 SHOWS

 THIS DAY IN HISTORY

 SCHEDULE
 TOPICS
 STORIES
 AD CHOICES
 ADVERTISE
 CLOSED CAPTIONING
 COPYRIGHT POLICY
 CORPORATE INFORMATION
 EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
 FAQ/CONTACT US
 PRIVACY NOTICE
 TERMS OF USE
 TV PARENTAL GUIDELINES
 RSS FEEDS
 ACCESSIBILITY SUPPORT
 PRIVACY SETTINGS





 SHOWS
 THIS DAY IN HISTORY
 SCHEDULE
 TOPICS
 STORIES



 

Sign up for the Inside History newsletter

 SHOWS
 THIS DAY IN HISTORY
 SCHEDULE
 TOPICS
 STORIES

UPDATED:
AUG 21, 2018
ORIGINAL:
NOV 9, 2009

North Carolina
HISTORY.COM EDITORS




 CONTENTS

1. Interesting Facts
One of the original 13 colonies, North Carolina was the first state to instruct its
delegates to vote for independence from the British crown during the
Continental Congress. Following the Revolutionary War, North Carolina
developed an extensive slave plantation system and became a major exporter
of cotton and tobacco, although the slave population remained relatively small
compared to that of other southern states. In 1861, North Carolina became
one of 11 states to secede from the United States, beginning the American
Civil War. Despite no major battles being fought in the state, North Carolina
sent more recruits to fight for the Confederacy than any other rebel state. In
1903, the state became the site of the first manned self-propelled airplane
flight when the Wright brothers took off from a cliff near Kitty Hawk.

Date of Statehood: November 21, 1789

Did you know? The infamous pirate Blackbeard was killed by British troops off
North Carolina's Outer Banks in 1718.
Capital: Raleigh

Population: 9,535,483 (2010)

Size: 53,819 square miles

Nickname(s): Old North State; Tar Heel State

Motto: Esse Quam Videri (“To Be Rather Than to Seem”)

Tree: Pine

Flower: Dogwood
 Bird: Cardinal

Interesting Facts
 In one of the nation’s most intriguing mysteries, a group of around 150
colonists from Plymouth, England, who had landed on Roanoke Island off the
coast of North Carolina in July 1587 vanished without a trace, except for the
word “Croatoan” scratched on a post that had enclosed the settlement.
Although there have been several hypotheses as to what occurred, historians
and archaeologists have been unable to find evidence to support any of them.
 The first child born in America of English descent was a girl named
Virginia Dare. Born on August 18, 1587, Virginia was one of the members of
the “Lost Colony,” discovered missing on what would have been her 3rd
birthday by her grandfather John White, who had originally led the colonial
expedition to Roanoke Island but later returned to England for supplies.
 Angered by the Navigation Acts, which imposed taxes on colonial
goods, and the abuse of power flaunted by the customs collector and deputy
governor, Thomas Miller, a group of about 40 rebels imprisoned Miller and
seized control of local government in 1677. John Culpeper, one of the group’s
leaders, was tried for treason in England, but was acquitted and returned to
Albemarle. The uprising became known as Culpeper’s Rebellion.
 Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first powered airplane flight on December 17,
1903, covered only 120 feet and lasted only 12 seconds.
 During World War II, approximately 10,000 enemy soldiers were
contained within 18 prisoner of war camps throughout the state of North
Carolina.
 North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation. In
2011, farmers within the state harvested 64,000 acres—yielding 1.28 billion
pounds of the vitamin A-rich tubers.
PHOTO GALLERIES
North Carolina

8
GALLERY
8 IMAGES

Citation Information
Article Title
North Carolina

Author
History.com Editors

Website Name
HISTORY

URL
https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/north-carolina
 Access Date
May 21, 2020

Publisher
A&E Television Networks

Last Updated
August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009

BY
 HISTORY.COM EDITORS




FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you
see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

VIDEOS
Darius Rucker's South Carolina

African Americans Vote in South Carolina

McNamara on the Bombing of North Vietnam
Deconstructing History: North Pole

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.

SIGN UP

RELATED CONTENT

South Carolina

Settled by the English in 1670, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S.
constitution in 1788.Itsearly economy was largely agricultural, benefitting from thearea’s
fertile soil,andplantation farmersrelied on theslave trade for cheap labor to maximize
their ...read more
North Dakota

The land that today makes up North Dakota became U.S.territory as part of the Louisiana
Purchaseof 1803.The regionwas originally part of the Minnesota and Nebraska territories,
until, along with South Dakota, it was organized into the Dakota Territory in 1861. The state
was very ...read more
North Korea

North Korea is a country with a population of some 25 million people, located on the
northern half of the Korean Peninsula between the East Sea (Sea of Japan) and the Yellow
Sea. Formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, it was
founded in 1948 when ...read more
Exploration of North America

The story of North American exploration spans an entire millennium andinvolves a wide
array of European powers and uniquely American characters. It began with the Vikings’
brief stint in Newfoundland circa 1000 A.D. and continued through England’s colonization of
the Atlantic ...read more
Did North Carolina Issue the First Declaration of Independence?

In April 1819, a provocative article appeared in the pages of the Raleigh Register
newspaper in North Carolina. “It is probably not known to many of our readers that the
citizens of Mecklenburg County, in this State, made a Declaration of Independence more
than a year before ...read more
Document Reveals 1961 Nuclear Close-Call over North Carolina

On January 23, 1961, a B-52 Stratofortress bomber patrolled the night skies over the
Atlantic Ocean. It was three days after the presidential inauguration of John F. Kennedy,
and with the Cold War in a full freeze, American bombers such as this one carrying a pair of
3.8-megaton ...read more
Maine

Maine, the largest of the six New England states, lies at the northeastern corner of the
country. Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820, as part of the Missouri
Compromise, which allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state and Maine as a
free state. Maine is ...read more
Connecticut

One of the original 13 colonies and one of the six New England states, Connecticut is
located in the northeastern corner of the country. Initially an agricultural community, by the
mid-19th century textile and machine manufacturing had become the dominant industries.
The home of ...read more
New York City

The first native New Yorkers were the Lenape, an Algonquin people who hunted, fished and
farmed in the area between the Delaware and Hudson rivers. Europeans began to explore
the region at the beginning of the 16th century–among the first was Giovanni da
Verrazzano, an Italian ...read more
SEE MORE

Ad Choices
 Advertise
 Closed Captioning
 Copyright Policy
 Corporate Information
 Employment Opportunities
 FAQ/Contact Us
 Privacy Notice
 Terms of Use
 TV Parental Guidelines
 RSS Feeds
 Accessibility Support
© 2020 A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.