North Carolina

North Carolina leads all the states of the United States in tobacco farming and in the manufacture of tobacco products. It ranks among the nation’s leaders in the production of textiles and wooden furniture. Raleigh is North Carolina’s capital. Charlotte is the state’s largest city.

North Carolina is a Southern state with a long coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. Islands, reefs, and sand bars make its shores some of the most treacherous in the world. Many ships have been wrecked at Cape Hatteras by the rough seas and difficult currents. Cape Hatteras is called the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

The state stretches westward from the coast across swamps and fertile farms. The land rises through lovely hills into industrial cities and towns. Tobacco fields, with neat rows of tobacco plants, are scattered throughout the state. Rugged mountains cover much of the far western part of North Carolina. Mount Mitchell, which rises more than 1¹/₄ miles (2 kilometers) above sea level, is the highest peak in the eastern United States.

Service industries are the major part of North Carolina’s economy. The leading services include finance, health care, private research, real estate, and retail trade. Research Triangle Park, a large research complex in the Raleigh-Durham area, is an important center of research for the electronics, medical, and other industries. Manufacturing is also an important economic activity. North Carolina is a leading state in raising broilers (young, tender chickens), hogs, and turkeys. One of the state’s main crops is tobacco. Tobacco fields, with neat rows of tobacco plants, are scattered throughout North Carolina.

In 1584, English explorers looked for a suitable site for a settlement along the North Carolina coast. As a result, the first groups of English settlers in America built colonies on Roanoke Island off the coast in 1585 and 1587. The earlier group returned to England. The later group vanished from the island, leaving behind only a mystery that has puzzled the ages. This group has been named the Lost Colony. Virginia Dare, the first child born to English parents in America, was a member of the Lost Colony (see Dare, Virginia).

During colonial days, groups of patriots in North Carolina, such as the Sons of Liberty, defied English taxes and English rule. After the American Revolution began in 1775, North Carolina was the first colony to instruct its delegates at the Continental Congress to vote for independence.

Before the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861-1865), North Carolina tried to preserve the Union even after most other Southern states had withdrawn. But after North Carolina left the Union, it did its best to help the Confederate cause. More than 10 Civil War battles were fought on North Carolina soil. About a fourth of all Confederate soldiers killed came from North Carolina.

North Carolina’s nickname, the Tar Heel State, refers to one of the state’s earliest products—tar. According to legend, some Confederate troops retreated during a fierce Civil War battle. They left the North Carolina soldiers to fight the Union soldiers alone. The North Carolinians supposedly threatened to put tar on the heels of the other Confederate soldiers so that they would “stick better in the next fight.”

People

Population.

The 2020 United States census reported that North Carolina had 10,439,388 people. The state’s population had increased 10 percent over the 2010 figure, which was 9,535,483. According to the 2020 census, North Carolina ranks 9th in population among the 50 states.

About 80 percent of North Carolina’s people live in metropolitan areas (see Metropolitan area). Fourteen metropolitan areas lie entirely in North Carolina. These areas are Asheville, Burlington, Durham-Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Greensboro-High Point, Greenville, Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, Jacksonville, Pinehurst-Southern Pines, Raleigh-Cary, Rocky Mount, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem. The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia area extends into South Carolina. Parts of the Virginia Beach (Virginia)-Chesapeake (Virginia)-Norfolk (Virginia) area is in North Carolina.

Charlotte, the state’s largest city, has about 875,000 people. North Carolina’s other cities with more than 200,000 people, in order of population, include Raleigh, the state capital; Greensboro; Durham; Winston-Salem; and Fayetteville. All these cities lie inland. The state’s largest coastal city is Wilmington, with a population of about 115,000.

About 20 of every 100 North Carolinians are African Americans. North Carolina’s other large population groups include people whose ancestors came from England, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. A number of North Carolinians are of Native American descent.

Schools.

Churches and religious leaders controlled most of the early education in North Carolina. In 1705, Charles Griffin, a schoolteacher and Anglican Church member, set up what was probably North Carolina’s first school. It was at Symons Creek near Elizabeth City.

The Constitution of 1776 provided for the establishment of a public school system and for chartering the University of North Carolina. In 1795, this university became the first state university in the United States to hold classes. But the state did not build its first public school until 1840. In 1901, Governor Charles B. Aycock began to improve North Carolina’s system of public education.

The State Board of Education supervises North Carolina’s public school system and makes its policies. The board consists of the lieutenant governor, the state treasurer, and 11 other members who are appointed by the governor to eight-year terms. The state superintendent of public instruction, who is elected to a four-year term, serves as the chief administrator and secretary of the state board. Children between the ages of 7 and 16 must attend school.

