North Carolina was one of the original 13 colonies and became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, on November 21, 1789. They were late to ratify because they wanted a Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are the Bill of Rights, but North Carolina had to sign and trust that this feature would be added. However, they were the first of the 13 original colonies to demand independence from England.
Raleigh is the capital; Charlotte is the largest city.
The state has beautiful mountains in the west and coastline in the east, with a central plain, the Piedmont, that brings the state to three distinct geographic regions. The land was home to the prehistoric Mississippian culture some 12,000 years ago, and then to many different Native American tribal groups, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Lumbee. In 1524, Italian explorer Giovanni Verrazano was commissioned by the King of France to seek a Westward route to Asia. He ended up along the coast of what would become North Carolina.
History
This historic cemetery gives a sense of North Carolina’s 300 year-old history. North Carolina has a particularly rich history and it is hard to miss it when you visit. As a colony, North Carolina struggled. 95% of the settlers in the colony were small farmers. The forests made it possible for some people to produce and sell lumber, turpentine, and tar for the ships that came to the coast, but overall it was a rural place with self-sufficient, isolated people. Pirates took advantage of the weakness of the colonial government. Famous pirates like Calico Jack and Blackbeard, also known as Edward Teach, made their headquarters there. The cemetery shown above was in existence at the time, and some of its inhabitants may have been pirates themselves.
This traditional church-style building is Graham Hall, formerly Graham Chapel, at Montreat College in Asheville.
We visited Montreat for music camp, and enjoyed the elegant surroundings, complete with swans gliding across the ponds.
We stayed in a building that was already in existence when our great-great-grandfather Robert Allen Haden went to prep school in Asheville. It was strange to think that we were walking in places where he might have walked a century before us.
Natural beauty
North Carolina is a state of great natural beauty.
The mountains along the western border are known as the Great Smoky Mountains, or the Smokies. The mists look like smoke.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has the largest number of visitors of any of the national parks. It is known for its stunning views, diverse wildlife, and its preservation of records of Appalachian culture. Check out their photos of inhabitants before the park was built, and the video below showing their impressive biodiversity.
In fact, their website is worth a visit even if you aren’t planning a trip to the national park.
One famous place along the Appalachian Trail is called “Charlies Bunion.” In 1929, a local guide by the name of Charlie Connor was hiking with one of the park rangers. He took off his shoe to relieve pressure on a swollen bunion (a bony bump at the base of the big toe) and the ranger joked that he’d name the spot on the trail for Charlie’s bunion. He did. Apostrophes are usually removed when possessives are used on maps, so the punctuation seems a bit odd.
This is Looking Glass Fountain, a waterfall in Pisgah National Forest, a little bit north of Asheville.
The Research Triangle
The triangle formed on the map by Raleigh, Durham,, and Chapel Hill is known as the Research Triangle. Three universities serve as anchors:
- Duke University (located in Durham)
- University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (located in Chapel Hill)
- North Carolina State University (located in Raleigh)
The photo below shows a game between Duke and UNC.
The Research Triangle is a successful example of an economic plan based on research, colleges, and public-private partnerships. North Carolina began with small farms, and then in the 19th and 20th centuries developed large industries around cotton, tobacco, and wood for furniture. Based on these crops, the state built important manufacturing centers for fabric and clothing, cigarettes, and furniture. These industries relied on low wage labor, but outsourcing to other countries with even lower wages combined with dissatisfied workers made it difficult to compete. By the 1970s and ’80s, major companies like Cannon Mills and American Tobacco were closing down.
In 1959, two of the colleges had the idea of the Research Triangle. Where the state had previously relied on a small number of crops, industries and big companies — and suffered greatly when they failed — they decided instead to use their human resources to create a new type of economy. Over time, research and technology became the mainstays of the area’s economy. Charlotte became a financial services center, and the state recovered from its hard times. By now, many other states have tried the same strategy.
The state symbols of North Carolina showcase its biodiversity:
