’s judicial districts.
The appellate justices and most superior court judges are popularly elected to
eight-year terms, and district judges are elected to four-year terms.
D | Local Government |
Each of the state’s 100 counties is
governed by its own board of commissioners elected every two years. Also elected
are the sheriff, clerk of the superior court, registrar of deeds, treasurer,
coroner, and members of the board of education. There are also many appointed
officers, including the superintendents of schools and public welfare. Most
large towns and cities are administered by city managers.
E | National Representation |
North Carolina is represented in the
Congress of the United States by two senators and 13 representatives, giving the
state 15 electoral votes in presidential elections.
VIII | HISTORY |
A | Early Inhabitants |
The first humans in North Carolina were
Native Americans, the so-called Paleo-Indians of 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.
They were nomads who pursued buffalo and other large game animals, some of which
are now extinct. Their likely descendants were the Archaic people of about 3,000
to 10,000 years ago, who did not yet have agriculture. Agriculture, along with
pottery, was introduced in the Woodland stage of culture, lasting from about
3,000 years ago into the historical period. After ad 800, the Mississippian culture, or
Mound Builders, was represented in the south and west. They built large towns
centered around ceremonial mounds. North Carolina’s Native American population
in the 1600s is estimated at about 30,000, organized into about 30 peoples, of
which the most important were the Hatteras, Tuscarora, Chowanoc, Catawba, and
Cherokee.
Contact between Native Americans and
whites resulted occasionally in friendship but often in hostility. In either
event it ultimately led to the death or displacement of most of the Native
Americans. Even in the friendliest of contacts, the Europeans unwittingly spread
diseases to which the Native Americans had no resistance. Deaths from measles,
smallpox, and colds decimated their populations and disrupted their
societies.
In the present day, North Carolina has
some 70,000 Native Americans, organized into nine or more governments or
corporations. The state’s largest reservation is that of the Eastern Band of the
Cherokee, who descend largely from 1,000 Cherokee who fled into the Great
Smokies in 1838 when the Cherokee nation was forcibly moved to Oklahoma. The
reservation occupies 22,660 hectares (56,000 acres) near Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, and park-related tourism provides employment for many of the
band’s approximately 5,750 members.
Another strong present-day Native
American community is the Lumbee of Robeson County, with a population of about
34,500. The Lumbee are socially and politically well organized although they are
unrecognized by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. They have had a number of
strong leaders, notably Adolph Dial, a former university professor and member of
the North Carolina state legislature (1991-1993).
B | The 16th Century |
B1 | European Exploration |
Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine
navigator, led a French expedition that in 1524 explored the coast near the
mouth of the Cape Fear River. The coast was visited as far north as Cape
Hatteras by Spanish explorer Angel de Villafane in 1561. Parts of the mountain
area were explored by Spaniards Hernando de Soto in 1540 and Juan Pardo in 1566
and 1567.
In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh of
England obtained permission from Queen Elizabeth I to explore the Western
Hemisphere and claim any land not already claimed by Christians or inhabited by
them. Raleigh sent out an expedition that same year to choose a site for a
colony; its members returned with an enthusiastic description of the Roanoke
Island area. Two Native Americans, Wanchese and Manteo, returned with the
expedition to England.
B2 | First Roanoke Island Colony |
Raleigh’s vaguely defined land was
named Virginia in honor of Elizabeth I, the virgin queen. In his first attempt
at settlement, Raleigh sent 108 men, including Wanchese and Manteo as
interpreters, to Roanoke Island.
Leaving England in April 1585, the
group reached Roanoke Island in August. However, unable to cope successfully
with the new and difficult problems of colonization, in June 1586 the men
boarded ship with the English privateer Sir Francis Drake, who had put in at
Roanoke Island on his way back to England after a raid on the Spanish West
Indies. Eighteen men were left behind to hold England’s claim to the land.
B3 | Second Roanoke Island Colony |
One member of Raleigh’s first colony
was John White, who began at Roanoke Island his famous series of paintings of
Native American life. Chosen to serve as governor of the second colony, White
sailed from England in May 1587 with a group of more than 100 settlers,
including 17 women and 9 children. The group reached Roanoke Island in July. Of
the 18 men left there in 1586, only some skeletons were found. Manteo, who had
returned as Raleigh’s personal representative, was designated Lord of Roanoke
and Dasamonguepeuk—the first title of nobility granted to a Native
American.
On August 18, White’s granddaughter,
Virginia Dare, was born. She was the first child of English parents born in
America. Nine days later, White returned to England for supplies. For three
years the fleet of Spain, which was at war with England, kept him from sailing
out of English ports. When he managed to return to Roanoke Island in 1590, the
colonists had disappeared.
