The earliest evidence of human occupation in North Carolina dates back 10,000 years, found at theHardaway Site. North Carolina was inhabited byCarolina Algonquian,Iroquoian, andSiouan speaking tribes of Native Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans.King Charles II granted eight lord proprietors a colony they named Carolina after the king and which was established in 1670 with the first permanent settlement at Charles Town (nowCharleston, South Carolina). Because of the difficulty of governing the entire colony from Charles Town, the colony was eventually divided and North Carolina was established as aroyal colony in 1729 and was one of theThirteen Colonies. TheHalifax Resolves resolution adopted by North Carolina on April 12, 1776, was the first formal call for independence from Great Britain among the American Colonies during theAmerican Revolution.[13]
On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify theUnited States Constitution. In the run-up to theAmerican Civil War, North Carolina declared itssecession from theUnion on May 20, 1861, becoming the tenth of eleven states to join theConfederate States of America.[14] Following the Civil War, the state was restored to the Union on July 4, 1868.[15] On December 17, 1903,Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully piloted the world's first controlled, sustained flight of a powered,heavier-than-air aircraft atKitty Hawk in North Carolina'sOuter Banks. North Carolina often uses the slogan "First in Flight" on statelicense plates to commemorate this achievement, alongside a newer alternative design bearing the slogan "First in Freedom" in reference to theMecklenburg Declaration and Halifax Resolves.
Ceremony ofSecotan warriors in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by English colonistJohn White in 1585.
North Carolina was inhabited for at least 10,000 years by succeedingprehistoricIndigenous cultures. TheHardaway Site saw major periods of occupation dating to 10,000 years BCE. Before 200 AD, people were buildingearthworkplatform mounds for ceremonial and religious purposes. Succeeding peoples, including those of theSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture, established by 1000 AD in thePiedmont and mountain region, continued to build this style of mounds. In contrast to some of the larger centers of the classic Mississippian culture in the area that became known as the western Carolinas, northeastern Georgia, and southeastern Tennessee, most of the larger towns had only one central platform mound. Smaller settlements had none, but were close to more prominent towns. This area became known as the homelands of the historicCherokee people, who are believed to have migrated over time from theGreat Lakes area.
In the 500–700 years preceding European contact, the Mississippian culture built elaborate cities and maintained far-flung regional trading networks. Its largest city wasCahokia, which had numerous mounds for different purposes, a highly stratified society, and was located in present-day southwestern Illinois near the Mississippi River. Starting in 1540, the Native polities of the Mississippian culture fell apart and reformed as new groups, such as theCatawba, due to a series of destabilizing events known as the "Mississippian shatter zone". Introduction of colonial trading arrangements and hostile native groups from the north such as the Westo Indians hastened changes in an already tenuous regional hierarchy.[18] As described by anthropologistRobbie Ethridge, the Mississippian shatter zone was a time of great instability in what is now the American South, caused by the instability of Mississippian chiefdoms, high mortality from new Eurasian diseases, conversion to an agricultural society and the accompanying population increase, and the emergence of Native "militaristic slaving societies".[19]
In the late 16th century, the first Spanish explorers traveling inland recorded meetingMississippian culture people atJoara, a regionalchiefdom near what later developed asMorganton.[24] Records ofHernando de Soto attested to his meeting with them in 1540. In 1567, CaptainJuan Pardo led an expedition to claim the area for the Spanish colony and to establish another route to reach silver mines in Mexico.[25] Pardo made a winter base at Joara, which he renamedCuenca.[26][27] His expedition builtFort San Juan and left a contingent of 30 Spaniards there, while Pardo traveled further.[26] His forces built and garrisoned five other forts. He returned by a different route toSanta Elena onParris Island, South Carolina, then a center ofSpanish Florida. In the spring of 1568, natives killed all but seventy four of the Spaniards and burned the six forts in the interior, including Fort San Juan.[28] Although the Spanish never returned to the interior, this effort marked the first European attempt at colonization of the interior of what became the United States. A 16th-century journal by Pardo's scribe Bandera, andarchaeological findings since 1986 at Joara, have confirmed the settlement.[29][30]
In 1584,Elizabeth I granted a charter toSir Walter Raleigh, for whom the state capital is named, for land in present-day North Carolina (then part of the territory ofVirginia).[31] It was the second American territory that the English attempted to colonize. Raleigh established two colonies on the coast in the late 1580s, but both failed. The colony established in 1587 saw 118 colonists 'disappear' whenJohn White was unable to return from a supply run during battles with theSpanish Armada. The fate of the "Lost Colony" ofRoanoke Island remains one of the most widely debated mysteries of American history. Two native Chieftains,Manteo andWanchese, of which the former helped the colonists and the latter was distrustful, had involvement in the colony and even accompanied Raleigh to England on a previous voyage in 1585. Manteo was also the first Indigenous North American to be baptized by English settlers. Upon White's return in 1590, neither native nor Englishman were to be found. Popular theory holds that the colonists either traveled away with or assimilated into local native culture.[32]Virginia Dare, the first English person to be born in North America, was born on Roanoke Island on August 18, 1587; the surroundingDare County is named for her.
As early as 1650, settlers from theVirginia colony had moved into theAlbemarle Sound region. By 1663, KingCharles II of England granted acharter to start a new colony on the North American continent; this would generally establish North Carolina's borders. He named itCarolina in honor of his father,CharlesI.[33] By 1665, a second charter was issued to attempt to resolve territorial questions. This charter rewarded theLords Proprietors, eight Englishmen to whom King Charles II granted joint ownership of a tract of land in the state. All of these men either had remained loyal to the Crown or aided Charles's restoration to the English throne afterCromwell. In 1712, owing to disputes over governance, the Carolina colony split into North Carolina andSouth Carolina. North Carolina became a crown colony in 1729.[34]
Most of the English colonists had arrived asindentured servants, hiring themselves out as laborers for a fixed period to pay for their passage. In the early years the line between indentured servants and Africanslaves or laborers was fluid. Some Africans were allowed to earn their freedom before slavery became a lifelong status. Most of thefree colored families formed in North Carolina before the Revolution were descended from unions or marriages between free whites and enslaved or free Africans or African-Americans. If the mothers were free, their children were born free. Many had migrated or were descendants of migrants from colonial Virginia.[35] As the flow of indentured laborers to the colony decreased with improving economic conditions inGreat Britain, planters imported more slaves, and the state's legal delineations between free and slave status tightened, effectively hardening the latter into a racial caste. Conditions for both slaves and workers worsened as the ranks of the former eclipsed the latter and expansion of farming operations into former Indigenous territories lowered prices. Unable to establish deep water ports such as at Charles Town and Norfolk, the economy's growth and prosperity was thus based on cheap labor and slave plantation systems, devoted primarily to the production of tobacco, then later cotton and textiles.[36]
In1738–1739, smallpox caused high fatalities among the Native Americans, who had noimmunity to the new disease (it had becomeendemic over centuries in Europe).[37] According to the historian Russell Thornton, "The 1738 epidemic was said to have killed one-half of theCherokee, with other tribes of the area suffering equally."[38]
After the Spanish in the 16th century, the first permanent European settlers of North Carolina were English colonists who migrated south fromVirginia. Virginia had grown rapidly and land was less available.Nathaniel Batts was documented as one of the first of these Virginian migrants. He settled south of theChowan River and east of theGreat Dismal Swamp in 1655.[39] By 1663, this northeastern area of theProvince of Carolina, known as theAlbemarle Settlements, was undergoing full-scale English settlement.[40] During the same period, the English monarch CharlesII gave provincial land grants to theLords Proprietors, the group of noblemen who had helped restore him to the throne in 1660. These grants were predicated on an agreement that the Lords would use their influence to bring in colonists and establish ports of trade. This newProvince of Carolina was named in honor and memory of his father, CharlesI (Latin:Carolus).
