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.”
Methodist Home for Children
In 1872, the father of the orphanage movement in North Carolina, John Mills, founded the Masonic Orphanage, the state’s first orphanage. During the years of the “golden age” of the orphanage movement (1870-1920), sixteen orphanages were founded in North Carolina. Financed through charitable or religious denominations, some orphanages like Methodist Orphanage served the eastern and western regions of the state.
John Penn (1741 – 1788)
Patriot, Continental Congress member, and North Carolina signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Penn and his contributions to the American Revolution and the early days of a fledgling nation have been overlooked. Penn was one of three North Carolinians who signed the Declaration of Independence, and his efforts on the North Carolina Board of War were instrumental in undermining Cornwallis's military campaigns in the South.
James T. Leach (1805 – 1883)
James T. Leach (1805-1883) played an important role in North Carolina’s Peace Movement during the American Civil War. Leach took the rhetoric of liberty that had been used to justify secession and turned it against the Confederate government.
Joe Louis and Eunice Dudley
Joe Louis Dudley and his wife, Eunice, began their business by mixing shampoo and hair care formula in their kitchen Their entrepreneurship created a needed product.
Concerned Parents Association
The Concerned Parents Association (CPA) was an anti-busing protest group within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. Though CPA successfully mobilized public opinion, they failed to stop the court-ordered busing. Their influence was greatly reduced after they tried—and failed—to boycott Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools.
Joseph Hewes (1730 – 1779)
Although Joseph Hewes was a native of New Jersey, he was one of three North Carolinians to sign the Declaration of Independence. His business experience, education and honorable character enabled the Tar Heel to serve North Carolina vigilantly in public service for thirteen years.
Maurice Moore (1735 – 1777)
In 1735, Maurice Moore was born more than likely in Brunswick County. His father had earned great wealth in South Carolina as a planter along the Lower Cape Fear region yet later moved to Brunswick County, North Carolina. Although from planter pedigree, Maurice Moore became a lawyer. His career choice steered him ultimately into career in public service in which he became one of the colony’s leading young political figures.
‘The Justice and Policy of Taxing the American Colonies in Great-Britain’
In 1765, Maurice Moore published a pamphlet, The Justice and Policy of Taxing the American Colonies in Great Britain. In it, he expressly opposed the Stamp Act and specifically condemned taxation without representation and the concept of virtual representation. As a result, Governor Tryon stripped Moore of his judicial appointment.
NC Postal Censorship Law of 1924 (Grist Law)
A state legislator named Frank Grist shepherded a law through the state legislature in 1924 which applied state-level penalties to anyone who sold literature in North Carolina which had been banned by the U.S. Post Office Department pursuant to federal law. A magazine published by the famous editor H. L. Mencken potentially ran afoul of this statute, which was on the books until 1971.
Gilbert S. Waters (1869-1903)
Gilbert S. Waters built one of the first buggymobiles. Born in 1869, Waters grew up in New Bern around the buggy industry and worked in the family business, G. H. Waters Buggy and Carriage Factory.
Secret Basketball Game of 1944
During the Jim Crow era, African American college teams were barred from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). But a brave few found ways around these restrictions. A secret game held in 1944 between a white team from Duke and a black team from NCCU was one of the first integrated sports events in the South.
Buggymobile
The buggymobile, a horse-less contraption that used a gasoline engine, was considered expensive and silly when it was first invented. It soon became, however, one of the most innovative and popular transportation devices.