The mystery of the “lost colony,” as
it is now called, has never been solved. The letters “CRO” were carved into a
tree on the beach and the single word, “Croatoan,” was found on a post. These
inscriptions may have indicated that the colonists had gone to live with the
friendly Croatan or Croatoan Indians on Croatan Island or north to Chesapeake
Bay. However, storms kept White’s ship from reaching Croatan, and later
explorations found no trace of the settlers. The present-day, 1,725-member
Coharie tribe of Sampson County claims to be descended from the Croatan tribe
and the vanished colonists. Others believe the colonists may have been the
victims of a hurricane, an attack by Native Americans, or disease. A recent
theory, based on the analysis of growth rings in nearby trees, suggests that the
colonists disappeared during one of the area’s worst droughts in 800 years and
may have left the island or perished because of starvation.
C | The 17th Century |
Although Raleigh failed to plant a
permanent colony, he gave impetus to ventures that succeeded elsewhere, some of
them on land that had been part of his grant. In 1606 King James I of England
granted patents to two commercial companies, the Plymouth Company of Virginia
and the London Company of Virginia, to colonize Virginia. The London Company
dispatched three ships, the Susan Constant, the Goodspeed, and the
Discovery, under the command of Captain Christopher Newport. In May 1607
the voyagers landed on a swampy peninsula and erected James Fort, the nucleus of
Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America.
In 1629 James’s son, King Charles I,
split off the part of Virginia south of Albemarle Sound, which was still
unsettled, to make a new proprietary colony called, after himself, Carolana.
Charles granted Carolana to his attorney general, Sir Robert Heath. The grant
was from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean between latitudes 31° north and
36° north.
C1 | The Lords Proprietors |
Heath was never able to undertake the
settlement of Carolana. So in 1663 King Charles II, the son of Charles I,
changed the name slightly to Carolina and regranted the land to eight lords who
had helped him regain the English throne. In 1665 these men, known as the lords
proprietors, obtained a new charter that greatly extended the boundaries to the
north and the south to include all the land between latitudes 36°30’ north and
29° north.
The lords proprietors planned three
counties in Carolina, each named for one of them: Albemarle, Clarendon, and
Craven. Albemarle County already had some settlers who had come from Virginia in
the 1650s and was the only one of the three counties to play an important role
in North Carolina history.
Until 1689 Albemarle County had the
only proprietary government in Carolina. During that period 12 officials served
by appointment, under varying titles and for irregular terms, as governor of the
county. The governor was assisted by a council, which he appointed. The council
advised the governor in executive and legislative matters, sat with the elected
assembly as part of the legislature, and served with the governor as the general
court for legal disputes. In most matters the legislature was subordinate to the
governor. It could not convene unless he called it, and he could veto its
decisions. However, the legislature controlled the governor’s salary and used
this power to strengthen its authority.
In 1689 the proprietors, in an effort
to improve administration, began appointing governors over that part of Carolina
lying north and east of Cape Fear. This was a first step toward creation of a
distinct identity for North Carolina, although the governor was a deputy under
the governor of Carolina. North Carolina and South Carolina became
popular terms.
D | The 18th Century |
D1 | The Emergence of North Carolina |
Finally, in 1712, the proprietors
began to appoint governors for North Carolina who were independent of the
Carolina governor. From 1711 to 1713 the colony was involved in a war with the
Tuscarora people, and it relied on assistance from South Carolina to defeat
them. Pirates posed another problem for North Carolina. The colony’s unusual
coast, with its sandbars and shallows, provided a haven for pirate ships.
Furthermore, the colonists frequently benefited from purchasing the pirates’
goods. It was not altogether accidental that the two most notorious pirates,
Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet, were captured by expeditions sent out by the
governors of Virginia and South Carolina, respectively, although they operated
from North Carolina. Some of North Carolina’s governors are believed to have
collaborated with the pirates.
Settlers came from Virginia and South
Carolina and directly from France, Germany, and Switzerland. By 1729 the
estimated settler population was 35,000. As settlement spread, dispute over the
Virginia-North Carolina boundary intensified. Finally, in 1728, commissioners
representing both colonies chose a point on the coast and surveyed a line west.
The line proved to be north of the land already claimed by North Carolina and
also north of latitude 36°30’ north, but Virginia accepted it.
D2 | Royal Colony |
In 1729 King George II of Great
Britain (a union of England, Scotland, and Wales) bought out seven of the eight
shares in the Carolina grant. One owner, John Carteret, refused to sell. A strip
of land just south of the Virginia border was assigned to him and became known
as Granville District. He continued making grants to settlers out of that tract.
During the American Revolution (1775-1783), North Carolina abolished the
district and confiscated its lands that had not yet been regranted.
