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bit.ly/NCarolinaHistory
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North Carolina, one of the Thirteen original States, tends to be viewed by many as a sort of suburb or appendage to Virginia. In this section of my site I'll be bringing online a variety of interesting material that ought to put that to rest.
In 1919, the Lewis Publishing Company brought out a six-volume History of North Carolina, consisting of one volume each by three noted historians, and a 3‑volume biographical appendix assembled by its staff. I've ignored the appendix, but the other volumes are all now onsite, in full: The Colonial and Revolutionary Periods (1584‑1783), by R. D. W. Connor. The Federal Period (1783‑1860), by William K. Boyd. North Carolina since 1860 (1860‑1919), by J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton. [ 3/1/12: 1334 pages of print, 135 illustrations ] |
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Enoch Lawrence Lee's Indian Wars in North Carolina 1663‑1763 is a straightforward account of the wars with the native American tribes of the Carolinas and Tennessee: the most important of which were the Tuscarora War, the Yamassee War, and the Cherokee War; and somewhat peripherally, the French and Indian War. [ 6/9/13: 94 pages of print, 1 photograph, 2 maps ] |
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The Pirates of Colonial North Carolina (by Hugh Rankin) provides a background on the general topic of piracy, then tells the tale of many of the buccaneers who made the Colony their base of operations in the "golden age" of piracy in the late 17c and the first quarter of the 18c. Among them Calico Jack Rackham, women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, Edward Low — and a full chapter each on Stede Bonnet and of course that most infamous epitome of piracy known to us all as Blackbeard. [ 5/27/13: 72 pages of print, 10 illustrations ] |
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North Carolina in the American Revolution (also by Hugh Rankin) is a similarly readable chronological account of the events and people of the Revolutionary War as it concerned the state. [ 8/1/13: 74 pages of print, 21 illustrations ] |
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The North Carolina Booklet was a series of monthly publications by the Daughters of the Revolution over a span of about twenty years. The first issues ran to twenty or thirty small pages, almost every month a single article on some topic specific to the State; later issues were longer and included multiple articles. Often written by (or for) amateurs, the articles exhibit the virtues and failings we might expect, but at their best they provide a lively window into State and colonial history: I'll be transcribing a selection of whatever in turn catches my fancy.
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7/23/20:
24 articles, 456 pages of print:
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In addition, about a quarter of the other 80‑some books on American history onsite go into some detail, at one point or another, on some facet of North Carolina history. Those with the most are listed below.
Pioneers of the Old Southwest (by Constance Lindsay Skinner), though often about Tennessee and Kentucky, starts with the 17c and 18c colonial migrations to the "Back Country" of North Carolina and traces the early settlements, the Indian wars, the Revolutionary War battle of King's Mountain, and the State of Franklin: almost every chapter covers North Carolina history. |
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Dwight Lowell Dumond's The Secession Movement, 1860‑1861 details how the North and South pulled apart. It's far more complex than is presented in school texts, which after all are designed as propaganda; North Carolina's particular path to secession is of course covered, especially in chapters 11 and 12. |
And then, squirreled away in the American History Notes section of the site, other North Carolina material, listed here in more or less chronological order:
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A Spanish Settlement in Carolina, 1526: a brief, unhappy, unsuccessful venture. North Carolina in the Revolution: not so patriotic as all that — even Hooper who signed the Declaration of Independence. Spanish Intrigue in the Old Southwest: the State of Franklin, John Sevier, and the rest of it . . . The Muscle Shoals Speculation, 1783‑1789 Zebulon B. Vance as War Governor of North Carolina [ 7/31/13: 5 articles, 90 pages of print ] |
The icon I use to indicate this subsite is the state's flag. The dates in the banners above and below the star are those, respectively, of the much controverted "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence", May 20, 1775, and of the Halifax Resolves, April 12, 1776.
Images with borders lead to more information.
The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.) |
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A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information. |
Site updated: 23 Jul 20