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.”
Goody’s Headache Powder
Like many pharmacists in 1932, Martin “Goody” Goodman compounded his own headache relief powder called “Goody’s” to sell in his local pharmacy.
Alfred Johnston Fletcher (1887-1979)
Alfred Johnson Fletcher, the seventh of fourteen children, was born in 1887 in the mountains of North Carolina. After studying law at Wake Forest College, he opened a practice in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. His greatest achievement was the Capitol Broadcasting Company, which he created when he applied for a 250 watt AM station in 1937. When he went on the air in 1939, he was only the second radio station in Raleigh.
B. C. Powders
Commodore Thomas Council created one of the most popular headache powders in 1906 at his Durham pharmacy. In 1910, it was renamed “B.C. Powder."
Stanback (Headache Powder)
Similar to the stories concerning the creation of other headache powders, the story of Stanback headache powder began in a pharmacy. Druggist Thomas M. (Dr. Tom) Stanback created a headache relief compound at his Thomasville pharmacy.
Albert Earle Finley (1895-1986)
As the eleventh child of Washington and Sallie Webster Finley, Albert Earle Finley truly understood America was the land of opportunity from a young age.
Headache Powders
During the early twentieth century, many Tar Heels moved to towns and urban areas to find work in mills and on railroads, while local pharmacists also began creating patent medicines. One such medicine, headache relief powders, became popular among mill and railroad workers who referred to them as “production powders.” Pharmacists often compounded their own headache relief medicine in an easier-made powder form rather than in the more complex pill form.
Jack Laughery (1935-2006)
Jack A. Laughery grew up in the small town of Guthrie Center, Iowa. He studied business at the University of Iowa, graduating in 1957 and later joined the regional fast-food chain Sandy’s as a manager in 1962.
Camel Cigarettes
During the late 1800s, North Carolina dominated the national tobacco market, and in 1913 R. J. Reynolds Company (RJR) introduced a product that revolutionized tobacco advertising and processing: Camel cigarettes.
Charles Albert Cannon (1892-1971)
Charles Albert Cannon, the son of a textile mill owner, was born in 1892. After attending Fishburne Military Academy and Davidson College, Cannon entered the textile industry himself, achieving success as a manager, treasurer and secretary. When his father died in 1921, Cannon assumed the leadership of the Cannon manufacturing plants and consolidated them to one entity, The Cannon Mills Company.
Richard Joshua “R. J.” Reynolds (1850 – 1918)
As the sixth of 16 children, Richard Joshua Reynolds left his small Virginia town at an early age to establish his own company. At the age of 25, Reynolds opened a chewing tobacco manufacturing company in Winston, North Carolina and quickly became a pioneer in the industry. He anticipated the growth in the smoking tobacco market and developed a line of pipe tobaccos. In 1913, he introduced Camel, the first American blend cigarette. His innovative branding and marketing strategy set the industry standard.
Rip Van Winkle State
During the early 1800s, North Carolina acquired a nickname: “the Rip Van Winkle State.” It was named so because more than few considered the state’s economy to be asleep while neighboring states were bustling with production and trade. Some historians argue, however, that outsiders used this term and that economists have misunderstood North Carolina's incremental economic growth
Pisgah National Forest
Founded in 1915, the 500,000 acre Pisgah National Forest covers over 15 counties, and its roots stem from the construction of the Biltmore Estate.