Lacking a viable coastal port city due to geography, towns grew at a slower pace and remained small. By the late 17th century, Carolina was essentially two colonies, one centered in the Albemarle region in the north and the other located in the south around Charleston.[36] In 1705 South CarolinianJohn Lawson purchased land on the Pamlico River and laid outBath, North Carolina's first town. After returning to England, he published the book A New Voyage to Carolina, which became a travelogue and a marketing piece to encourage new colonists to Carolina. Lawson encouraged BaronChristoph von Graffenried, the leader of a group of Swiss and German Protestants, to immigrate to Carolina. Von Graffenried purchased land between the Neuse and the Trent Rivers and established the town ofNew Bern. After an attack on New Bern in which hundreds were killed or injured, Lawson was caught then executed byTuscarora Indians. A large revolt happened in the state in 1711, known asCary's Rebellion. In 1712, North Carolina became a separate colony, and in 1729 it became a royal colony, with the exception of theEarl Granville holdings.[41]
In June 1718,Queen Anne's Revenge, the flagship of pirateBlackbeard, ran aground at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, in present-dayCarteret County. After the grounding, her crew and supplies were transferred to smaller ships. In November 1718, after appealing to the governor of North Carolina, who promised safe-haven and a pardon, Blackbeard was killed in an ambush by troops from Virginia.[42] In 1996, Intersal, Inc., a private maritime research firm, discovered the remains of a vessel likely to be theQueen Anne's Revenge, which was added to the U.S.National Register of Historic Places.[43][44]
North Carolina became one of theThirteen Colonies and with the territory ofSouth Carolina was originally known as theProvince of North Carolina. The northern and southern parts of the original province separated in 1712, with North Carolina becoming a royal colony in 1729. Originally settled by small farmers, sometimes having a few slaves, who were oriented towardsubsistence agriculture, the colony lacked large cities or towns.Pirates menaced the coastal settlements, but by 1718 piracy in the Carolinas was on the decline. Growth was strong in the middle of the 18th century, as the economy attractedScots-Irish,Quaker,English andGerman immigrants. A majority of the North Carolina colonists generally supported theAmerican Revolution, although there were someLoyalists. Loyalists in North Carolina were fewer in number than in some other colonies such as Georgia, South Carolina, Delaware, and New York.[45][46][47]
During colonial times, Bath was the first provincial capital after the formation of North Carolina from the Province of Carolina in 1712, followed byEdenton beginning in 1722, followed byNew Bern becoming the capital in 1766. Construction ofTryon Palace, which served as the residence and offices of the provincial governorWilliam Tryon, began in 1767 and was completed in 1771. In 1788,Raleigh was chosen as the site of the new capital, as its central location protected it from coastal attacks. Officially established in 1792 as both county seat and state capital, the city was named after SirWalter Raleigh, sponsor ofRoanoke, the "lost colony" onRoanoke Island.[48] The population of the colony more than quadrupled from 52,000 in 1740 to 270,000 in 1780 from high immigration from Virginia,Maryland andPennsylvania, plus immigrants from abroad.[49]
North Carolina did not have any printer or print shops until 1749, when the North Carolina Assembly commissionedJames Davis from Williamsburg Virginia to act as their official printer. Before this time the laws and legal journals of North Carolina were handwritten and were kept in a largely disorganized manner, prompting the hiring of Davis. Davis settled in New Bern, married, and in 1755 was appointed byBenjamin Franklin as North Carolina's first postmaster. In October of that year the North Carolina Assembly awarded Davis a contract to carry mail betweenWilmington, North Carolina andSuffolk, Virginia. He was also active in North Carolina politics as a member of the Assembly and later as the Sheriff. Davis also founded and printed theNorth-Carolina Gazette, North Carolina's first newspaper, printed in his printing house in New Bern.[50][51]
Differences in the settlement patterns of eastern and western North Carolina, or theAtlantic coastal plain and uplands, affected the political, economic, and social life of the state from the 18th until the 20th century. Eastern North Carolina was settled chiefly by immigrants from rural England and Gaelic speakers from theScottish Highlands. ThePiedmont upcountry and western mountain region of North Carolina was settled chiefly byScots-Irish, English, and German Protestants, the so-called "cohee". Arriving during the mid-to-late 18th century, the Scots-Irish, people of Scottish descent who migrated to and then emigrated from what is today Northern Ireland, were the largest non-English immigrant group before the Revolution; English indentured servants were overwhelmingly the largest immigrant group before the Revolution.[52][53][54][55]
During theAmerican Revolutionary War, the English and Gaelic speaking Highland Scots of eastern North Carolina tended to remain loyal to the British Crown, because of longstanding business and personal connections with Great Britain. The English, Welsh, Scots-Irish, and German settlers of western North Carolina tended to favor American independence from Britain. British loyalists dubbed theMecklenburg County area to be 'a hornet's nest' of radicals, birthing the name of the future Charlotte NBA team. On April 12, 1776, the colony became the first to instruct its delegates to theContinental Congress to vote for independence from the British Crown, through theHalifax Resolves passed by theNorth Carolina Provincial Congress. The date of this event is memorialized on thestate flag andstate seal. Throughout the Revolutionary War, fierceguerrilla warfare erupted between bands of pro-independence and pro-British colonists. In some cases the war was also an excuse to settle private grudges and rivalries.[56][57]
North Carolina had around 7,800Patriots join theContinental Army under GeneralGeorge Washington; and an additional 10,000 served in local militia units under such leaders as GeneralNathanael Greene.[58] There was some military action, especially in 1780–81. Many Carolinian frontiersmen had moved west over the mountains, into theWashington District (later known asTennessee), but in 1789, following the Revolution, the state was persuaded to relinquish its claim to the western lands. It ceded them to the national government so theNorthwest Territory could be organized and managed nationally.[59]
A major American victory in the war took place atKing's Mountain along the North Carolina–South Carolina border; on October 7, 1780, a force of 1,000 Patriots from western North Carolina (including what is today the state ofTennessee) andsouthwest Virginia overwhelmed a force of some 1,000 British troops led by MajorPatrick Ferguson. Most of the soldiers fighting for the British side in this battle were Carolinians who had remained loyal to the Crown (they were called "Tories" or Loyalists). The American victory at King's Mountain gave the advantage to colonists who favored American independence, and it prevented the British Army from recruiting new soldiers from the Tories.[60]
The road toYorktown and America's independence fromGreat Britain led through North Carolina. As theBritish Army moved north from victories inCharleston andCamden, South Carolina, the Southern Division of theContinental Army and local militia prepared to meet them. Following GeneralDaniel Morgan's victory over the British Cavalry CommanderBanastre Tarleton at theBattle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, southern commanderNathanael Greene led British LordCharles Cornwallis across the heartland of North Carolina, and away from the latter's base of supply in Charleston, South Carolina. This campaign is known as "The Race to the Dan" or "The Race for the River".[41]
In theBattle of Cowan's Ford, Cornwallis met resistance along the banks of theCatawba River at Cowan's Ford on February 1, 1781, in an attempt to engage General Morgan's forces during a tactical withdrawal.[61] Morgan had moved to the northern part of the state to combine with General Greene's newly recruited forces. Generals Greene and Cornwallis finally met at theBattle of Guilford Courthouse in present-dayGreensboro on March 15, 1781. Although theBritish troops held the field at the end of the battle, their casualties at the hands of the numerically superior Continental Army were crippling. Following this "Pyrrhic victory", Cornwallis chose to move to the Virginia coastline to get reinforcements, and to allow theRoyal Navy to protect his battered army. This decision would result in Cornwallis' eventual defeat atYorktown, Virginia, later in 1781. The Patriots' victory there guaranteed American independence. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the twelfth state to ratify theU.S. Constitution.
