North Carolina played a critical, often overlooked, role in our nation’s founding. We at the North Carolina History Project have put together this timeline of our state’s contributions to the American Revolution. The following timeline chronologically lays out some of the most important events in North Carolina’s revolutionary history and links out to our more...
To academic historians and amateur (or avocational) historians: We explored the North Carolina Historical Review to find articles about the American Revolution. I hope these summaries (written by a person, not AI) will whet your appetite for the longer versions. (A link to each article on JSTOR is provided for each.) Did North Carolina’s Revolution...
The North Carolina Historical Review includes a rich collection of articles about the American Revolution. This list was compiled by Kathryn McKee and Jane Shaw Stroup.
Pyle’s Defeat occurred in February 1781 near the end of the Revolution. It was a savage blow to British hopes, as Lt. Gen. Charles, Lord Cornwallis attempted to stop the Patriots’ momentum.
The subject of Scottish folklore and myth, Flora MacDonald assisted Prince Charles Stuart in his escape from King George II. In 1774, she moved to North Carolina, where her Loyalist husband and son fought in the Battle of Moores Creek.
The Edenton Tea Party was one of the earliest organized women’s political actions in United States history. On October 25, 1774, Mrs. Penelope Barker organized, at the home of Mrs. Elizabeth King, fifty-one women in Edenton, North Carolina. Together they formed an alliance wholeheartedly supporting the American cause against “taxation without representation.”
Wright Brothers National Memorial
Congress established Kill Devil Hills National Memorial on March 2, 1927 to commemorate Wilbur and Orville Wright and their contribution to aeronautics and for conducting the world’s first successful heavier-than air flight.
The 1950 Smith-Graham Senate Race
Willis Smith and Frank P. Graham endured a pivotal Democratic primary election in 1950. Both candidates contented for the U.S. Senate seat left open by Senator J. Melville Broughton’s death. During the race, Smith and Graham divided on social issues, particularly racial integration. Smith's calculated attack of Graham’s liberal social views proved successful as he won the primary and eventually the 1950 Senate election.
Saponi Indians
The Saponi Indian tribe is an eastern Siouan language tribe with ancestral land located in Virginia and North Carolina. The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi and the Haliwa Saponi are recognized by the state of North Carolina. The Saponi traveled in small tight knight communities and were avid corn farmers and hunters.
Susan Dimock (1847 – 1875)
One of the first females to practice medicine in the United States, Dr. Susan Dimock was born in Washington, North Carolina in 1847. Dimock trained under a local doctor before moving to Boston after the Civil War. Although she was denied entrance into Harvard Medical School, she moved to Europe where she attended the University of Zurich. She practiced medicine in Boston for several years, but in 1875, at 28 years of age she died after her ship wrecked off the coast of England.
Royal Governor William Tryon (1729 – 1788)
William Tryon, one of the most notorious royal governors of North Carolina, was born in England in 1729. Although he did not receive a formal education, Tryon’s family was well-esteemed, and his wife’s friendship with Lord Hillsborough led to his appointment as lieutenant governor of North Carolina in 1764. Tryon encountered heavy rebellion during the Regulator Movement and he was later relocated to serve as governor of the New York colony. He died on January 27, 1788, in England.
Robert Ruark (1915-1965)
Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1915, Robert Ruark became one of the state’s most prominent writers during the 1940s and 1950s. A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Ruark wrote for local newspapers until he moved to Washington, D.C. In the mid-1940s, Ruark gained popularity for his Washington Daily News columns, and he started writing fiction novels. His most popular work was Old Man and the Boy (1957), a semi-autobiographical work that details Ruark’s childhood with his grandfather in Southport, North Carolina.
Lowe’s Companies
Lowe’s Companies is a North Carolina based chain of home improvement and appliance stores located in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Lowe’s is one of the nations largest retailers and serves over 1,400 customers a week with 1,710 stores in the U.S. and twenty in Canada.
Pfeiffer University
Pfeiffer University is a private Methodist university located in Misenheimer, North Carolina in Stanly County. In the quest for academic excellence, Pfeiffer University offered over the years new programs while remaining dedicated to its Christian beginnings.
NC Botanical Garden
Located in Chapel Hill, The North Carolina Botanical Garden is managed by the University of North Carolina. The garden provides the public with a display of diverse flora and is a leading research and education center for the environment of the southeast.
Thomas Henry Davis (1918-1999)
Thomas Henry Davis was the founder of Piedmont Aviation, Inc., and innovator in commercial aviation. The company maintained facilities in Winston Salem NC, Greensboro NC, and Roanoke VA. Thomas Henry Davis’ management of the company led the airline industry in hub operations.
Frank Porter Graham (1886–1972)
Frank Porter Graham was President of UNC Chapel Hill, United Nations arbiter and US Senator (1949 to 1950).
Coleman Manufacturing Campany
Cole Manufacturing Company was the first black owned cotton mill in the United States in Concord, North Carolina. Its founder, Warren C Coleman became the wealthiest black man in North Carolina by the 1890s.