Libraries.

The state’s first public library was founded in Bath about 1700 by Thomas Bray, an English missionary. Bray established the first free lending libraries in the American Colonies. Bath was incorporated as a town in 1705, and it became the first town in North Carolina.

In 1897, the state passed its first public-library law, and the state’s first tax-supported library opened in Durham. Today, in addition to its public libraries, North Carolina has several cooperative library organizations that provide for the sharing of services and resources.

Libraries at Duke University and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill own the largest collections of books in the state. Both universities have excellent collections of documents on Southern history and social sciences. The State Library of North Carolina in Raleigh houses materials on the history of the state. The archives and history division retains state records.

Museums.

One of the outstanding art museums in the South, the North Carolina Museum of Art, opened in Raleigh in 1956. The University of North Carolina’s art museums include the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill and the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro.

Highlights at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh include dinosaur and whale skeletons, as well as re-creations of North Carolina habitats. The North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh and the Greensboro Historical Museum portray the history of the state. The International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro has exhibits depicting the civil rights movement, including a re-creation of the Greensboro lunch counter where African American students began a sit-in after they were refused service in 1960.

Visitor’s guide

Many Northerners come to North Carolina’s Sandhills area for relief from the cold winter weather. Blossoming mountain laurels, azaleas, and rhododendrons in spring and summer, and the beautiful colors of autumn, lure visitors to the mountains. Hunters track quail and deer through the mountains. Swimmers, sunbathers, and people who like fishing enjoy North Carolina’s lakes, rivers, and coastlines. Historic sites, battlefields, old mansions, and beautiful gardens attract sightseers and students of American history.

One of the most popular annual events in North Carolina is the performance of The Lost Colony. This historical drama is staged at Fort Raleigh in Manteo during June, July, and August. The play portrays some of the hardships faced by the early English colonists who disappeared mysteriously from Roanoke Island.

Land and climate

Land regions.

North Carolina has three main land regions. These are, from east to west: (1) the Atlantic Coastal Plain, (2) the Piedmont, and (3) the Mountain Region.

The Atlantic Coastal Plain

extends from New Jersey to southern Florida. North Carolina’s coastal plain extends inland through an area of low, level marshland, covered by trees and water. Many swamps, shallow lakes, and rivers reflect moss-hung baldcypress trees. The Dismal Swamp in the northeast is one of the country’s largest swamps (see Dismal Swamp). Treeless, grassy prairies cover parts of the eastern coastal plain. The western coastal plain has rich farmland. Sand hills rise along the southern part of the coastal plain.

The Piedmont

is a hilly region that extends from Delaware to Alabama. In North Carolina, the Piedmont rises from about 300 feet (90 meters) at the edge of the coastal plain to about 1,500 feet (460 meters) at the mountains. The boundary between the Piedmont and the coastal plain is called the Fall Line. Along the Fall Line, rivers fall from the rocky Piedmont onto the softer, flat coastal plain. Most of the state’s manufacturing industries are in the Piedmont. The area has more people than the coastal and mountain regions together. See Piedmont Region.

The Mountain Region

stretches from southern Pennsylvania to northern Georgia. The Blue Ridge Mountains are North Carolina’s chief range. But the region also includes a number of other ranges. They include the Bald, Black, Brushy, Great Smoky, South, Stone, and Unaka ranges. All these mountains form part of the Appalachian Mountains. The Mountain Region rises from the Piedmont to heights of more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) above sea level. Mount Mitchell rises 6,684 feet (2,037 meters) and is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. Forests cover much of the mountains, and the valley bottoms have good farmland. Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway are in this region. See Blue Ridge Mountains.

Coastline.

The general coastline of the North Carolina mainland stretches 301 miles (484 kilometers). The tidal shoreline, which includes sand bars, islands, bays, and the mouths of rivers, measures 3,375 miles (5,432 kilometers). Sand bars called the Outer Banks form an almost continuous barrier along the coast. The Outer Banks jut into the Atlantic Ocean, forming Cape Fear, Cape Lookout, and Cape Hatteras. Their shifting sands have caused many shipwrecks. Cape Hatteras is called the Graveyard of the Atlantic. See Cape Hatteras.

Rivers, waterfalls, and lakes.

Most of North Carolina’s rivers start in the Mountain Region or in the Piedmont. They flow southeastward down the slopes of the western mountains and hills until they reach the edge of the Piedmont region. The rivers race along narrow channels above the Fall Line. They plunge downward in waterfalls and rapids at the Fall Line. Then they become wider and flow slowly below the Fall Line and end in wide estuaries (river mouths). Boats can sail inland from the coast on several of the larger rivers as far west as the Fall Line.

One of the state’s largest rivers, the Roanoke, flows into northeastern North Carolina, and empties into Albemarle Sound. The Neuse and Tar rivers drain the central part of North Carolina and flow into Pamlico Sound. The Cape Fear River crosses the southeastern portion of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Several swift streams west of the Blue Ridge Mountains drain into Tennessee. North Carolina’s largest dams are in this western area on the Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, and Nantahala rivers. Large dams also span the Catawba River, east of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Marion, and the Roanoke River near Roanoke Rapids.

Many lovely waterfalls add to the beauty of southwestern North Carolina. Whitewater Falls, near Brevard, plunges 411 feet (125 meters) and is one of the highest falls in the Eastern United States. North Carolina’s only natural lakes are on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Lake Mattamuskeet, the largest, is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) long and 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide.

Plant and animal life.

Forests cover about half of North Carolina. Common trees include baldcypresses, hickories, maples, oaks, pines, sweet gums, tupelos, white-cedars, and yellow-poplars. In January, camellias bloom along the coastline. By April, redbud and dogwood blossoms have spread across the state. In May and June, azaleas and rhododendrons color the mountainsides. Orchids and such insect-eaters as pitcher plants, sundews, and Venus flytraps flourish in the coastal savannas.

Deer are found throughout the state. Black bears live in the western mountains and in the coastal lowlands. North Carolina’s fields, forests, and streams are filled with beavers, foxes, gray squirrels, opossums, otters, rabbits, raccoons, and skunks. Common songbirds include cardinals, Carolina wrens, and mockingbirds. Ducks, geese, and swans winter near the coast. Mourning doves, partridges, and woodcocks inhabit much of the state.

Dolphinfish, marlin, menhaden, sailfish, and sturgeon are found in the waters along North Carolina’s coast. Freshwater lakes and streams have bass, bluegills, crappies, sunfish, and trout.

Climate.

Temperatures in southeast North Carolina average 81 °F (27 °C) in July and 45 °F (7 °C) in January. The western mountains average 72 °F (22 °C) in July, and 34 °F (1 °C) in January. The state’s highest recorded temperature was 110 °F (43 °C) at Fayetteville on Aug. 21, 1983. The lowest temperature recorded was –34 °F (–51 °C) at Mount Mitchell, near Asheville, on Jan. 21, 1985.

Rain makes up most of the state’s precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other moisture). The Atlantic Coastal Plain averages about 50 inches (125 centimeters) a year, the Piedmont about 45 inches (114 centimeters), and the Mountain Region about 60 inches (150 centimeters). Snowfall ranges from nearly 50 inches (127 centimeters) a year in some mountains to only a trace in some coastal areas.

Because of the way its coastline juts into the Atlantic Ocean, North Carolina has often been the target of destructive hurricanes. The state experiences an average of one hurricane every four years.

Economy

Service industries, taken together, account for about three-fourths of North Carolina’s gross domestic product—the total value of goods and services produced in the state in a year. Manufacturing is also an important economic activity in the state. The leading manufactured goods include chemicals and tobacco products. Community, business, and personal services are the leading employer among North Carolina’s service industry groups. Agriculture is also an important part of the state’s economy.

Natural resources

of North Carolina include rich soils and mineral deposits, and thick forests.

Soil.

Red and yellow soils cover most of North Carolina, except along the coast and in the mountains. Light and level sandy loam soils make the central and western coastal plain the richest farmland in the state. A strip of coastal land that ranges from about 30 to 60 miles (50 to 100 kilometers) wide has marshy soils formed by dark peat or muck. Drained properly, these soils provide good farmland. Deep sandy soils cover the sand hills along the southern part of the Fall Line. The Piedmont has sandy, clay, and silt loams, mostly red in color. Strips of dark alluvial (water-deposited) soils lie along most of the streams. Grayish-brown loams cover most of the mountain area.

Minerals.

North Carolina, sometimes called “Nature’s Sample Case,” has deposits of more than 300 different minerals and rocks. The mountains contain rich stores of feldspar and kaolin. The Mountain and Piedmont regions have large deposits of gneiss. Limestone and sand and gravel are found throughout the state. The Piedmont region has clays, granite, and shale. Other mined products include mica and phosphate rock.

Forests

cover about half of the state. Oaks and pines are the most common trees. Oaks grow along with such other hardwoods as hickories, maples, and yellow-poplars over the entire state. Tupelo and sweet gum forests spread along the coastal plain rivers and streams. Loblolly pine, the state’s most common softwood, grows over the entire coastal plain. Pond pine, black tupelo, baldcypress, and white-cedar are found in the swamps.

Service industries

account for about three-fourths of North Carolina’s gross domestic product and over four-fifths of its employment. Most services are concentrated in the metropolitan areas.

Raleigh, the state’s capital, is the center of government activities. Duke University in Durham is a leading center of research in medicine and other fields. Research Triangle Park is a large research complex in the Raleigh-Durham area. Charlotte is one of the country’s major financial centers. Bank of America Corporation, a large banking company, is based in the city. Lowe’s Companies, Inc., a large wholesale distributor of building materials, is headquartered in Mooresville. Hotels, restaurants, and retail establishments are primarily in the state’s metropolitan areas.

North Carolina has one of the largest public university systems in the United States. Military bases in the state include Fort Liberty, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

Manufacturing

accounts for a larger portion of the gross domestic product in North Carolina than it does in most other states. The state’s manufacturing takes place primarily in the Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh-Durham, and Winston-Salem areas.

Chemicals and tobacco products are the leading manufactured products. Pharmaceuticals (medicinal drugs) are the leading chemical product. Factories in the Raleigh-Durham area make pharmaceuticals. North Carolina makes more tobacco products than any other state. Factories in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and other cities produce cigarettes. North Carolina produces about half of the cigarettes made in the United States.

Computer and electronic products, machinery, and transportation equipment are primarily manufactured in the metropolitan areas. North Carolina ranks as a leader in poultry processing and textile production. It leads the states in the production of household furniture.

Agriculture.

Farmland covers about a fourth of North Carolina. Livestock products provide about two-thirds of the agricultural income. North Carolina ranks among the leading states in the production of both broilers (young, tender chickens) and hogs. Broilers and hogs together account for about three-fourths of the state’s livestock income. Most hogs are raised in the eastern part of the state. The largest numbers of broilers come from the southern and central Piedmont and from Wilkes County.

North Carolina is also a leading turkey-raising state. Duplin and Sampson counties raise the most turkeys. Dairy farming is important in the western part of the state. Other livestock products in North Carolina include beef cattle and eggs.

North Carolina is the leading tobacco-growing state. Fire-cured tobacco is mainly grown in the eastern half of the state. Burley tobacco is grown in mountainous areas near Asheville and also north of Winston-Salem. Corn, cotton, and soybeans also rank as important crops. They grow in the eastern part of the state.

North Carolina is a leading producer of peanuts and sweet potatoes. Peanuts grow chiefly in the northern coastal plain. Sweet potatoes grow in the warm, humid regions of the western coastal plain. Blueberries are the leading fruit crop. Apples, peaches, and strawberries are also important. North Carolina’s other agricultural products include greenhouse and nursery products, hay, trees, and wheat.

Mining.

Crushed stone, mainly granite, is North Carolina’s leading mined product. Limestone and traprock are also mined from the state’s quarries.

Other leading mined products include phosphate rock and sand and gravel. Phosphate rock is mined in Beaufort County. Sand and gravel are produced mainly in the coastal plain. North Carolina is a leading producer of feldspar, mica, and pyrophyllite.

Fishing industry.

The most valuable fish and shellfish caught include blue crabs, flounder, shrimp , and tuna. North Carolina’s aquaculture industry raises catfish and trout in natural and artificially created bodies of water.

Electric power and utilities.

Most of North Carolina’s electric power is generated from nuclear power plants and from plants that burn coal or natural gas. Renewable resources also provide power.

Transportation.

Rivers served as the first highways in North Carolina. Roads began to appear in the 1700’s, but most remained poor until well into the 1900’s. The state began a major campaign to improve its roads in the 1920’s. The first two major railroads—the Wilmington and Raleigh, and the Raleigh and Gaston—began service in 1840. At that time, the 161-mile (259-kilometer) Wilmington line was the longest in the world.

Today, the state has an extensive system of roads and highways. Seven interstate highways link North Carolina’s cities. Many bridges span inlets and rivers along the state’s coast. Numerous rail lines provide freight service in North Carolina. The busiest airport is at Charlotte. The Raleigh-Durham area and Greensboro also have major airports. Harbors at Morehead City, Southport, and Wilmington are part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (see Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway).

Communication.

James Davis, a printer and editor, established North Carolina’s first newspaper, the North Carolina Gazette, at New Bern in 1751. The weekly Raleigh Register was founded in 1799. Today, The Charlotte Observer and The News and Observer of Raleigh are the state’s largest dailies.