After 1800, cotton and tobacco became important export crops. The eastern half of the state, especially the Coastal Plain region, developed a slave society based on aplantation system andslave labor. Planters owning large estates wielded significant political and socio-economic power in antebellum North Carolina. They placed their interests above those of the generally non-slave-holdingyeoman farmers of North Carolina. While slaveholding was slightly less concentrated compared to some other Southern states, according to the 1860 census, more than 330,000 people, or 33% of the population out of 992,622 people in total, were enslaved African Americans.[62] They lived and worked chiefly on plantations in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of the state. In addition, 30,463free people of color lived in the state.[62] They were also mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal plain, especially at port cities such as Wilmington and New Bern, where a variety of jobs were available. Most were descendants from free African Americans who had migrated along with neighbors fromVirginia during the 18th century. The majority were the descendants of unions in the working classes between white women, indentured servants or free, and African men, indentured, slave or free.[63]
Map of the roads and railroads of North Carolina, 1854
After the American Revolution,Quakers andMennonites worked to persuade slaveholders to free their slaves. Some were inspired by their efforts and the language of the Revolution to arrange formanumission of their slaves. The number of free people of color rose markedly in the first couple of decades after the Revolution.[64] Manyfree people of color migrated to the frontier, along with their European-American neighbors, where the social system was looser. By 1810, nearly three percent of the free population consisted of free people of color, who numbered slightly more than 10,000. The western areas of North Carolina were mainly white families ofEuropean descent, especiallyScotch-Irish, who operated small subsistence farms. In the early national period, the state became a center ofJeffersonian andJacksonian democracy, with a strongWhig presence, especially in the western part of the state. AfterNat Turner's slave uprising in 1831, North Carolina and other southern states reduced the rights of free blacks. In 1835, the legislature withdrew their right to vote.
In mid-century, the state's rural and commercial areas were connected by the construction of a 129 mi (208 km) wooden plank road, known as a "farmer's railroad", fromFayetteville in the east toBethania (northwest ofWinston-Salem).[41] On October 25, 1836, construction began on theWilmington and Raleigh Railroad[65] to connect the port city ofWilmington with the state capital ofRaleigh. In 1840, thestate capitol building in Raleigh was completed, and still stands today.
In 1849, the North Carolina Railroad was created by act of the legislature to extend that railroad west toGreensboro,High Point, andCharlotte. During the Civil War, the Wilmington-to-Raleigh stretch of the railroad was vital to the Confederate war effort; supplies shipped into Wilmington were moved by rail through Raleigh to the Confederate capital ofRichmond, Virginia.[66]
In 1860, North Carolina was a slave state, in which one-third of the state's total population were African-American slaves. The state did not vote to join theConfederacy until PresidentAbraham Lincoln called on it to invade its sister state,[67]South Carolina, becoming the last or penultimate state to officially join the Confederacy. The title of "last to join the Confederacy" has been disputed; although Tennessee's informal secession on May 7, 1861, preceded North Carolina's official secession on May 20,[68][69] the Tennessee legislature did not formally vote to secede until June 8, 1861.[70]
Around 125,000 troops from North Carolina served in the Confederate Army, and about 15,000 North Carolina troops (both black and white) served inUnion Army regiments, including those who left the state to join Union regiments elsewhere.[71] Over 30,000 North Carolina troops died from combat or disease during the war.[72] Elected in 1862, GovernorZebulon Baird Vance tried to maintain state autonomy against Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis inRichmond. The state government was reluctant to support the demands of the national government inRichmond, and the state was the scene of only small battles. In 1865, Durham County saw the largest single surrender of Confederate soldiers atBennett Place, whenJoseph E. Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee and all remaining Confederate forces still active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, totalling 89,270 soldiers.[73]
Confederate troops from all parts of North Carolina served in virtually all the major battles of theArmy of Northern Virginia, the Confederacy's most famous army. The largest battle fought in North Carolina was atBentonville, which was a futile attempt by Confederate GeneralJoseph Johnston to slow Union GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman's advance through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865.[41] In April 1865, after losing theBattle of Morrisville, Johnston surrendered to Sherman atBennett Place, in what is todayDurham. North Carolina's port city ofWilmington, was the last Confederate port to fall to the Union, in February 1865, after the Union won the nearbySecond Battle of Fort Fisher, its major defense downriver.
The first Confederate soldier to be killed in the Civil War was PrivateHenry Wyatt from North Carolina, in theBattle of Big Bethel in June 1861. At theBattle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the 26th North Carolina Regiment participated inPickett/Pettigrew's Charge and advanced the farthest into Union lines of any Confederate regiment. During theBattle of Chickamauga, the 58th North Carolina Regiment advanced farther than any other regiment on Snodgrass Hill to push back the remaining Union forces from the battlefield. AtAppomattox Court House in Virginia in April 1865, the 75th North Carolina Regiment, a cavalry unit, fired the last shots of the ConfederateArmy of Northern Virginia in the Civil War. The phrase "First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg and Chickamauga, and Last at Appomattox", later became used through much of the early 20th century.[74]
After secession, some North Carolinians refused to support the Confederacy. Some of the yeoman farmers chiefly in the state's mountains and western Piedmont region remained neutral during the Civil War, with others covertly supporting theUnion cause during the conflict.[75] Approximately15,000 North Carolinians (both black and white) from across the state enlisted in theUnion Army. Numerous slaves also escaped to Union lines, where they became essentially free.
Following the collapse of the Confederacy in 1865, North Carolina, along with other former Confederate States (except Tennessee), was put under direct control by theU.S. military and was relieved of itsconstitutional government and representation within theUnited States Congress in what is now referred to as theReconstruction era. To earn back its rights, the state had to make concessions to Washington, one of which was ratifying theThirteenth Amendment. Congressional Republicans during Reconstruction, commonly referred to as "radical Republicans", constantly pushed for new constitutions for each of the Southern states that emphasized equal rights for African-Americans. In 1868, a constitutional convention restored the state government of North Carolina. Though theFifteenth Amendment was also adopted that same year, it remainedin most cases ineffective for almost a century, not to mention paramilitary groups and theirlynching with impunity.[76]
The elections in April 1868 following the constitutional convention led to a narrow victory for a Republican-dominated government, with 19 African-Americans holding positions in theNorth Carolina State Legislature. In attempt to put the reforms into effect, the new Republican GovernorWilliam W. Holden declared martial law on any county allegedly not complying with law and order using the passage of theShoffner Act.
