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.”
A Speech at Edenton
On November 8, 1787 in Edenton at the Chowan County Courthouse, Hugh Williamson called for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In February 1788, his speech was published in the New York Daily Advertiser and later in other publications, including Pennsylvania Packet, Charleston Columbian Herald, and Philadelphia American Museum.
Heilig-Meyers Furniture
Two Lithuanian immigrants started a furniture company in Goldsboro that survived and grew during the Great Depression. In 1946, the two parted ways, and the company had 19 stores by 1970. During the next three decades, the number of Heilig-Meyers stores increased, and it grew exponentially in the 1990s (from 258 stores in 1988 to 647 stores in 1994). The chain reached its zenith in 1998 yet lost money. It filed for bankruptcy in 2000 and eliminated 4,400 jobs.
State Fruit: Scuppernong Grape
The first actively cultivated grape in the United States, the Scuppernong grape was named the official State Fruit by the General Assembly in 2001. The scuppernong grape was named after the Scuppernong River that runs through Tyrell and Washington counties. In 2007, The North Carolina Governor’s office reported that North Carolina ranked tenth nationally in grape and wine production, an industry worth $813 million dollars a year in North Carolina
State Flag
Although not the state’s first flag, the current North Carolina state flag has been left largely unchanged over the past 125 years. The flag includes two important dates: May 20, 1775 and April 12, 1776. The first is the date The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was signed, and the second is when the Halifax Resolves were passed.
Esse Quam Videri
The Latin phrase Esse Quam Videri, “to be rather than to seem,” was chosen as the North Carolina state motto by jurist and historian Walter Clark.
Hutchins G. Burton (1774-1836)
A three-term governor, Hutchins G. Burton is noted for encouraging a system of public education to ensure that young North Carolinians received at least a rudimentary education. He also served as the state’s attorney general (1810-1816) and as a U.S. House of Representative (1819-1825).
Archibald Maclaine (1728 – 1790)
An influential supporter of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, Archibald Maclaine may have been even more influential if not for his defense of Tories within the state. One of the original trustees of the University of North Carolina, Maclaine was known for his belief in the law and order and for his willingness to stand in the minority for issues he supported.
Thomas Burke (1744 – 1783)
A native of Ireland, Thomas Burke served as the third governor of North Carolina under the 1776 constitution. He played an instrumental role in the committee that submitted the Halifax Resolves to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. A one-term governor, he was imprisoned by Loyalists, taken to Charleston, South Carolina, escaped and resumed the governorship, and then resigned in 1782.
David Stone (1770-1818)
A Bertie County native, a College of New Jersey (Princeton University) graduate, and part of the Marache Club, David Stone served not only as Governor of North Carolina (1808-1810) but also as a state legislator in the House of Commons (1790-1795, 1810-1811), as a U.S. Representative (1799-1801), and as a U.S. Senator (1801-1807, 1812-1814). As governor he worked to protect personal property rights and promoted education in the Jeffersonian spirit. As a US Senator, he was censured by the General Assembly for opposing war efforts.
Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr. (1796-1850)
A lawyer and the last governor elected by the General Assembly, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., served as the chief executive of North Carolina for one term (1835-1836). Before then he had served as a state legislator and U.S. Congressman, and afterward he practiced law in New Bern. Many of his cases were pro bono.
Richard Dobbs Spaight, Sr. (1758 – 1802)
A New Bern native and father of North Carolina Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., Spaight was a leading Federalist delegate to the Constitutional Convention and governor of North Carolina from 1792 to 1795. He later allied with Jeffersonian Republicanism after disagreeing with Federalist support for the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798).
Timothy Bloodworth to John Lamb (June 23, 1789)
Antifederalist Timothy Bloodworth's letters are scarce. Most of what we know is from what his contemporaries remarked and from his comments during the ratification debates. In this letter, Bloodworth expresses his concern regarding the Constitution, comments on politics in New York and Virginia, describes public opinion in North Carolina regarding the Constitution, and calls for a committee to explore amendments.