Under the king, the quality of
administration improved. In general, the royal governors demonstrated
significant ability compared to the proprietary governors. The legislature
became two-house, or bicameral: The council sat as the upper house, and the
assembly as the lower house. The judicial system was enlarged by the creation of
new courts but continued to be subordinate to the governor.
Through the Vestry Act of 1701 and
subsequent acts, the legislature had established the Anglican Church as the
official church of the colony. However, the church’s influence gradually
weakened because of the rapid growth of Presbyterian, Quaker, Baptist, Lutheran,
German Reformed, Moravian, and Methodist congregations.
The colony’s politics was marked by
sectional controversies. There was an early north-versus-south sectional
division of the Coastal Plain, but this faded in importance as these two eastern
sections united in competition with the growing west. The east dominated the
colony. New Bern, in the east, was chosen as the permanent capital. Tryon’s
Palace, the nickname for an expensive residence and statehouse erected for
Governor William Tryon (1765-1771), was built in New Bern over the objections of
the west. To the east’s advantage, local government was in the hands of the
justices of the peace, who were appointed by the governor. The whole structure
was conducive to abuses of power.
In 1768 westerners organized the
Regulator movement to resist arbitrary taxes and fees and to demand honest local
officials. In vain the Regulators sought redress of grievances through the
courts and the legislature. Rioting erupted in several counties. In Rowan and
Orange counties the Regulators declared that they would pay no more taxes and
would tolerate no more courts. On May 16, 1771, Governor Tryon led the militia
against a force of about 2,000 Regulators at Alamance Creek and defeated them.
The movement was broken. Many Regulators left North Carolina, more than 6,000
were pardoned, and six were hanged for treason.
Conflicts with the governor were, in
essence, conflicts with Britain. This became obvious after 1763, when the
governor was required to enforce a new policy designed to strengthen the
colonies but also to restrict them to colonial status. The colonists were
aggrieved by two colonial tax laws, the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts
of 1767, which were enacted without the colonies’ consent or vote in the British
legislature, or Parliament. Armed members of the Sons of Liberty, a secret
patriotic resistance organization, compelled all of the important North Carolina
officials except the governor to agree not to enforce the Stamp Act.
Nonimportation associations were formed to boycott British goods in protest
against the Townshend Acts. In December 1773 the assembly created a committee to
correspond with the other colonies and coordinate resistance. When Massachusetts
was punished for resisting the Tea Act of 1773, North Carolina sent supplies of
corn, flour, and pork.
A proposal by Massachusetts for a
continental congress was opposed by North Carolina Governor Josiah Martin, who
refused to call a meeting of the legislature to elect delegates. As a
consequence, delegates were elected locally in counties and towns to the
colony’s first provincial congress, which met in New Bern in August 1774. It
declared any tax by Parliament on the colonies to be unconstitutional and chose
delegates to the First Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, on September 5, 1774. The second provincial congress met in New
Bern early in April 1775.
D3 | The American Revolution |
On April 18, 1775, the American
Revolution began with the battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. On
May 31, 1775, the people of Mecklenburg County, at a meeting in Charlotte,
adopted a new county government on the basis that the king had allegedly severed
relations with the colonies. Also in May 1775, Governor Martin fled from the
palace to Fort Johnston on the Cape Fear River; in June he reached safety on a
British ship. In August, North Carolina’s third provincial congress met at
Hillsboro and provided for a new colonial government, with a congress to replace
the assembly and a council to replace both the royal governor and his
council.
In February 1776 Governor Martin
devised a plan for combining British forces with Loyalists (locals loyal to the
king) in Brunswick in order to capture all the Southern colonies. His plan
failed, however, when 1,400 to 1,500 of the Loyalists, called Tories by their
opponents, were defeated on the way to the rendezvous by North Carolina
revolutionists, who called themselves Whigs, at Moore’s Creek Bridge on February
27, 1776. After that, no major engagements with the British occurred in North
Carolina until 1781.
The fourth provincial congress met at
Halifax in April 1776 and adopted the Halifax Resolves. These authorized North
Carolina’s delegation to Congress to concur with the other delegations in
declaring independence for the colonies. The North Carolina signers of the
Declaration of Independence, adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776, were William
Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and John Penn.
D4 | A State Constitution |
The fourth provincial congress
rejected a proposal for a state constitution, preferring to govern through a
continuously functioning council of safety. However, the fifth congress, meeting
in Halifax in November 1776, adopted a constitution and a bill of rights. The
constitution contained protections for the political and legal rights and
personal liberties of the people. It also provided for a legislative branch,
consisting of a bicameral legislature; an executive branch, consisting of a
governor and a council of state; and a judicial branch, consisting of supreme
courts of law and equity, judges of admiralty, and justices of the peace.