ARepublican Party coalition of black freedmen, northerncarpetbaggers and localscalawags controlled state government for three years. The white conservative Democrats regained control of the state legislature in 1870, in part byKu Klux Klan violence and terrorism at the polls, to suppress black voting. Republicans were elected to the governorship until 1876, when theRed Shirts, a paramilitary organization that arose in 1874 and was allied with theDemocratic Party, helped suppress black voting. More than 150 black Americans were murdered in electoral violence in 1876.[77][78]
Post–Civil War-debt cycles pushed people to switch from subsistence agriculture to commodity agriculture. Among this time the notorious Crop-Lien system developed and was financially difficult on landless whites and blacks, due to high amounts of usury. Also due to the push for commodity agriculture, the free range was ended. Prior to this time people fenced in their crops and had their livestock feeding on the free range areas. After the ending of the free range people now fenced their animals and had their crops in the open.[79][80]
Segregated drinking fountain during theJim Crow era inHalifax, 1938
Democrats were elected to the legislature and governor's office, but thePopulists attracted voters displeased with them. In 1896 a biracial, Populist-Republican Fusionist coalition gained the governor's office and passed laws that would extend the voting franchise to blacks and poor whites. The Democrats regained control of the legislature in 1896 and passed laws to imposeJim Crow andracial segregation of public facilities. Voters of North Carolina's2nd congressional district elected a total of four African-Americancongressmen through these years of the late 19th century.
Political tensions ran so high a small group of white Democrats in 1898 planned to take over theWilmington government if their candidates were not elected. In theWilmington Insurrection of 1898, white Democrats led around 2,000 of their supporters that attacked the black newspaper and neighborhood, killed an estimated 60 to 300 people, and ran off the white Republican mayor and aldermen. They installed their own people and electedAlfred M. Waddell as mayor, in the only successful coup d'état inUnited States history.[81]
In 1899, the state legislature passed a new constitution, with requirements forpoll taxes andliteracy tests for voter registration whichdisenfranchised most black Americans in the state.[82] Exclusion from voting had wide effects: it meant black Americans could not serve on juries or in any local office. After a decade ofwhite supremacy, many people forgot North Carolina had ever had thriving middle-class black Americans.[83] Black citizens had no political voice in the state until after the federalCivil Rights Act of 1964 andVoting Rights Act of 1965 were passed to enforce their constitutional rights. It was not until 1992 that another African American was elected as a U.S. Representative from North Carolina.
After the reconstruction era, North Carolina had become a one-party state, dominated by theDemocratic Party. The state mainly continued with an economy based on tobacco, cotton textiles and commodity agriculture. Large towns and cities remained in few numbers. However, a major industrial base emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century, in the counties of thePiedmont Triad, based on cotton mills established at thefall line. Railroads were built to connect the new industrializing cities.[84]
In the first half of the 20th century, many African Americans left the state to go North for better opportunities, in theGreat Migration. Their departure changed the demographic characteristics of many areas.
North Carolina was hard hit by theGreat Depression, but theNew Deal programs ofFranklin D. Roosevelt for cotton and tobacco significantly helped the farmers. AfterWorld War II, the state's economy grew rapidly, highlighted by the growth of such cities as Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham in the Piedmont region.
Research Triangle Park, established in 1959, serves as the largestresearch park in the United States. Formed near Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, theResearch Triangle metro is a major area of universities and advanced scientific and technical research. By holding a 1956 meeting which helped lead to the creation of the park, GovernorLuther H. Hodges launched the transformation of his state from one of the poorest in the Union to one of the most prosperous.[85] In contrast, South Carolina's leaders lacked such vision, explaining why that state was and still is among the poorest in the country.[85]
TheGreensboro sit-ins in 1960 played a crucial role in the Civil Rights Movement to bring full equality to American blacks. By the late 1960s, spurred in part by the increasingly leftward tilt of national Democrats, conservative whites began to vote for Republican national candidates and gradually for more Republicans locally.[86][87]
Since the 1970s, North Carolina has seen steady increases in population growth. This growth has largely occurred inmetropolitan areas located within thePiedmont Crescent, in places such as Charlotte, Concord, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham and Raleigh.[88] The Charlotte metropolitan area has experienced large growth mainly due to its finance, banking, and tech industries.[89]
By the late 20th century and into the early 21st century, economic industries such as technology,pharmaceuticals, banking,food processing,vehicle parts, and tourism started to emerge as North Carolina's main economic drivers. This marked a shift from the state's former main industries oftobacco,textiles, and furniture. Factors that played a role in this shift were globalization, the state's higher education system, national banking, the transformation of agriculture, and new companies moving to the state.[92]
3D Topographical Map of North CarolinaDeer in theEno River as it flows through the Piedmont region of North CarolinaKöppen climate types of North Carolina
North Carolina is bordered bySouth Carolina on the south,Georgia on the southwest,Tennessee on the west,Virginia on the north, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. TheUnited States Census Bureau places North Carolina in theSouth Atlantic division of thesouthern region.[93] It has a total area of 53,819.16 square miles (139,391.0 km2), of which 48,617.91 square miles (125,919.8 km2) is land and 5,201.25 square miles (13,471.2 km2) (9.66%) is water.[94]
North Carolina consists of three main geographic regions: theAtlantic coastal plain, occupying the eastern portion of the state; the centralPiedmont region, and the mountain region in the west, which is part of theAppalachian Mountains. The coastal plain consists of more specifically defined areas known as theOuter Banks, a string of sandy, narrowbarrier islands separated from the mainland by sounds or inlets, includingAlbemarle Sound andPamlico Sound, the native home of thevenus flytrap, and the inner coastal plain, wherelongleaf pine trees are native.
So many ships have been lost offCape Hatteras that the area is known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic"; more than a thousand ships have sunk in these waters since records began in 1526. The most famous of these is theQueen Anne's Revenge (flagship of the pirateBlackbeard), which went aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718.[95]
The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along theAtlantic Seaboard fall line, the elevation at which waterfalls first appear on streams and rivers. The Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the state's most populous region, containing the six largest cities in the state by population.[96] It consists of gently rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. Small, isolated, and deeply eroded mountain ranges and peaks are located in the Piedmont, including theSauratown Mountains,Pilot Mountain, theUwharrie Mountains,Crowder's Mountain,King's Pinnacle, theBrushy Mountains, and theSouth Mountains. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 feet (100 m) in elevation in the east to about 1,500 feet (500 m) in the west.
