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.”
The History of the Dividing Line
The particular never escaped the observant eye of the landed Virginian, William Byrd II. While traveling through North Carolina, the colony’s natural and man-made environments amazed the Virginia gentleman.
Bishop Vincent S. Waters (1904-1974)
Bishop of the Raleigh Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church from 1945 to 1974, Vincent S. Waters is known mostly for denouncing segregation and ordering the desegregation of North Carolina Catholic churches and schools in 1953—a year before the Brown v. Board of Education case.
Greensboro Shootings
On November 3, 1979, an armed confrontation between members of the Maoist Communist Workers Party (CWP) and several Klansmen and Nazis ended with four CWP members and one supporter being shot dead. Three trials soon followed, and CWP survivors and their supporters claimed that their anti-establishment views incited a conspiracy to have them killed.
William B. Umstead (1895-1954)
As governor of North Carolina from 1953 to 1954, William B. Umstead spent much of his administration bed-ridden, yet he continued working to implement his ideas for what he called a “better tomorrow.”
Benjamin Smith (1756-1826)
Born into wealth, Benjamin Smith died in poverty. From 1810 to 1811, Smith served as governor of North Carolina. Although a Democratic-Republican, he never abandoned his former Federalist inclinations.
Tod Robinson Caldwell (1818-1874)
Tod Robinson Caldwell was the first lieutenant governor of North Carolina and the second Republican governor of the state; and he assumed governor's duties after William Woods Holden, the first North Carolina Republican governor, was impeached.
Virginia Dare Wine
North Carolina provided the United States with its most purchased wine during the early 1900s and before Prohibition: Virginia Dare red and white wines. The product’s popularity rested in great part because winemaker Paul Garrett led an innovative and aggressive advertising campaign.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The United States Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA 65) to strengthen the Civil Rights acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964 and eliminate voter discrimination at the state and local levels. Forty North Carolina counties came under the provisions of VRA 65.
Daniel Russell (1845-1908)
In 1864, a nineteen-year-old Daniel Russell started his political career as a Democratic state legislator. As he grew increasingly frustrated with Southern Democratic leadership, Russell joined the Republican Party. In 1896, he was elected governor in great part because the Populists and Republicans in the state had formed a political alliance called Fusion politics.
Cross Creek Canal Company
During the early 1800s, the state of North Carolina had only 43 of the 1,343 miles of canals in the United States. The Cross Creek Canal Company, named after the second largest Cape Fear river town, was one company that ensured that goods were transported into and from Fayetteville.
James G. Martin (1935 – )
A former congressman with a Ph.D. in chemistry, James Grubbs Martin came to Raleigh to serve as governor of North Carolina from 1985 to 1993. During his gubernatorial terms, Martin focused on roads, education, and the state led the nation in economic development.
Cape Fear Navigation Company
During the early 1800s, the state of North Carolina purchased stock in a few companies. One such company was the Cape Fear Navigation Company. It became the first state-funded internal improvement project to reap dividends. However, critics still argued that the company's finances were mismanaged.