Both houses of the legislature, the
senate and the house of commons, were elected by the people. The senate
consisted of a small body of men owning 121 hectares (300 acres) of land, who
were elected by freemen owning 20 hectares (50 acres). The house of commons was
open to men owning 40 hectares (100 acres), who were elected by freemen who paid
public taxes. Representation was based primarily on counties, rather than on
population. The governor had to own land and tenements valued at no less than
1,000 pounds, and he and the council of state were elected by the legislature
for one-year terms. An official church was forbidden, but no person who denied
the “Truth of the Protestant Religion” could hold public office. The legislature
was required to establish a public school system and “one or more
Universities.”
Legislative supremacy was the most
striking characteristic of the new constitution. The dislike of a strong chief
executive was reflected in his being elected by the legislature, his short term
of office, and his restricted powers. The governor could recommend legislation,
but had no veto power.
The fifth provincial congress
launched the new government by electing a governor and a council of state, who
took office in January 1777. Richard Caswell (1776-1780) was the new governor.
The first legislature elected under the new constitution convened in April.
D5 | Military Action During the Revolution |
During the revolution, North Carolina
was called on to help defeat the Cherokee, who sided with the British, and to
suppress Loyalists. It also raised a militia containing thousands of men and
supplied ten regiments for the rebels’ Continental Army. An attempted invasion
by British forces was repelled by North Carolinians and Virginians at Kings
Mountain, in South Carolina near the North Carolina border, on October 7, 1780,
and a second attempt was stopped at Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781.
British General Charles Cornwallis won the battle at Guilford Courthouse, but
his forces were so weakened that he withdrew to Wilmington, from which he
ultimately moved north to Yorktown, Virginia. After his surrender at Yorktown in
October, the last of the British forces evacuated Wilmington in November and the
military phase of the revolution was ended in North Carolina.
D6 | Political Organization |
During the revolution, when Congress
sought to unify the newly established states and to strengthen the central
government by proposing the Articles of Confederation, the North Carolina
legislature ratified the articles unanimously.
The state’s delegation to the
Constitutional Convention, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1787, did not
contribute extensively to the writing of the new Constitution of the United
States. Hugh Williamson was the most active of the five delegates, making
frequent speeches and motions and suggesting the six-year term for senators.
Although North Carolina was the fourth largest state in population, its
delegation voted with the small states in favor of a senate in which all were
represented equally.
A convention met in Hillsboro on July
21, 1788, to vote on the Constitution but declined to ratify it. Instead, it
adopted a resolution requesting several amendments and a bill of rights. The new
government of the United States was organized, with North Carolina left out as
an independent nation.
D7 | Statehood |
North Carolina’s status was
uncomfortable for its citizens. A second convention, meeting at Fayetteville,
ratified the Constitution on November 21, 1789, and thus North Carolina became
the 12th state to enter the Union. In 1790 the state’s western lands, which had
been annexed in 1777, were ceded to the federal government; this territory later
became the state of Tennessee.
Between the implementation of the
state’s constitution in 1776 and its modification by a constitutional convention
in 1835, North Carolina had 27 governors. Few of them were able to enhance the
power of the chief executive significantly. The judicial branch was more
successful in acquiring power and prestige. In the case of Bayard v.
Singleton, 1787, this court handed down the first decision under a
written constitution in the United States declaring a legislative act
unconstitutional. Later, superior court judges began to function as supreme
court judges, and they did so until 1818, when a separate supreme court was
created.
The legislative branch had great
power but used it in limited ways. Exigencies of the revolution prompted the
legislature to issue large quantities of paper money, levy taxes, and borrow
money. After the war the state’s economy was so depressed that the legislature
declined to create the public school system required by the constitution,
although it incorporated many private academies. In 1789 it chartered the
University of North Carolina, which in 1795 became the first state university to
open in the United States. Wake County had been agreed upon by the Hillsboro
Convention of 1788 as the site for the capital. In 1794 the legislature began
meeting in the new city of Raleigh.
E | The 19th Century |
After achieving statehood, North
Carolina tended to turn against the concept of a strong federal government.
Beginning in 1800, the state predominantly voted for the Democratic-Republican
Party, which emphasized states’ rights. It remained basically a one-party state
until the Whig Party emerged in 1834. At the same time, however, it rejected the
extreme position that states could override federal power, as suggested by
Thomas Jefferson, founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, in his Kentucky
Resolutions of 1798.
E1 | Constitutional Changes |
Largely because of strong support in
the west, a state constitutional convention was held in Raleigh in 1835. In most
respects the amendments adopted by the convention strengthened and democratized
the government. The governor was elected for a two-year term by the adult male
taxpayers of the state. The house of commons was reorganized to contain 120
members, one for each county and the remainder apportioned among all the
counties on the basis of population. Meetings of the legislature became biennial
rather than annual. This legislative organization is still basically intact. In
the provision imposing a religious restriction on officeholding, the word
“Christian” replaced “Protestant,” thus legitimizing officeholding by Roman
Catholics—but not Jews, Muslims, or atheists. Because of the growing desire to
create a sharp distinction between free whites and enslaved blacks, the right of
free blacks to vote was abolished. All the amendments were ratified by a
statewide referendum.