North Carolina has 17 major river basins. The five basins west of theBlue Ridge Mountains flow to theGulf of Mexico, while the remainder flow to the Atlantic Ocean.[100] Of the 17 basins, 11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the state's border—theCape Fear, theNeuse, theWhite Oak, and theTar–Pamlico basin.[101]
Elevation above sea level is most responsible for temperature change across the state, with the mountainous regions being coolest year-round. The climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and theGulf Stream, especially in the coastal plain. These influences tend to cause warmer winter temperatures along the coast, where temperatures only occasionally drop below the freezing point at night. The coastal plain averages around 1 inch (2.5 cm) of snow or ice annually, and in many years, there may be no snow or ice at all.[102]
The Atlantic Ocean exerts less influence on the climate of the Piedmont region, which has hotter summers and colder winters than along the coast, though winters are still mild.[102]
North Carolina averages fewer than 20 tornadoes per year, many of them produced by hurricanes or tropical storms along the coastal plain. Tornadoes from thunderstorms are a risk, especially in the eastern part of the state. The western Piedmont is often protected by the mountains, which tend to break up storms as they cross over; the storms will often re-form farther east. A phenomenon known as "cold-air damming" often occurs in the northwestern part of the state, which can weaken storms but can also lead to major ice events in winter.[106]
In April 2011,the worst tornado outbreak in North Carolina's history occurred. Thirty confirmed tornadoes touched down, mainly in the Eastern Piedmont and Sandhills, killing at least 24 people.[107][108] In September 2019Hurricane Dorian hit the area.
Monthly normal high and low temperatures (Fahrenheit) for various North Carolina cities.
In 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2023 population estimates for municipalities in North Carolina.Charlotte has the largest population, whileRaleigh has the second-largest population in North Carolina.[118]
After the2020 census,Wake County—with a population of 1,129,410—became the most populous county in the state, overtakingMecklenburg County—with a population of 1,115,482—by a margin of about 14,000. Both counties are still the only to have populations over one million in North Carolina and the Carolinas region.[120][121]
TheUnited States Census Bureau determined the population of North Carolina was 10,439,388 at the2020 census.[124][125][126] Based on numbers in 2012 of the people residing in North Carolina 58.5% were born there; 33.1% were born in another state; 1.0% were born in Puerto Rico, U.S. island areas, or born abroad to American parent(s); and 7.4% were foreign-born.[127]
Map of counties in North Carolina by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Legend
Non-Hispanic White
30–40%
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Black or African American
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
Native American
40–50%
At the2010 census,[136] the racial composition of North Carolina was:White: 68.5% (65.3%non-Hispanic white, 3.2%White Hispanic),Black or African American: 21.5%,Latin andHispanic American of any race: 8.4%,some other race: 4.3%,Multiracial American: 2.2%, Asian American: 2.2%, andNative Hawaiian andPacific Islander: 1%. In 2020, North Carolina like much of the U.S. experienced a decline in its non-Hispanic white population; at the 2020 census, non-Hispanic whites were 62.2%, Blacks or African Americans 20.5%, American Indian and Alaska Natives 1.2%, Asians 3.3%, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders 0.1%, people from other race 5.9%, and multiracial Americans 6.8%.[137]
The majority of the Black American population is concentrated in the urban areas and northeastern part of the state.[138]
North Carolina's Hispanic population has grown rapidly. The Hispanic population more than doubled in size between 1990 and 2000. Many of North Carolina's Hispanic residents are ofMexican descent. Many of North Carolina's newer Latino residents came from Mexico largely to work in agriculture, manufacturing, or on one of North Carolina's military installations.[139]
The most common ancestries in North Carolina are African-American, American, German, English, and Irish.[140]
North Carolina has the eighth-largest Native American population in the country.[141] The state is home to eight Native American tribes and four urban Native American organizations.[142]
In 2010, 89.66% (7,750,904) of North Carolina residents age five and older spoke English at home as aprimary language, while 6.93% (598,756) spoke Spanish, 0.32% (27,310) French, 0.27% (23,204) German, and Chinese (which includesMandarin) was spoken as amain language by 0.27% (23,072) of the population five and older. In total, 10.34% (893,735) of North Carolina's population age five and older spoke amother language other than English.[143] In 2019, 87.7% of the population aged 5 and older spoke English and 12.3% spoke another language. The most common non-English language was Spanish at the 2019American Community Survey.[145]
North Carolina residents since the colonial era have historically been overwhelminglyProtestant—firstAnglican, thenBaptist andMethodist. In 2010, the Southern Baptist Convention was the single largest Christian denomination, with 4,241 churches and 1,513,000 members. The second largest in 2024 was theRoman Catholic Church which is organised into two dioceses. In the west is theRoman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte which includes Charlotte and has 530,000 members in 196parishes. In the east is theDiocese of Raleigh with a total of 80 parishes and nearly 500,000 Catholics.[147] The third largest was theUnited Methodist Church, with 660,000 members and 1,923 churches. The fourth largest was thePresbyterian Church (USA), with 186,000 members and 710 congregations; this denomination was brought by Scots-Irish immigrants who settled the backcountry in the colonial era.[148] In 2020, the Southern Baptists remained the largest with 1,324,747 adherents, though Methodists and others were collectively overtaken by non/interdenominational Protestants numbering 1,053,564.[149]
In 1845, the Baptists split into regional associations of the Northern United States and Southern U.S., over the issue of slavery. These new associations were the Northern Baptist Convention (today theAmerican Baptist Churches USA) andSouthern Baptist Convention. By the late 19th century, the largest Protestant denomination in North Carolina wereBaptists. Afteremancipation, black Baptists quickly set up their own independent congregations in North Carolina and other states of the South, as they wanted to be free of white supervision.[150][151][152] Black Baptists developed their own state and national associations, such as theNational Baptist Convention.[151] Other primarily African American Baptist conventions which grew in the state since the 20th century were theProgressive National Baptist Convention andFull Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship.
A wide variety of non-Christian faiths are practiced by other residents in the state, including:Judaism,Islam,Baháʼí,Buddhism, andHinduism. The rapid influx ofNortherners and immigrants from Latin America is steadily increasing ethnic and religious diversity within the state. The number of Roman Catholics and Jews in the state has increased, along with general religious diversity as a whole. There are also a substantial number ofQuakers in Guilford County and northeastern North Carolina. Many universities and colleges in the state have been founded on religious traditions, and some currently maintain that affiliation, including:[154]
North Carolina's 2018 totalgross state product was $496 billion.[155] Based on American Community Survey 2010–2014 data, North Carolina's median household income was $46,693. It ranked forty-first out of fifty states plus the District of Columbia for median household income. North Carolina had the fourteenth highest poverty rate in the nation at 17.6%, with 13% of families that were below the poverty line.[156]
The state has a very diverse economy because of its great availability of hydroelectric power,[158] its pleasant climate, and its wide variety of soils. The state ranks third among the South Atlantic states in population, but leads the region in industry and agriculture.[159][160] North Carolina leads the nation in the production of tobacco.[161]
Charlotte, the state's largest city, is a major textile and trade center. According to a Forbes article written in 2013, employment in the "Old North State" has gained many different industry sectors. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) industries in the area surrounding North Carolina's capital have grown 17.9 percent since 2001. Raleigh ranked the third best city for technology in 2020 due to the state's growing technology sector.[162] In 2010, North Carolina's total gross state product was $424.9 billion,[163] while the state debt in November 2012, according to one source, totaled $2.4 billion,[164] while according to another, was in 2012 $57.8 billion.[165] In 2011, the civilian labor force was at around 4.5 million with employment near 4.1 million.