Government

Constitution

of North Carolina became effective in 1971. The state had two earlier constitutions, adopted in 1776 and 1868. Amendments to the Constitution can be proposed in the state legislature or by a constitutional convention. An amendment proposed in the legislature must be approved by three-fifths of both houses. Then it must be approved by a majority of the voters in a general election. A constitutional convention must be approved by two-thirds of both houses, and by the voters, before it can meet to propose and adopt amendments to the Constitution.

Executive.

North Carolina’s governor and lieutenant governor serve a four-year term. They may serve any number of terms but not more than two in a row. The governor can appoint a number of important state officials, including the heads of executive departments. The voters elect many other top administrative officers to four-year terms. They include the attorney general, auditor, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction, treasurer, and commissioners of agriculture, labor, and insurance. These officials and the lieutenant governor make up the Council of State, an advisory council to the governor.

Legislature

of North Carolina is called the General Assembly. It consists of a 50-member Senate and a 120-member House of Representatives. North Carolina has 50 senatorial districts and 120 representative districts. Members of both houses serve two-year terms. The lieutenant governor is president of the Senate. The House of Representatives elects a speaker to preside over it.

The legislature meets every year. In odd-numbered years, it has a regular session that begins on the third Wednesday after the second Monday in January. In even-numbered years, a short session is held, usually in June, to review financial matters and conclude any business from the previous year.

Courts.

North Carolina’s court system has three divisions: an Appellate Division, a Superior Court Division, and a District Court Division. The Appellate Division consists of the Supreme Court, the state’s highest court; and the Court of Appeals, an intermediate appellate court. The appellate courts hear cases appealed from lower courts. The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and 6 associate justices, and the Court of Appeals has 15 judges.

The Superior Court Division is divided among five divisions and 48 judicial districts across the state. Superior Court judges hear civil and criminal trials. District Court judges handle minor civil and criminal cases.

Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges, and Superior Court judges are elected to eight-year terms. District Court judges are elected to four-year terms. If any leaves office, the governor appoints a successor.

Local government.

North Carolina has 100 counties. Each county is governed by a board of county commissioners. The boards consist of three to nine members, elected to two- or four-year terms, depending on the county. They meet at least monthly to supervise county affairs, and to perform such duties as appropriating funds and levying taxes. County officials include the sheriff, register of deeds, superior court clerk, county manager, finance officer, attorney, and tax officials.

State laws grant cities and towns home rule (self-government) to the extent that they may make certain amendments to their charters. But supervision and control remain in the hands of the General Assembly.

North Carolina has more than 550 incorporated municipalities. An area may incorporate by petitioning the General Assembly. Most of the larger cities have the council-manager form of government. Other forms of municipal government are mayor-council and commission.

Revenue.

Taxes account for about half of the state government’s general revenue (income). Federal grants and other U.S. government programs make up most of the rest. A personal income tax provides the greatest portion of the tax revenue. Other important tax revenue sources in North Carolina include a general sales tax and taxes on corporate income, motor fuels, and motor vehicle licenses.

Politics.

The Democratic Party dominated North Carolina’s politics for many years. From the Reconstruction period (1865-1877) through 1964, the Democratic candidate won the state’s electoral votes in almost every presidential election. Republicans began to gain strength in the mid-1960’s. Since 1968, the Republican candidate has won in almost all presidential elections. In the 1990’s and 2000’s, seats in the General Assembly became more evenly divided between parties. Republicans gained tighter control of the legislature in the 2010’s. Despite Republican legislative gains since the late 1900’s, Democratic governor candidates have won more often than Republicans.

History

Early days.

About 35,000 Indigenous (native) Americans, belonging to about 30 tribes, lived in the North Carolina region when Europeans first arrived. The most important tribes were the Cherokee in the western mountains; the Hatteras along the coast; and the Catawba, Chowanoc, and Tuscarora of the coastal plain and the Piedmont.

Exploration and settlement.

Giovanni da Verrazzano, sailing in the service of France, was the first known European to explore the North Carolina coast. He visited the Cape Fear area in 1524. Verrazzano sent glowing reports of what he saw to King Francis I of France. But the king was not interested in colonizing the region. Two years later, an expedition led by Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón of Spain may have stopped near Cape Fear to scout for a place to settle. Ayllón and his followers decided the area was unsuitable, and the expedition moved farther south to settle on the coast of South Carolina or Georgia. In 1540, Hernando de Soto of Spain led an expedition over the mountains at the southwestern tip of the North Carolina region. He hoped to find gold. Instead, he became the first European to reach the Mississippi River. He arrived at the river in 1541. Other Spaniards also came to the region, but neither they nor the French established any permanent settlements.

