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.”
CSS Neuse
Although Confederate leadership for some time anticipated using the CSS Neuse, the ironclad’s service was short and disappointing. Various reasons, including a manpower shortage and Union raids on construction material, delayed the ironclad’s construction. Once it was battle and sea ready, the Neuse grounded on a sandbar during its first mission in 1864. It was later scuttled after its second and last mission in 1865.
James Iredell Waddell (1824-1886)
Many North Carolinians influenced the course of the American Civil War, but none so uniquely as did James Iredell Waddell. One of the most successful Confederate commerce raiders, much like Raphael Semmes and John Taylor Wood, Waddell spent much of the conflict overseas and left a controversial legacy behind. In particular, he commanded the only Confederate ship to circumnavigate the globe and continued fighting U.S. boats after the war's end.
Affirmations
Affirmations are statements made in lieu of oaths by people who have conscientious scruples against taking oaths. Under modern North Carolina law, this means saying “solemnly affirm” instead of “solemnly swear,” and avoiding any invocation of God in support of one’s statement (North Carolina General Statues 11-1 and 11-4). Starting its colonial history with a de facto freedom to affirm instead of swear, North Carolina returned to a more restrictive position based on English law, then extended affirmation privileges to certain Protestant groups, and ultimately made affirmations available to anyone with objections to oaths.
United States Navy in the Civil War in North Carolina
The United States Navy’s activities off the North Carolina coast undoubtedly influenced the outcome of the Civil War. Even though many Tar Heels never saw a Union sailor or ship up close, the US Navy affected daily life in North Carolina because its blockade controlled nearly two-thirds of the coast. The threat of a naval bombardment was ever-present, too. During the latter stages of the war, the US Navy played an important role in the Old North State that hastened the end of war.
USS Underwriter
The Confederate Navy conducted numerous joint land and sea raids during the Civil War. One important expedition in North Carolina was against the USS Underwriter in early February 1864. The brainchild of a naval officer, John Taylor Wood, the expedition was part of a larger Confederate offensive against the Union stronghold at New Bern. General Robert E. Lee detailed General Robert F. Hoke’s brigade, under the command of General George Pickett, to attack and attempt to retake the city. The army’s assault is largely forgotten because it failed. The navy’s spectacular attack, however, was more successful and proved that Union control in eastern North Carolina, even relatively late during the war, could still be challenged seriously.
Fort San Juan
During Juan Pardo’s first expedition (1566-67), the Spanish constructed Fort San Juan near present-day Morganton, North Carolina. Although the Spaniards abandoned the fort after eighteen months, its presence marked a pivotal moment not only in North Carolina history but in United States history.
Joara
During the late-sixteenth century, Joara was the most dominant, and possibly the largest, town in what is now modern-day Piedmont and western North Carolina. Located in Burke County, twelve miles north of Morganton, on Upper Creek, Joara was, according to historians, “the northeastern edge of the Mississippian cultural world.” Its economic and political prominence and its location prompted Spanish explorer Juan Pardo to construct Fort San Juan near the Indian town.
Francis Corbin (d. 1767)
Performing his duties as the Earl of Granville's land agent in colonial North Carolina, Francis Corbin was never far from public criticism. Hopefuls traveled to Corbin's office to discuss land grants in what is now the northern half of North Carolina. Although he was an important figure in colonial politics and life, Corbin is most remembered now for building the impressive Cupola House in Edenton.
Lucas Vasques de Ayllon (1475-1526)
A lawyer and nobleman from Spain, Lucas Vasques de Ayllon sponsored the first Spanish explorations (three total) of what became North Carolina. He also discovered Chesapeake Bay and established San Miguel de Guandape, a settlement near what would be Jamestown. The wild horses of Shackleford Banks (near Beaufort) are reminders of Ayllon's explorations and failed attempts to settle in the land.
William Hawkins (1777 – 1819)
When the War of 1812 came, North Carolinians voiced pro and anti-war opinions and debated whether the threat from England was worth answering President Madison’s call for troops. During this time, Governor William Hawkins supported the war effort and cooperated with national authorities in defending the young United States from enemy invasion while increasingly becoming disenchanted with the national government’s lack of military assistance to ensure North Carolina’s safety.
Thomas W. Bickett (1869-1921)
Thomas W. Bickett, a native of Monroe and graduate of Wake Forest College, studied law at the University of North Carolina. After a brief tenure in the state House of Representatives, he served as North Carolina attorney general from 1909 to 1917. In 1916 he was elected governor. Inaugurated on January 11, 1917, Bickett's gubernatorial administration included the beginning of a juvenile court system, the expansion of the state's roads and improvements in education, and the prison system.
Clyde R. Hoey (1877-1954)
The administration of Clyde R. Hoey as governor from 1937 to 1941 reaffirmed conservative rule in the state and also the power of the "Shelby dynasty," the label given to the political organization of former governor Max Gardner, Hoey's brother-in-law and fellow resident of Shelby.