North Carolina has 15 metropolitan areas,[122] and in 2010 was chosen as the third-best state for business by Forbes Magazine, and the second-best state by chief executive officer Magazine.[170] Since 2000, there has been a clear division in the economic growth of North Carolina's urban and rural areas. While North Carolina's urban areas have enjoyed a prosperous economy with steady job growth, low unemployment, and rising wages, many of the state's rural counties have suffered from job loss, rising levels of poverty, and population loss as their manufacturing base has declined. According to one estimate, one-half of North Carolina's 100 counties have lost population since 2010, primarily due to the poor economy in many of North Carolina's rural areas. However, the population of the state's urban areas is steadily increasing.[171]
North Carolina has traditions in art, music, and cuisine. The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $1.2billion in direct economic activity in North Carolina, supporting more than 43,600 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $119million in revenue for local governments and the state of North Carolina.[172] North Carolina established theNorth Carolina Museum of Art as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding[173] and continues to bring millions into the NC economy.[174]
One of the more famous arts communities in the state isSeagrove, the handmade-pottery capital of the U.S., where artisans create handcrafted pottery inspired by the same traditions that began in this community more than two hundred years ago.
Fiddlin' Bill Hensley, mountain fiddler,Asheville, 1937
North Carolina is also famous for its tradition ofold-time music, and many recordings were made in the early 20th century by folk-song collectorBascom Lamar Lunsford. Musicians such as theNorth Carolina Ramblers helped solidify the sound ofcountry music in the late 1920s, while the influentialbluegrass musicianDoc Watson also hailed from North Carolina. Both North and South Carolina are hotbeds for traditional ruralblues, especially the style known as thePiedmont blues.
In the mountains, theBrevard Music Center hosts choral, operatic, orchestral, and solo performances during its annual summer schedule.
North Carolina has five professional opera companies:Opera Carolina in Charlotte, NC Opera in Raleigh, Greensboro Opera in Greensboro, Piedmont Opera in Winston-Salem, andAsheville Lyric Opera in Asheville. Academic conservatories and universities also produce fully staged operas, such as the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute of theUniversity of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, the Department of Music of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and UNC Greensboro.
Among others, there are three high-level symphonic orchestras:NC Symphony in Raleigh,Charlotte Symphony, and Winston-Salem Symphony. The NC Symphony holds the North Carolina Master Chorale. TheCarolina Ballet is headquartered in Raleigh, and there is also theCharlotte Ballet.
The state boasts three performing arts centers: DPAC in Durham, Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, and the Blumenthal Performing Art Centers in Charlotte. They feature concerts, operas, recitals, and traveling Broadway musicals.[179][180][181]
A culinary staple of North Carolina is porkbarbecue. There are strong regional differences and rivalries over the sauces and methods used in making the barbecue. The common trend across Western North Carolina is the use of premium gradeBoston butt. Western North Carolina pork barbecue uses a tomato-based sauce, and only the pork shoulder (dark meat) is used. Western North Carolina barbecue is commonly referred to as Lexington barbecue after thePiedmont Triad town ofLexington, home of theLexington Barbecue Festival, which attracts more than 100,000 visitors each October.[182][183] Eastern North Carolina pork barbecue uses a vinegar-and-red-pepper-based sauce and the "whole hog" is cooked, thus integrating both white and dark meat.[184]
Krispy Kreme, an international chain of doughnut stores, was started in North Carolina; the company's headquarters are inWinston-Salem.Pepsi-Cola was first produced in 1898 in New Bern. A regional soft drink,Cheerwine, was created and is still based in the city of Salisbury. Despite its name, the hot sauceTexas Pete was created in North Carolina; its headquarters are also in Winston-Salem. TheHardee's fast-food chain was started inRocky Mount. Another fast-food chain,Bojangles', was started inCharlotte, and has its corporate headquarters there. A popular North Carolina restaurant chain isGolden Corral. Started in 1973, the chain was founded inFayetteville, with headquarters located inRaleigh. Popularpickle brandMount Olive Pickle Company was founded inMount Olive in 1926. Fast casual burger chainHwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries also makes its home inMount Olive.Cook Out, a popular fast-food chain featuring burgers, hot dogs, and milkshakes in a wide variety of flavors, was founded in Greensboro in 1989 and has begun expanding outside North Carolina. In 2013Southern Living named Durham–Chapel Hill the South's "Tastiest City".
Over the last decade, North Carolina has become a cultural epicenter and haven for internationally prize-winning wine (Noni Bacca Winery), internationally prized cheeses (Ashe County), "L'institut International aux Arts Gastronomiques: Conquerront Les Yanks les Truffes, January 15, 2010" international hub for truffles (Garland Truffles), and beer making, as tobacco land has been converted to grape orchards while state laws regulatingalcohol by volume (ABV) in beer allowed a jump from six to fifteen percent. The Yadkin Valley in particular has become a strengthening market for grape production, whileAsheville recently won the recognition of being named "Beer City USA". Asheville boasts the largest number ofbreweries per capita of any city in the United States. Recognized and marketed brands of beer in North Carolina include Highland Brewing, Duck Rabbit Brewery, Mother Earth Brewery, Weeping Radish Brewery, Big Boss Brewing, Foothills Brewing, Carolina Brewing Company, Lonerider Brewing, and White Rabbit Brewing Company.
North Carolina has large grazing areas for beef and dairy cattle. Truck farms can be found in North Carolina. A truck farm is a small farm where fruits and vegetables are grown to be sold at local markets. The state's shipping, commercial fishing, and lumber industries are important to its economy. Service industries, including education, health care, private research, and retail trade, are also important.Research Triangle Park, a large industrial complex located in the Raleigh-Durham area, is one of the major centers in the country for electronics and medical research.[185]
Tobacco was one of the first major industries to develop after theCivil War. Many farmers grew some tobacco, and the invention of the cigarette made the product especially popular. Winston-Salem is the birthplace ofR. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR), founded byR. J. Reynolds in 1874 as one of sixteen tobacco companies in the town. By 1914 it was selling 425 million packs of Camels a year. Today it is the second-largest tobacco company in the U.S. (behindAltria Group). RJR is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., which in turn is 42% owned byBritish American Tobacco.[186]
On January 24, 1961, a B-52Gbroke up in midair and crashed after suffering a severe fuel loss, nearGoldsboro, dropping twonuclear bombs in the process without detonation.[189] In 2013, it was revealed that three safety mechanisms on one bomb had failed, leaving just one low-voltage switch preventing detonation.[190]
Every year theAppalachian Mountains attract several million tourists to the western part of the state,[193] including the historicBiltmore Estate. The scenicBlue Ridge Parkway andGreat Smoky Mountains National Park are the two most visited national park and unit in the United States with more than 25million visitors in 2013.[194] The City ofAsheville is consistently voted as one of the top places to visit and live in the United States, known for its rich art deco architecture, mountain scenery and outdoor activities.[195][196]
TheOuter Banks and surrounding beaches attract millions of people to the Atlantic beaches every year.[202]
The mainland northeastern part of the state, having recently adopted the name theInner Banks, is also known as the Albemarle Region, for theAlbemarle Settlements, some of the first settlements on North Carolina's portion of theAtlantic Coastal Plain. The region's historic sites are connected by theHistoric Albemarle Tour.