In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh of England sent explorers to the North Carolina coast to find a suitable site for a settlement. The next year, the first English colony in America was established on Roanoke Island. But misfortunes forced the settlers to return to England in 1586. Raleigh sent a later expedition to Roanoke Island in 1587, with John White as governor. White established a colony and sailed back to England for supplies that same year. When Queen Elizabeth allowed White to return to Roanoke Island in 1590, his colony had disappeared. No one knows what happened to the more than one hundred men, women, and children of what has come to be called the Lost Colony (see Lost Colony).

In 1629, King Charles I of England granted his attorney general, Sir Robert Heath, the southern part of the English claim in America. This included a strip of land containing what is now both North Carolina and South Carolina, and extending to the Pacific Ocean. The land was named the Province of Carolana (land of Charles). Heath’s attempts at settlement failed.

The first permanent European settlers in Carolina came from Virginia. They settled in the Albemarle Sound region around 1650. In 1663, Charles II of England regranted Carolina to eight of his favorite nobles. He made them lords proprietors (ruling landlords) of the colony. The proprietors divided Carolina into three counties: (1) Albemarle, in the northern part; (2) Clarendon, in the Cape Fear region; and (3) Craven, in what is now South Carolina. In 1664, William Drummond was appointed governor of Albemarle County, and government began in Carolina. Clarendon County lasted only until 1667. From then until 1689, Albemarle County had the only government in the North Carolina region.

Colonial days.

The colonists of Albemarle County believed that the proprietors and governors were more interested in making money than in governing wisely. In 1677, some Albemarle colonists revolted against their governor. They ran the county for over a year by themselves. The revolt became known as Culpeper’s Rebellion after John Culpeper, one of the leaders of the uprising. Between 1664 and 1689, the colonists drove five Albemarle governors from office.

After 1691, governors were appointed to govern the entire Carolina colony, with a deputy governor for the North Carolina region. The deputy governors ruled wisely and the colonists accepted them. The North Carolina region became a separate colony in 1712.

During the late 1600’s and early 1700’s, increasing numbers of settlers came to North Carolina. In 1705, North Carolina’s first town, Bath, was incorporated near the mouth of the Pamlico River. By 1710, settlements had spread down the coast and along the riverbanks as far south as the Neuse River. In 1710, Swiss and Germans founded New Bern, a community several miles inland on the Neuse, in Tuscarora territory. At dawn on Sept. 22, 1711, enraged Tuscarora warriors, whose land had been seized by European settlers, attacked New Bern and other settlements. Within two hours, most of the settlements between the Neuse and Pamlico rivers lay in ruins. The Tuscarora had massacred hundreds of settlers, burned their homes, stolen their valuables, and destroyed their crops. The massacre marked the beginning of the Tuscarora War, the worst so-called Indian war in North Carolina’s history. The colonists defeated the Tuscarora on March 25, 1713.

While settlers battled the wilderness and the Indigenous inhabitants during the late 1600’s and early 1700’s, pirates terrorized North Carolina’s coastline. Most piracy along the Atlantic Coast ended with the death of the pirate Blackbeard in a battle near Ocracoke Island in 1718. See Blackbeard.

In 1729, the lords proprietors sold their land back to the king of the United Kingdom. North Carolina became a royal colony, ruled by royal governors named by the king. The governors ruled wisely and helped the colony grow. In 1729, only about 36,000 people lived in North Carolina, mostly along the coast. By 1775, the population had grown to nearly 350,000, and settlement had spread westward across the Piedmont and into the mountains.

North Carolina contributed money and troops to help the United Kingdom fight several colonial wars. Those wars included Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713), King George’s War (1744-1748), and the French and Indian War (1754-1763). In 1760, Hugh Waddell of Wilmington led North Carolina troops to an important victory over the Cherokee at Fort Dobbs, near present-day Statesville. In 1761, the Cherokee signed a peace treaty that opened a vast area of western Virginia and the Carolinas to settlement. See French and Indian wars.

Revolution and independence.

The United Kingdom placed additional taxes on the American Colonies to help pay for the colonial wars. But the colonists objected to taxes levied without their consent. Protesters in North Carolina and other colonies called the Sons of Liberty led demonstrations and even armed rebellions against these taxes (see Sons of Liberty). Meanwhile, some farmers in western North Carolina rose up against the high taxes and dishonest officials forced upon them by the wealthy eastern planters. The western rebels were called the Regulators. William Tryon, the royal governor, needed more than a thousand troops to defeat the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771.