The constitutional changes paralleled
and stimulated a diminished sectionalism, an increased interest in government,
the development of a two-party system, a heightened governmental concern with
the people’s welfare, and a period of cultural and economic advancement. The
Whig Party, representing largely the nonslave areas of the west, held the
governorship and most public offices from 1836 to 1850. Thereafter the
Democratic Party, usually dominated by slaveholders of the east, controlled the
government.
Both parties used governmental power
on the people’s behalf to an unprecedented extent. Money was appropriated to aid
navigation companies and the building of roads and railroads. A public school
system was established that was regarded as the best in the South prior to the
Civil War. Nonetheless, the number of illiterate people remained high. In 1860
among the Southern states only Virginia, with a larger population, had more
illiterates than North Carolina. Institutions for the deaf, blind, and insane
were founded, and some of the harsh penalties inherited from English criminal
law were abolished. The tax system was reformed, and taxes were raised to
support the new services. However, as concern about slavery grew more intense,
the free blacks, as well as the slaves, were increasingly repressed and their
legal rights were restricted.
E2 | Civil War |
Slavery was one of the most divisive
political issues in the Congress of the United States in the first half of the
19th century. Many Congress members from the Northern states pressed to end
slavery, both because it was considered immoral and because white labor could
not compete with unpaid black labor. Members from the Deep South (North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida)
believed that slavery was essential to their cotton-centered agricultural system
and that the North was trying to dominate the national economy. By the 1850s,
Southerners saw their power slipping in Congress, the clamor for abolition of
slavery was at a high pitch, and many in the South came to believe that
secession from the Union was the only way to protect “Southern rights,”
including the right to own slaves.
As secession sentiment in the South
increased, North Carolina supported the Union. In 1860, however, Abraham Lincoln
was elected president as the candidate of the Republican Party, which opposed
the spread of slavery. South Carolina had threatened to secede if the
Republicans won, and in December 1860 it did so. Other Southern states followed,
and in February 1861 they organized as the Confederate States of America and
began mobilizing for war. The American Civil War (1861-1865) began officially on
April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery bombarded a federal fort in
Charleston harbor.
When South Carolina seceded, North
Carolina worked for compromise. However, after Lincoln sent out a call for
troops, opinion solidified among North Carolinians that they would not take up
arms against fellow Southerners. A state convention voted for secession on May
20, 1861.
As a member of the Confederate
States, North Carolina furnished more than its share of troops and in the
fighting lost 40,275 men, about one-fourth of all Confederate casualties. At the
same time, however, under the leadership of Governor Zebulon B. Vance, the state
resisted the central control by the Confederate government that was essential to
efficient conduct of the war.
Most of the fighting occurred in
other states. The most significant events of the war in North Carolina included
the battles of Fort Hatteras, Plymouth, New Bern, Fort Fisher, and Bentonville;
the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston to General William T. Sherman near
Durham on April 26, 1865; and General George Stoneman’s raid in the western
counties.
E3 | Reconstruction |
Devastated and under military
occupation at the end of the war, North Carolina was eager for reunion,
restoration of order, and rehabilitation of the economy. In accordance with the
plan of President Andrew Johnson for restoration, or Reconstruction, of the
Union, a state convention in 1865 declared slavery abolished, repealed the
ordinance of secession, and repudiated the state war debt. However, the Southern
legislatures, including North Carolina’s, adopted the Black Codes that
restricted blacks to second-class citizenship.
Partly because of these acts by the
Southern legislatures, the Radical wing of the Republican Party in Congress
wrested control of Reconstruction from President Johnson and imposed the harsher
regime called Radical Reconstruction. In March 1867 Congress put all the
ex-Confederate states except Tennessee under military rule. As a condition for
returning to the Union, the Southern states were required to ratify the 14th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which made the former slaves citizens. In
addition, each state was required to hold elections, in which black men would be
allowed to vote, for delegates to state constitutional conventions. The
Republican Party of North Carolina, formed in 1867, dominated the constitutional
convention and the elections of 1868. The new legislature ratified the 14th
Amendment, and Congress admitted North Carolina’s congressional delegation on
July 20, 1868.
The constitution of 1868, with
significant modifications, remained in effect for a century. It provided for
voting by all adult men, eliminated property qualifications for voting and
officeholding, permitted anyone who did not deny the existence of God to hold
public office, established a system of popular election of local government
officials, required four months of public school education per year, and
extended the governor’s term to four years.