Most common license plate design in the state; includes theWright Flyer in the backgroundLYNX light rail car in CharlotteState-ownedPiedmont train in High Point
Transportation systems in North Carolina consist of air, water, road, rail, and public transportation including intercity rail via Amtrak and light rail in Charlotte. North Carolina has the second-largest state highway system in the country as well as the largest ferry system on theEast Coast.[203]
North Carolina's airports serve destinations throughout the United States and international destinations in Canada, Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean. In July 2022,Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which serves as the second busiest hub forAmerican Airlines, ranked as the 11th busiest airport in the United States withRaleigh-Durham International Airport, a focus-city forDelta Air Lines and formerly a hub for American Airlines andMidway Airlines, ranked as the 37th busiest airport in the United States.[204]
North Carolina has a growing passenger rail system withAmtrak serving most major cities. Charlotte is also home to North Carolina's only light rail system known asLYNX.[205]
Previously theSAT was the dominant university entrance examination students took[Vague?]. In 2004 76% of NC high school students took the SAT. In 2012 state law changed which required 11th grade students to take theACT. The SAT testing rate fell to 46% in 2019. Because students now can take that test for free, the ACT became the dominant university entrance examination. This also caused SAT average scores to rise, as in 1996 North Carolina was 48th nationally in SAT scores, but the profile of students taking the SAT has gotten smaller.[211] In 2024, North Carolina's high school graduation rate was 87%, though just 36% of students met the state's benchmarks for "college and career readiness."[212]
The residents of North Carolinahave a lower life expectancy than the U.S. national average of life expectancy. According to theInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, in 2014, males in North Carolina lived an average of 75.4 years compared to the national average of 76.7 years. Females in North Carolina lived an average of 80.2 years compared to the national average of 81.5 years. Male life expectancy in North Carolina between 1980 and 2014 increased by an average of 6.9 years, slightly higher than the male national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in North Carolina between 1980 and 2014 increased by 3.2 years, lower than the female national average of a 3.9-year increase.[220]
Using 2017–2019 data, theRobert Wood Johnson Foundation calculated that life expectancy for North Carolina counties ranged from 71.4 years forSwain County to 82.3 years forOrange County. Life expectancy for the state was 78.1 years.[221] The Foundation estimated that life expectancy for the United States as a whole in 2021 was 79.2 years.[222]
Early newspapers were established in the eastern part of North Carolina in the mid-18th century.The Fayetteville Observer, established in 1816, is the oldest newspaper still in publication in North Carolina. TheWilmington Star-News, established 1867, is the oldest continuously running newspaper. As of January 1, 2020, there were approximately 240 North Carolina newspapers in publication in the state of North Carolina.[223]
TheNews and Observer was founded in 1871 and is the largest in circulation in the state. In 2006,The Charlotte Observer was acquired by the company, it is the second largest circulating news paper in the state.[224]
North Carolina's party loyalties have undergone a series of important shifts in the last few years: While the 2010 midterms sawTarheel voters elect a bicameralRepublican majority legislature for the first time in more than a century, North Carolina has also become a Southernswing state in presidential races. Since Southern DemocratJimmy Carter's comfortable victory in the statein 1976, the state had consistently leaned Republican in presidential elections until DemocratBarack Obama narrowly won the statein 2008. In the 1990s, DemocratBill Clinton came within a point of winning the statein 1992 and also only narrowly lost the statein 1996. In2000, RepublicanGeorge W. Bush easily won the state by more than 13 points.
By2008, demographic shifts, population growth, and increased liberalization in densely populated areas such as theResearch Triangle,Charlotte,Greensboro,Winston-Salem,Fayetteville, andAsheville, propelled Barack Obama to victory in North Carolina, the first Democrat to win the state since 1976. In2012, North Carolina was again considered a competitive swing state, with the Democrats even holding their2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. However, RepublicanMitt Romney ultimately eked out a two-point win in North Carolina, the only 2012 swing state Obama lost, and one of only two states (along withIndiana) to flip from Obama in 2008 to the GOP in 2012. Furthermore, Republican Donald Trump carried the state in2016,2020, and2024.
In 2012, the state elected a Republican governor (Pat McCrory) and lieutenant governor (Dan Forest) for the first time in more than two decades, while also giving the Republicans veto-proof majorities in both the State House of Representatives and the State Senate. Several U.S. House of Representatives seats flipped control in 2012, with the Republicans holding nine seats to the Democrats' four. In the2014 midterm elections, RepublicanDavid Rouzer won the state's7th congressional district seat, increasing the congressional delegation party split to 10–3 in favor of the GOP, a split they retained in subsequent elections until 2020, when it narrowed to 8–5 in favor of the GOP. In 2016, despite Donald Trump winning the state, North Carolina voters elected Democrat Roy Cooper as governor, in part due to an unpopular law passed by former governor Pat McCrory known asHB2. Cooper went on to win re-election in 2020, despite Donald Trump narrowly winning the state again against Joe Biden.
As a result of the 2020 census, North Carolina gained another seat in the118th United States Congress, for a total of 14.[227] After the 2024 elections, the state was represented by 10 Republicans and 4 Democrats.
In a 2020 study, North Carolina was ranked as the 23rd easiest state for citizens to vote in.[228]
In 2015, federal courts again ordered redistricting.[231] Two lawsuits challenging the state congressional district map were led by "two dozen voters, the state Democratic Party, the state chapter of the League of Women Voters, and the interest group Common Cause".[231] They contend that the redistricting resulted in deliberate under-representation of a substantial portion of voters. This case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2019, which also heard a related partisan gerrymandering case from Maryland.[231]
On February 4, 2022, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the congressional and state legislative district maps drawn by the GOP-controlledGeneral Assembly on terms of partisan gerrymandering in a 4–3 ruling.[232] Later that month, a panel of three former judges chosen by the Wake County Superior Court drew and approved a remedial congressional map after the new map proposed by the General Assembly was struck down by the North Carolina Supreme Court. Though, the state legislative maps proposed by the General Assembly were allowed to be used. The General Assembly would then redraw all three maps for the2024 elections in the state.[233][234]
On April 28, 2023, the North Carolina Supreme Court—after Republicans gained a majority in the court following the2022 judicial elections—overturned the same ruling in a 5–2 decision, which cleared the way for gerrymandering in the next redistricting cycle.[235][236] New maps were approved by the General Assembly on October 25, 2023. All three new maps heavily favor the GOP, with allegations of racial bias made against the maps as well.[237][238][239]
In November 2023, a lawsuit was filed against theNorth Carolina Senate district map—specifically the1st and2nd Senate districts—in the Eastern District of North Carolina, arguing the map violates Section 2 of theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[240][241][242] In December 2023, two lawsuits were filed in theMiddle District of North Carolina, with the first challenging the1st,6th,12th, and14th congressional districts in the map,[243][244] and the second, challenging multiple specific districts in all three maps, as racial gerrymanders.[245][246][247] Both lawsuits were consolidated together in March 2024.[248][249]
On January 26, 2024—regarding the lawsuit currently in the Eastern District of North Carolina—a preliminary injunction to block the current North Carolina Senate district map was denied, citing thePurcell principle.[250] The ruling was appealed to theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which upheld the lower court's decision on March 28, 2024. The lawsuit will continue in the district court, but no ruling will be made until after the 2024 elections.[251]
In addition to professional team sports, North Carolina has a strong affiliation withNASCAR and stock-car racing, withCharlotte Motor Speedway inConcord hosting races every year. Charlotte also hosts theNASCAR Hall of Fame, while Concord is the home of several top-flight racing teams, includingHendrick Motorsports,RFK Racing, andHaas Factory Team. Numerous other tracks around North Carolina host races from other racing circuits as well.