North Carolina sent delegates to Philadelphia to attend the First Continental Congress in 1774. After the American Revolution began in April 1775, North Carolinians quickly took sides. Those who opposed the British were called Whigs. Those who remained loyal to the king were called Tories. On Feb. 27, 1776, Whig forces, under Colonels Richard Caswell and Alexander Lillington, crushed the Tories in the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. This was the first battle of the Revolutionary War in North Carolina. The Whig victory prevented a planned British invasion of North Carolina. On April 12, 1776, North Carolina became the first colony to instruct its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence. Later that year, North Carolina adopted its first constitution and chose Caswell as governor. On July 21, 1778, North Carolina ratified (approved) the Articles of Confederation.

Much of the Revolutionary War was fought outside North Carolina’s borders. But North Carolinians joined the fight against the British in Virginia, Georgia, and South Carolina. Inside the state, warfare between Whigs and Tories produced much bloodshed and bitterness. In 1780, British forces led by Lord Charles Cornwallis marched toward North Carolina from the south. Part of Cornwallis’ army was slaughtered in the Battle of Kings Mountain, just south of North Carolina. But after a retreat, Cornwallis moved northward again, this time into North Carolina. On March 15, 1781, Cornwallis’ troops outlasted the American General Nathanael Greene’s forces in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. But the severely weakened British abandoned North Carolina soon afterward.

Statehood.

North Carolinians delayed approving the United States Constitution because they opposed a strong federal government. At the Hillsborough Convention of 1788, they rejected the Constitution and suggested many amendments to it. The Bill of Rights to the Constitution, proposed by Congress in 1789, included some of these suggestions. North Carolina finally ratified the Constitution on Nov. 21, 1789.

During the early 1800’s, North Carolina was a backward state. It had little commerce or industry. It lacked seaports and transportation facilities. North Carolina planters relied heavily on slave labor, and enslaved Black people made up about a third of the population. Many people left North Carolina, including three men who later became president—Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson.

North Carolina began to progress in 1835, after revising its Constitution. The new Constitution gave greater representation to the people of the western region and encouraged the development of that area. Public schools, railroads, and roads were built. Agriculture increased, and manufacturing started to grow. North Carolina led the nation in gold production until the California Gold Rush of 1849.

The Civil War and Reconstruction.

Although North Carolina was part of the South, it tried to preserve the Union even after most other Southern states had seceded (withdrawn). The Civil War began on April 12, 1861. When President Abraham Lincoln asked for troops to fight the Confederate States, North Carolina refused. The state seceded from the Union on May 20, 1861.

Union forces captured much of North Carolina’s coastline early in the war. But the port at Wilmington remained open to Confederate supply ships until January 1865. More than 10 battles took place in North Carolina. The bloodiest of these was fought at Bentonville from March 19 to 21, 1865. There, Union forces under General William T. Sherman defeated the Confederate troops of General Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston surrendered to Sherman near Durham on April 26. During the war, North Carolina supplied 125,000 men to the Confederate cause. About a fourth of all the Confederate soldiers killed came from North Carolina. However, many North Carolinians sympathized with the Union and resisted the Confederacy.

During the Reconstruction period, federal troops supervised the state’s government until 1868. That year, a new state Constitution abolished slavery and gave Black citizens the right to vote. The Republican Party then gained control of North Carolina. Its members included Black people, white Union sympathizers, and a few Northerners called carpetbaggers (see Carpetbaggers). The state rejoined the Union on June 25, 1868.

During the Reconstruction years, bitter struggles took place between Republicans and Democrats, and between Black people and white people. The Ku Klux Klan and other secret groups supported white supremacy and tried to keep Black people from voting. Democrats gained control of the state legislature in 1870. They impeached Republican Governor William W. Holden in 1871, and removed him from office. In 1875, the Democratic legislature added 30 amendments to the Constitution, thus ensuring white, Democratic control of county government.

Economic progress.

The Civil War had brought death and destruction to North Carolina. But it also freed about 350,000 of the state’s enslaved Black people. After slavery was abolished, North Carolina planters divided their land into small farms. They rented these farms to tenants in return for a share of the crop. Under this system of sharecropping, the number of farms in the state grew from about 75,000 in 1860 to 150,000 in 1880.

The people of North Carolina rebuilt their state quickly. By the 1880’s, farm production equaled what it had been before the war. Tobacco and cotton crops led the growth. Industry also grew rapidly. Many new cotton mills opened. Tobacco-manufacturing and furniture-making also became large-scale industries. Industrialist James Buchanan Duke built up the American Tobacco Company until it had eliminated most competition. Farmers left the farms for industrial jobs in the cities.

In 1898, the Democrats won control of the state legislature in a campaign based on racial hatred. They amended the state Constitution to deprive most Black citizens of voting rights. New laws required the racial segregation of schools, restaurants, railroad trains, streetcars, and other public facilities.

