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.”
Richard M. Weaver, Jr. (1910-1962)
Paragon of post-World-War II-era conservatism, Richard M. Weaver, son of North Carolina, was one of the most important American thinkers of the twentieth century. Although he lived outside of North Carolina for most of his life, Richard M. Weaver visited his family often (he even purchased a home in Weaverville), and never lost a sense of place.
Omar Ibn Said (1770-1864)
Since 1995 when his autobiography, the only American slave narrative known to exist in Arabic, was found, Said has gained national attention. Many scholars contend Said was a devout Muslim until his death. Said, however, made a Christian profession of faith and joined the Presbyterian Church.
Thomas H. Hall (1773-1853)
An Old Republican Congressman from Edgecombe County and a friend of Nathaniel Macon, Thomas Hall consistently opposed what he deemed unnecessary federal intervention in North Carolina. As a young man he moved to Tarboro, North Carolina, practiced medicine, and married Martha Jones Green Sitgreaves, the widow of James Green and John Sitgreaves. Hall was first elected to Congress as a Jeffersonian-Republican (1817-1825), and again served in Congress from 1827-1835.
Willis Hinton (1840-1924)
In spite of his illiteracy, Hinton was a successful entrepreneur. He ran two flourishing businesses when African Americans struggled for equality and respect and the chance to participate in a free market where each held his own.
Robert Howe (1732-1786)
In 1732, Robert Howe was born in Brunswick County, North Carolina. He emerged as the colonies’ highest-ranking officer during the Revolutionary War. Althought he supported Royal Governor Tryon in the 1760s, Howe like many others soon grew disenchanted with the English crown and evinced a strong patriotism by the mid-1770s.
Secession
Secession of the state of North Carolina from the American Union occurred on May 20, 1861; this date was chosen to celebrate the anniversary of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence of 1775.
Herman Husband (1724 – 1795)
Born in Maryland in 1724, Herman Husband was a successful farmer and an influential leader during the Regulator Rebellion in pre-Revolutionary North Carolina. Husband represented Alamance farmers' interests and protested what he considered corrupt government and exploitation.
Credit Unions
In 1915, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Credit Union Act. (The law allowed for the formation and supervision of credit unions within the state.) By 1916, North Carolinians led the South in the establishment of credit unions.
Anti-Federalism
Anti-Federal was the name given to the men and the movement opposing the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Ironically, Anti-Federals wanted a more federal government than the Federals; the term resulted from a Federal political strategy to present Anti-Federals as opponents of limited government. Before they ratified (approved) the Constitution, Anti-Federals wanted a Bill of Rights to be included.
Marion Butler (1863 – 1938)
Most remembered as the architect of political Fusion in North Carolina during the 1890s and for gaining Populist support for the 1896 presidential candidacy of William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), Marion Butler was born in Sampson County, North Carolina.
Contraband Camps
Before the end of the Civil War, as Union troops occupied more and more of North Carolina during the Civil War, more and more slaves fled to Union lines to live in what were then called contraband camps. Contrabands (freedmen) were escaped slaves from the Confederate territory into Union territory.
John W. Ellis (1820-1861)
Born in eastern Rowan County, in what is now part of Davidson County, on November 23, 1820 to Anderson and Judith Ellis, John Willis Ellis was a North Carolina lawyer, legislator, judge, and Democratic governor during the Civil War.