^abIn 1893, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted the Latin words "Esse Quam Videri" as the state motto and directed that these words be placed with the state's coat of arms and the date "20 May 1775" upon the great seal.
^"State language".Ncga.state.nc.cus (FTP). p. § 145–12. RetrievedMay 23, 2016.(a) Purpose. English and Spanish are the most common languages of the people of the United States of America and the State of North Carolina. This section is intended to preserve, protect and strengthen the English language, and not to supersede any of the rights guaranteed to the people by the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of North Carolina. (b) English as the Official Language of North Carolina. English is the official language of the State of North Carolina.[dead ftp link](To view documents seeHelp:FTP)
^Ganyard, Robert L. (1968). "Threat from the West: North Carolina and the Cherokee, 1776-1778".The North Carolina Historical Review.45 (1):47–66.ISSN0029-2494.JSTOR23518133.
^Coe, Joffre L. (1979). "The Indian in North Carolina".The North Carolina Historical Review.56 (2):158–161.ISSN0029-2494.JSTOR23534827.
^Davis, R. P. Stephen; Ward, H. Trawick (1991). "The Evolution of Siouan Communities in Piedmont North Carolina".Southeastern Archaeology.10 (1):40–53.ISSN0734-578X.JSTOR40712940.
^Beck, Robin A.; Rodning, Christopher B.; Moore, David G., eds. (January 26, 2016).Fort San Juan and the Limits of Empire: Colonialism and Household Practice at the Berry Site. University Press of Florida. pp. 31–56.doi:10.2307/j.ctvx073wb.10.ISBN978-0-8130-5567-1.JSTORj.ctvx073wb.
^DePratter, Chester B.; Hudson, Charles M.; Smith, Marvin T. (1983). "The Route of Juan Pardo's Explorations in the Interior Southeast, 1566-1568".The Florida Historical Quarterly.62 (2):125–158.ISSN0015-4113.JSTOR30146259.
^Beck, Robin A.; Rodning, Christopher B.; Moore, David G., eds. (January 26, 2016).Fort San Juan and the Limits of Empire: Colonialism and Household Practice at the Berry Site. University Press of Florida.doi:10.2307/j.ctvx073wb.ISBN978-0-8130-5567-1.JSTORj.ctvx073wb.
^Richards, Constance E. (Spring 2008)."Contact and Conflict"(PDF).American Archaeology. p. 14. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on June 24, 2009. RetrievedJune 26, 2008.
^D. Moore. (1997) "A General History of Blackbeard the Pirate, the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Adventure". In Tributaries, Volume VII, 1997. pp. 31–35. (North Carolina Maritime History Council).
^North Carolina History Project (March 7, 2016)."Tories".North Carolina History Project. John Locke Foundation.Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. RetrievedSeptember 22, 2022.
^"Today in History – April 12".Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. RetrievedSeptember 22, 2022.
^Stonestreet, Ottis C. IV,The Battle of Cowan's Ford: General Davidson's Stand on the Catawba River and its place in North Carolina History (CreateSpace Publishing 2012)ISBN978-1-4680-7730-8 p. 2, 3, 4.
^Beeby, James M. (2008). "Red Shirt Violence, Election Fraud, and the Demise of the Populist Party in North Carolina's Third Congressional District, 1900".The North Carolina Historical Review.85 (1):1–28.ISSN0029-2494.JSTOR23523367.
^Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS)."American FactFinder—Results".census.gov.Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. RetrievedMay 29, 2012.
^Tippett, Rebecca (February 27, 2015)."NC in Focus: Black Population".Carolina Demography. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. RetrievedOctober 8, 2023.
^"North Carolina".Encyclopædia Britannica.Archived from the original on November 19, 2023. RetrievedNovember 19, 2023.
^Doran, Will; Raynor, David (October 8, 2016)."NC economy a mixed bag".Raleigh News & Observer.Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 3, 2017.
^Arts, Blumenthal Performing."Blumenthal Performing Arts".www.blumenthalarts.org.Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. RetrievedSeptember 22, 2022.
^Garner, Bob (2007).Bob Garner's Guide to North Carolina Barbecue. John F. Blair, publisher.ISBN978-0-89587-254-8.
^"History".about.wfu.edu. Wake Forest University.Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. RetrievedApril 21, 2020.
^Eiben, Vicky (2015)."A brief history of folk schools".Folk Education Association of America. Folk School Alliance.Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. RetrievedMarch 6, 2024.The John C. Campbell Folk School founded in 1925 in Brasstown, North Carolina is the largest folk school in the U.S. today.
^"region: Brasstown, Hayesville".Great Smoky Mountains North Carolina.Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. RetrievedMarch 6, 2024.Nation's oldest folk school founded in 1925.
^"US Health Map".Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. University of Washington.Archived from the original on December 23, 2020. RetrievedDecember 27, 2020.
^Stick, David (2006)."Towns and Cities".NCPedia. North Carolina Government & Heritage Library.Archived from the original on August 4, 2022. RetrievedAugust 4, 2022.
Jones, H. G. (1984).North Carolina Illustrated, 1524–1984. University of North Carolina Press.
North Carolina Manual. Published biennially by the Department of the Secretary of State since 1941.
The Religion in North Carolina Digital CollectionArchived August 17, 2020, at theWayback Machine. A grant-funded project to provide digital access to publications of and about religious bodies in North Carolina. Partner institutions atDuke University,UNC-Chapel Hill, andWake Forest University contributed the largest portion of the items in this collection, but the collection is enriched by unique materials from libraries and archives throughout North Carolina. The materials in this collection include local church histories, periodicals, clergy biographies, cookbooks, event programs, directories, and much more.
Hawks, Francis L. (1857).History of North Carolina, Volumes I and II.
Kersey, Marianne M.; Coble, Ran, eds. (1989).North Carolina Focus: An Anthology on State Government, Politics, and Policy. 2d ed. Raleigh: North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research.
Lefler, Hugh Talmage (1963).A Guide to the Study and Reading of North Carolina History.Online.Archived July 17, 2012, at theWayback Machine
Lefler, Hugh Talmage; Newsome, Albert Ray (1954, 1963, 1973).North Carolina: The History of a Southern State. Standard textbook.
Link, William A. (2009).North Carolina: Change and Tradition in a Southern State. History by leading scholar.
Luebke, Paul (1990).Tar Heel Politics: Myths and Realities.
Orr, Doug, and Alfred W. Stuart. (2000)The North Carolina Atlas: Portrait for a New Century (U of North Carolina Press, 2000)online
Powell, William S. (1979–88).Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Vol. 1, A-C; vol. 2, D-G; vol. 3, H-K.
Powell, William S. (1958).North Carolina Fiction, 1734–1957: An Annotated Bibliography.
Powell, William S. (1989).North Carolina through Four Centuries. Standard textbook.
Powell, William S.; Mazzocchi, Jay, eds. (2006).Encyclopedia of North Carolina.
Ready, Milton. (2005).The Tarheel State: A History of North Carolina.
Thuesen, Sarah Caroline. (2013).Greater Than Equal: African American Struggles for Schools and Citizenship in North Carolina, 1919–1965. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.
WPA Federal Writers' Project (1939).North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State. FamousWPA guide to every town.
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