The early 1900’s.

In 1901, Governor Charles B. Aycock started a far-reaching program to improve North Carolina’s public education system. In 1915, the legislature created the State Highway Commission, which began the largest roadbuilding program in the state’s history. That program earned North Carolina the nickname of the “Good Roads State” during the 1920’s.

The state’s industries developed at a tremendous rate during the early 1900’s. By the late 1920’s, North Carolina led the nation in the production of cotton textiles, tobacco products, and wooden furniture.

The Great Depression of the 1930’s brought sudden drops in prices and wages. Businesses failed and banks closed. Workers lost their jobs and farmers lost their farms. The federal and state governments tried to fight the effects of the depression. The North Carolina government reduced local taxes and took control of all highways and public schools. Federal control of agricultural production raised farm prices and income. The state passed welfare measures, raised teachers’ salaries, and reduced working hours to help North Carolina out of the depression by the late 1930’s.

The mid-1900’s.

During World War II (1939-1945), North Carolina mills supplied the armed forces with more textiles than any other state. Its mines supplied more than half the mica used in U.S. war production.

In the late 1940’s, North Carolina built new hospitals and mental health facilities, and it paved many roads in rural areas. Two dams increased the state’s power output. Fontana Dam, at the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains, started operating in 1945, and Kerr Dam, near Henderson, went into operation in 1954.

Black people in North Carolina began to gain greater rights during the mid-1900’s. A key event occurred in 1954, when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that compulsory school segregation was illegal. In 1960, four Black students remained seated at a restricted lunch counter in Greensboro after they were refused service. Their action sparked a wave of sit-in demonstrations throughout the South. Such protests contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned the segregation of public facilities.

During the 1950’s, North Carolina continued to shift from a rural, agricultural economy to an urban, industrial economy. The state worked to attract new industries by providing businesses with technical and engineering assistance and by reducing taxes on corporations. In 1956, three universities—Duke University at Durham, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—combined their research resources. They helped form the North Carolina Research Triangle Park, a research center that serves industry. The center opened in 1959.

In 1963, the legislature set up a system of community colleges and technical institutes. Also in 1963, the state adopted a single university plan for the University of North Carolina, beginning with campuses at Chapel Hill, Greensboro, and Raleigh. By 1972, the University of North Carolina had 16 campuses. These included the North Carolina School of the Arts, which had become the nation’s first state-supported school for the arts when it opened in Winston-Salem in 1965.

The late 1900’s.

In 1971, in a case involving a Charlotte school district, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that children could be bused to achieve racial integration. Most North Carolina school districts were integrated soon afterward. The Charlotte busing program became a model for the rest of the country.

The Republican Party increased its strength in the state in the late 1900’s. In 1972, James E. Holshouser, Jr., became the first Republican to be elected governor of North Carolina since 1896. Also in 1972, Jesse A. Helms became the first Republican candidate to be elected to the United States Senate from North Carolina since 1895.

The development of Research Triangle Park brought prosperity to Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and the surrounding area. In the late 1980’s and the 1990’s, many of North Carolina’s urban areas experienced growth in the finance and technology industries. However, employment in many traditional industries, including tobacco and textiles, declined. During the 1980’s and early 1990’s, North Carolina experienced growth in agricultural-related businesses, such as hog, poultry, and sweet potato production. The filmmaking industry also flourished in North Carolina. Population growth among North Carolina’s urban areas increased demand for better schools, highways, health care facilities, and other government services.

Recent developments.

In 1999, school busing was discontinued in the Charlotte school district. A federal judge ruled that forced integration was no longer necessary because all traces of intentional discrimination had disappeared.

In September 1999, North Carolina suffered one of the worst natural disasters in its history. Hurricane Floyd’s floodwaters left drowned livestock and flooded farms and towns all across the eastern part of the state. Officials estimated the damage costs of the storm to be billions of dollars.

In 2005, the General Assembly approved a state lottery as a means to fund education. Lottery ticket sales began in 2006. In 2009, Beverly Perdue became North Carolina’s first woman governor. Perdue did not seek reelection in 2012.

In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew came ashore in the Carolinas after killing hundreds of people in the Caribbean nation of Haiti. In North Carolina, the powerful storm killed at least 25 people and flooded thousands of homes in the eastern part of the state. In September 2018, Hurricane Florence brought strong winds and more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain to parts of the Carolinas, killing more than 30 people. A number of people also suffered storm-related deaths in the aftermath of the hurricane. In North Carolina, many waterways, including the Cape Fear, Black, Lumber, and Neuse rivers, reached major flood stage, prompting many communities to order evacuations.