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.”
Ralph Ray Jr. (1920 – 1952)
Born in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1920 and graduating from Belmont Abbey College near Charlotte in 1939, Ralph Ray, Jr. was a distinguished artist of portraits and landscapes and a nationally known illustrator of magazines and books.
LFPINC (Lowest Food Prices in North Carolina)
LFPINC (Lowest Food Prices In North Carolina) was an acronym used successfully by Ralph W. Ketner, co-founder and president of Food Town/Lion, to symbolize his cutting cost theory—lowering prices on all items to sell more products and therefore make a larger profit. By the 1970s, the LFPINC concept revolutionized the supermarket industry.
Cameron Morrison (1869-1953)
At times conservative, at times progressive (as defined in the early 1900s), Cameron Morrison rose to political prominence in North Carolina as an ally of Furnifold M. Simmons, Democratic stalwart who dominated the state’s politics in the early decades of the twentieth century. During the late 1800s, Morrison started gaining statewide fame for leading the “Red Shirts." But he is most known for being "The Good Roads Governor" (1921-1925) and opposing the teaching of evolution in public schools. After his gubernatorial career, Morrison served as a United States Senator and Congressman.
Shubal Stearns (1706 – 1771)
In 1755, Shubal Stearns settled in the Piedmont of North Carolina, between present-day Liberty and Asheboro in Randolph County, and established Sandy Creek Baptist Church. Stearns's authoritative preaching helped convert many in the Piedmont to his Separate Baptist beliefs. After a split among churches within the Sandy Creek Association of Separate Baptists and the defeat of the Regulation movement, Separate Baptists left for Appalachia. Stearns, however, remained and died in Randolph County. But his influence was and is more widespread than many know.
Claude Kitchin (1869 – 1923)
Claude Kitchin represented North Carolina in the U.S. House during the early-twentieth century and served as Speaker of the House during the First World War. In his public career, Kitchin typically adopted elements of the Populist and Progressive agendas and aligned his views with those of William Jennings Bryan. But the North Carolinian is most known for questioning President Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy and the attempts to expand America's role in world affairs.
Lieutenant Governor
Until 1868, the Governor was North Carolina's only elected executive. The Constitution of 1868, however, created the office of Lieutenant Governor and provided for the popular election of the office of the Governor and the Lt. Governor, each for four-year terms. In 1970 the Lt. Governorship became full-time and evolved into the only elected post with executive and legislative duties.
Food Lion
A regional grocery chain and subsidiary of Belgium-based Delhaize Group, Food Lion began in 1957 as a one-store operation in Salisbury, North Carolina, under the name Food Town and the direction of Ralph W. Ketner. After the introduction of the LFPINC concept in 1967, the grocery chain grew from seven stores to approximately 800 in 1991, the year in which Ketner retired. Before then in 1983, the company had changed its name to Food Town. During the early 1990s, the supermarket chain went through legal battles that curbed its exponential growth. Under the leadership of DelHaize Group executives, the company in February 2007 employed approximately 73,000 workers in almost 1,200 stores and served nearly ten million customers in eleven states.
James O’Kelly (1736?-1826)
James O’Kelly, a fiery, revivalist preacher in Virginia and North Carolina from 1775-1826, preached religious liberty. He decried slavery, using republican rhetoric in An Essay on Negro Slavery, and criticized Methodist polity in The Author’s Apology for Protesting Against the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1794, he created the Republican Methodist denomination, which became the Christian Church in the South in 1802. O’Kelly moved to North Carolina in 1787 and died in Chatham County in 1826.
Carolina Charter of 1663
The Carolina Charter of 1663 was the first organic law of what eventually became the state of North Carolina. It conferred territory that also included what is now South Carolina to eight “true and absolute Lords Proprietors.” They possessed broad feudal powers and bore the responsibility of managing Carolina in the interests of England.
David McClure Brinkley (1920-2003)
Newscaster David McClure Brinkley helped pioneer the two-anchor format on NBC and revolutionize the format of the Sunday news interview programs with his ABC series, This Week With David Brinkley.
Confederate States Navy (in North Carolina)
Students of the Civil War often overlook the contributions of the naval services in the conflict. The Confederate Navy and Marine Corps, however, played significant roles in North Carolina. They not only hampered the ability of the Union Navy to do its job, but took part in some of the state’s largest battles.
Oaths
Many times North Carolina law has required people to prove their words or actions with a solemn official statement when, for example, testifying in court or assuming public office. Such official statements must be given by a solemn oath or by affirmation. First passed in 1777, the North Carolina oath statute describes oaths as “most solemn appeals to Almighty God.” The affiant is declared to invoke divine “vengeance” on himself if he lies. The proper format for oaths and the issue of sworn testimony eligibility have been contentious issues in the history of the Tar Heel State.