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.”
Thomas Sowell (1930 – )
As an advocate of the “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” philosophy, which urges people to depend on themselves instead of government initiatives, Sowell believes that affirmative action actually hurts African Americans' chances for equality.
Union League
Started in Philadelphia in 1862, the Union League was organized to publicize Southern outrages and to promote Radical Republican policies. After the Civil War, the League mobilized newly enfranchised African American voters (all men) and used secrecy and promoted gun ownership as means to protect the African American population.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
The "best-known, nineteenth-century African-American woman's autobiography" is how historian Nell Irvin Painter describes Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written By Herself (1861).The Tar Heel's work is also noteworthy because Jacobs penned the words, unlike other slave autobiographies, including Sojourner Truth's, which were dictated.
Krispy Kreme
Vernon Rudolph and his Krispy Kreme doughnuts are excellent examples of the entrepreneurial spirit that flourished in North Carolina despite the Great Depression.
Midwifery
n 1917, midwifery became a licensed practice in the Old North State, yet during the 1930s, government regulations increased and the number of practitioners started dwindling. Today, groups disagree concerning the practice. Some say midwifery fosters competition among medical professionals and thereby lowers prices and serves lower-income North Carolinians. Medical societies, however, have argued that the practice needs professional supervision and regulation.
Texas Pete
Necessity breeds invention, and the Great Depression contributed to the creation and sale of Texas Pete hot sauce. Since 1942, Texas Pete has been located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Although a couple nationwide competitors outsell Texas Pete, the product is popular in the Southeast, and the Garner Food Company's business philosophy includes a refusal to take on debt that might ultimately lead to its failure.
Eliphalet Whittlesey (1821-1909)
During the creation of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, Oliver O. Howard, Commissioner of the Bureau, appointed Eliphalet Whittlesey as North Carolina’s first assistant commissioner.
Tariffs, Part III (Progressive Era to Present)
Commercial restrictions through tariffs have been an integral part of American history, and Tar Heels have voiced their opinion on tariff legislation since the founding of the United States. The federal government has used tariffs to raise revenue and protect American industry and labor. During the Great Depression, Congress passed the highest tariff in the United States history.
Tariffs, Part II (American Civil War to Progressive Era)
The federal government has used tariffs to raise revenue and protect American industry and labor. After the Civil War, Congress intensified its efforts to "protect" American industry through tariffs, but sometimes met opposition.
Tariffs, Part I (Founding Era to American Civil War)
Commercial restrictions through tariffs have been an integral part of American history, and Tar Heels have voiced their opinion on tariff legislation since the founding of the United States. The federal government has used tariffs to raise revenue and protect American industry and labor. Before the Civil War, the federal government obtained close to ninety-percent of its revenue from tariffs and avoided instituting income taxation.
Eng and Chang Bunker (1811-1874)
Originally from Siam but later residents of Surry County, Eng and Chang Bunker became the reference for the medical condition when twins are conjoined. Born in 1811, the two were joined together at the chest by a thin band of flesh and remained that way until their 1874 death.
Harriet Jacobs (1813 – 1897)
A former North Carolina slave turned abolitionist and author, Harriet Jacobs was born in bondage in Edenton. In her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), Jacobs describes the abuse that she endured while a slave and is the best-known autobiography written by an African American woman during the 19th century.