E4 | Resurgence of the Democrats |
For many reasons, including the
participation of blacks and Northerners, derogatorily called carpetbaggers, the
Republican administration was disliked by most whites. Extravagance, waste, and
corruption were widespread; taxes increased enormously, and the state debt
doubled. The Democratic, or Conservative, Party publicized these abuses and
regained control of the legislature in the elections of 1872 under the
leadership of a group of conservatives called Bourbons. Victory was aided by the
activities of the Ku Klux Klan, a secret terrorist organization that kept blacks
and Republicans away from the polls by a campaign of threats, whippings, and
occasional murders. In 1871 the Bourbon legislature impeached and convicted
Republican Governor William W. Holden for abuses of power, and he was removed
from office.
In 1875 the legislature called a
constitutional convention that adopted 30 amendments, the most important of
which returned local government to the control of the legislature and thus to
the Democratic Party. All these amendments were ratified by popular vote. In
1876 the Democratic candidate for governor, Zebulon B. Vance, defeated the
Republican candidate by a small majority.
The Bourbons controlled the
legislature from 1872 to 1893 and the governorship from 1877 to 1897. Government
was generally honest and economical, but all tactics were aimed at keeping the
party and the white people in power. Voting and officeholding by blacks were
permitted only within closely guarded limits. Public education was provided for
blacks, but not on an equal basis with whites. Democratic leaders tended to
follow a policy that favored the railroads and business interests over the
farmers. Cotton textiles, tobacco, and furniture industries grew rapidly. The
Democrats, who had difficulty perceiving the changes brought about by the
Industrial Revolution, generally ignored the growing desires for aid to
agriculture, equitable taxation on the new concentrations of wealth, regulation
of the new economic power, and popular control of local government.
E5 | Agricultural Distress and Populism |
A sharecropping and tenant farming
system grew up as a replacement of the old plantation system. A sharecropper
raised part of a landowner’s crop and was paid a share of the profit after
deductions for living expenses and the cost of tools and supplies. A tenant
farmer sold what he raised and paid the landlord a share of the profit as rent.
If the profit was low, the landlord got his share first. The cropper or tenant
took what was left or, if none was left, got an advance to keep going until the
next harvest. Because farm prices fell after the war and stayed low, most
tenants and sharecroppers sank into an endless cycle of debt. Not until World
War II (1939-1945), when widespread mechanization of agriculture made
sharecropping unprofitable, did the system begin to disappear.
Farmers in general experienced a
sharp decline in income in this period, while their living and operating costs
continued to rise. Farmers began to organize in the 1870s, and, during the
ensuing two decades, many joined the National Grange and the Farmers’ Alliances.
The Alliances were cooperative organizations that hoped to lower farmers’ costs
by selling supplies at reduced prices, loaning money at rates below those
charged by banks, and building warehouses to store crops until prices increased.
Dissatisfied with the Democratic Party, about half of the farmers of the state,
already organized in the Alliance, formed the People’s Party in 1892. This
political movement, called populism, had as its principal objectives the
unlimited coinage of silver and large amounts of paper money, which were
inflationary measures intended to raise farm prices and help farmers pay off
their debts. Populists also sought a national cooperative system like the local
Alliances; lower freight rates under state-run railroads; a graduated income tax
to distribute the cost of government more widely; direct popular elections of
U.S. senators; and an eight-hour workday.
The elections of 1892 demonstrated
that the populists could win some offices but could not become the majority
party. Therefore, in the elections of 1894 the populists cooperated with the
Republicans, supporting in many instances a Fusion (Republican and Populist)
ticket. The Fusionists won control of the legislatures of 1895 and 1897 and in
1896 elected a Republican, Daniel L. Russell, to the governorship. Russell was
the only Republican to hold the governorship of North Carolina between the end
of Reconstruction and 1973.
The Fusionists liberalized the
election laws. As a result, a larger percentage of men voted in the presidential
election of 1896. The Fusion administration improved the public schools and
stimulated interest in education. Partly out of political necessity, the
Fusionists also initiated a major experiment in political equality. Blacks voted
freely. Ten blacks served a total of 12 terms in the legislature, and one black,
George H. White, was, from 1897 to 1901, the last person of his race to
represent a Southern state in the U.S. Congress until 1973.
E6 | White Supremacy |
Toward the end of the 1890s a younger
group assumed the leadership of the Democratic Party, drew up a broad platform
designed to attract people of all classes, and waged a campaign exploiting the
race issue. The Democrats gained control of the legislature in 1898, and in
1900, with Charles Brantley Aycock as their nominee, won the governorship on a
platform of education and white supremacy. In the same election, the voters
approved a constitutional amendment mandating a literacy test that Aycock
promised would remove blacks temporarily from politics; eventually, he
contended, universal education would lead to universal suffrage. Blacks were
indeed a disproportionately small minority of North Carolina voters from 1900 to
the 1960s.
In the last part of the 19th century,
as throughout the South, racial segregation was instituted in North Carolina
through laws providing separate public facilities for whites and blacks. Blacks
had to live in a different part of town, go to separate schools, eat at separate
restaurants, and use different laundries, restrooms, and even drinking
fountains. The facilities provided for blacks were never as good as those
provided for whites. Segregation became a basic rule in Southern society,
helping to ensure that blacks would not present a serious challenge to the
social order.
F | The 20th Century |
After 1900 the state’s farmers enjoyed
an improved market. Because of this and the defeats of 1898 and 1900, the
populist movement disappeared. The loss of the black vote reduced the Republican
Party to impotence for many years. From 1901 to 1973 the Democratic Party
maintained an unbroken record of dominance in state government. The Democrats
also controlled both houses of the legislature by overwhelming majorities in
every session. From the end of the Fusionists’ terms to 1973, every U.S. senator
from North Carolina was a Democrat.
F1 | Economic Development |
By the 1920s North Carolina was a
national leader in the manufacture of textiles, tobacco products, and furniture.
The state suffered economic hardship during the Great Depression, the hard times
of the 1930s, but after 1933 public works projects funded by the federal
government provided jobs for thousands of people, and federal programs aided
cotton and tobacco farmers. In World War II (1939-1945) the unemployment problem
was significantly reduced as 362,000 North Carolinians went into the armed
services and the federal government spent almost $2 billion in the state for war
materials. Defense agencies were supplied by 83 industrial plants in the state;
among these were the North Carolina Ship Corporation at Wilmington, which turned
out 358 ships; and the Ethyl-Dow Plant at Kure Beach, which manufactured all the
tetraethyl lead used by the United States in the war. After World War II many
Northern businesses, attracted by North Carolina’s restrictions on labor unions,
relocated in the state. Many people seeking jobs moved from the farms to the
cities, and industry expanded.
By the 1970s an urban way of life and
culture had emerged in North Carolina. Nevertheless, problems of poverty
persisted, and labor still lacked effective bargaining power. However, in 1974
the right to unionize was won at eight plants belonging to the giant J. P.
Stevens Textile Company after an 11-year organizing drive by the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers Union.
F2 | The Civil Rights Movement |
An important part of the civil rights
movement—mass sit-ins—originated in Greensboro in February 1960. The tactic was
this: A body of blacks and whites together would crowd into a segregated lunch
counter and ask for service. If service was refused, they would remain in their
seats, taking up most of the available space so that the counter could do little
other business until the police came and removed the demonstrators. From
Greensboro, this tactic spread throughout the South during the early 1960s. Some
establishments closed down their lunch counters, some changed to a stand-up
operation, and others began integrated service. Many of the larger cities of
North Carolina began to serve blacks and whites together, but in many of the
smaller towns, segregated service continued until it was outlawed by the federal
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
When the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954
decided, in Brown v. Board of Education, that segregated schools
were unconstitutional, the state was less resistant than most Southern states to
desegregation, but proceeded slowly. The legislature in 1955 voted to eliminate
any reference to race from the laws of the state but would not go beyond that.
By unanimous vote, the legislators approved a resolution stating that:
The mixing of the races in the public schools within the state cannot be accomplished and if attempted would alienate public support of the schools to such an extent that they could not be operated successfully.
However, desegregation began in the fall of 1955 on the university undergraduate level, when three black applicants were admitted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These were the first in the university’s 160-year history, other than a few who had been specially admitted to the law, medical, and graduate schools. They were admitted under federal court order after the university’s board of trustees initially voted not to process their applications. Integration at lower levels began in the fall of 1957 with three school boards—Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Greensboro—and gradually spread. After some initial protests by white segregationists, the process was a peaceful one. Busing of pupils to achieve racial desegregation began in the early 1970s in several cities in the state, following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving a Charlotte school district. In 1981 the U.S. Department of Education and North Carolina authorities agreed on a plan for the full desegregation of the state university system by 1986. The agreement ended an 11-year dispute.
The mixing of the races in the public schools within the state cannot be accomplished and if attempted would alienate public support of the schools to such an extent that they could not be operated successfully.
However, desegregation began in the fall of 1955 on the university undergraduate level, when three black applicants were admitted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These were the first in the university’s 160-year history, other than a few who had been specially admitted to the law, medical, and graduate schools. They were admitted under federal court order after the university’s board of trustees initially voted not to process their applications. Integration at lower levels began in the fall of 1957 with three school boards—Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Greensboro—and gradually spread. After some initial protests by white segregationists, the process was a peaceful one. Busing of pupils to achieve racial desegregation began in the early 1970s in several cities in the state, following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving a Charlotte school district. In 1981 the U.S. Department of Education and North Carolina authorities agreed on a plan for the full desegregation of the state university system by 1986. The agreement ended an 11-year dispute.
Although North Carolina’s black
citizens advanced in rights, opportunities, and influence after World War II,
they suffered the effects of years of economic, social, legal, and educational
inequality. Various organizations advocating white supremacy were still active
in the state. In November 1979, five members of the Communist Workers Party were
shot to death by a group of Ku Klux Klansmen and American Nazis while holding an
anti-Klan protest rally in Greensboro. The six men accused in the killings were
found not guilty by a state court jury in November 1980.
F3 | End of One-Party Rule |
In the 1960s the Republican Party
became stronger in North Carolina, partly in reaction to the liberalism of the
Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress. In 1972 the Republicans elected a governor,
James E. Holshouser, Jr. (1973-1977), their first since 1901, and a U.S.
senator, Jesse A. Helms, their first since 1895. Many other Republican
candidates have been elected to Congress since 1972. In 1992 Republicans won
control of the state House of Representatives (formerly the house of commons)
and many county courthouses. Also in 1992, however, Democrat James B. Hunt, Jr.,
was elected governor; and Representative Eva M. Clayton, a Democrat, became the
first black U.S Congress member from North Carolina since 1901.
Two North Carolina senators got large
shares of the national limelight in the late 20th century—Republican Jesse Helms
and Democrat Sam J. Ervin, Jr. Helms was first elected senator in 1972 and
served until 2003, when he retired. He was outspoken on his stands in favor of
traditional moral values. The son of the police chief of Monroe, Helms stuck to
his early convictions about law and order, respect for elders, religious faith,
and patriotism. He was an opponent of abortion and an advocate of prayer in
public schools. Sam Ervin was a North Carolina Supreme Court justice when he was
appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1954 to serve the unexpired term of the deceased
Clyde R. Hoey. Ervin, who served in the Senate until 1974, was a Democrat of the
old school. He opposed most civil rights legislation, generally supported
business over labor, and supported U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
(1959-1975). Ervin headed the Senate committee investigating the Watergate
Affair (1973-1974) and fought President Richard M. Nixon’s efforts to withhold
evidence and testimony on the ground of executive privilege.
North Carolina’s prominence in
national politics continued in the 21st century as one of its two U.S. senators,
John Edwards, ran for the presidency and eventually became the Democratic
party’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2004 elections. Although the ticket
of Edwards and presidential candidate John F. Kerry lost nationally and within
the state, North Carolina reelected Democrat Mike Easley as governor. The
Democrats’ effort to retain Edwards’ Senate seat for the party failed as
Republican representative Richard Burr defeated Erskine Bowles, who won the
Democratic nomination for the Senate after Edwards decided not to seek
reelection.
F4 | Economic Expansion and Diversification |
As the 20th century came to a close,
North Carolina was at an economic crossroads, as long-established industries
slowed and were overtaken by new ones. Tobacco revenues, for years a major part
of North Carolina’s economy, began to fall in the 1980s and 1990s. Although the
state still led the nation in 1996 in tobacco production and sales, findings
about the health hazards of smoking lessened profits, and the industry faced an
uncertain future. At the same time, textile mills, once a mainstay of North
Carolina’s economy, began to suffer from competition by foreign operators with
lower production costs.
Many of these older industries began
to be overtaken by high-tech and research and development industries in the
1990s. The driving force behind this change was the Research Triangle Park,
which opened in 1959. The park was a cooperative research center created by
three North Carolina universities—Duke University in Durham, the University of
North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University in Raleigh. A
unique complex for organizations engaged in institutional, governmental, and
industrial research, the park employed in 1998 more than 42,000 people working
for more than 100 companies and organizations. The largest single employer at
the park in 1998 was International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), a
leading manufacturer of computers, which employed about 14,000 people at its
facility in the park. Other major employers included Nortel Networks
Corporation, a telecommunications company; Glaxo Wellcome Inc., a pharmaceutical
concern; and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a
biomedical research institute. The Research Triangle Park has brought prosperity
to Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh.
Largely because of the success of
endeavors such as the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina’s economy has grown
and diversified, and the number of professional and high-tech jobs has increased
rapidly. From 1990 to 1997 the state’s economy grew by 31 percent, compared to
20 percent for the United States as a whole in the same period. The state seemed
poised to continue its growth well into the 21st century, spurred in part by
Dell Computer Corporation’s decision in 2004 to build a manufacturing plant in
North Carolina.
This article, except for the history
section, was contributed by W. Frank Ainsley.
Many crafts in the website are well described.
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