North Carolina

By Morgan

The North Carolina colony began in 1584.  An English explorer named Sir Walter Raleigh sent ships to Roanoke Island, part of  what is now South Carolina.  When they arrived, the English asked the Native Americans who lived there and what they called their country.  The Native Americans didn’t understand or speak English. They said, “Wingandacon” which meant, “You wear good clothes.” For months they thought it was called Wingandacon.  So the English didn’t know what the Native Americans said.  The English claimed Roanoke and lands that would later be North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina.  They claimed,” This land belongs to England!” Queen Elizabeth then changed Wingandacon to Virginia

          People from England wanted to experience America and know what it was like.  Two men from Walter Raleigh’s sea captains sailed to a part of Virginia called Roanoke Island.  They brought back animals and plants.  Two Native Americans who were named Manteo and Wanchese returned to England with the explorers. They helped report what it was like on their land.  Explorers paid John White to make paintings of the people and wildlife of the area.  Later Sir John White became governor of the colony, Roanoke.  In 1587, White left to get supplies from England.  

          Before colonists came, more then 30,000 Native Americans lived in Virginia, in the part that would later be North Carolina.  The name of the Native Americans who lived there were the Tuscarora Indians.  The Tuscarora Indians were the largest tribe for a while.  Their houses were made out of logs.  They had tree bark over the logs to protect their houses from rain and damage.

Women farmed beans, corn, and squash.   Men hunted and fished.  Children collected berries and nuts.  They also scared the birds from the crops.  The Indians were friendly at first.  But after being cheated and made to leave their lands, they saw the colonists as enemies.

          Virginia was divided into two parts in 1629, Virginia and Caralana.  More colonists came looking for farmland and freedom of religion.  In 1663, King Charles’s son, King Charles II, gave Caralana to eight family friends.  These Lord Proprietors divided the area into three parts and changed the spelling to what we know as Carolina.  The northern area was named Albemarle County, the beginning of North Carolina.

          Governors were sent to rule Carolina.  To make money from the colony, the Lords Proprietors charged rent to live in Carolina.  People did not like this.  Some farmers started smuggling tobacco to sell in England.  When they were made to pay taxes, the farmers rebelled.  Forty colonists and their leader John Culpeper, put the governor in jail.  The farmers ran the colony  for two years.  It was the first rebellion against England.

          Eventually, the Tuscarora Indians rebelled too, against the colonist.  This lasted two years.  The Tuscarora Indians lost the war.  At the same time colonists had problems with pirates.  Blackbeard was the most dangerous pirate.  He lived on Ocracoke Island, near Albemarle.

          Carolina was divided into North and South Carolina in 1712.  King George bought North Carolina back from the Lord Proprietors in 1729.  It was a royal colony.  The population grew and grew.  Many people who lived there were unhappy.  England wanted them to pay more taxes but they did not get to vote for what they wanted.  In a town called Edenton, some women gathered and protested against the taxes.  They did not buy English clothing and tea in protest. 

          Leaders of the colonies met in Philadelphia in 1774 to discuss what should be done.  Colonists asked the King to stop taxing them.  The Revolutionary War started on April 17, 1775 in Massachusetts. Some colonists, called Loyalists, wanted to remain under King George.  They tried to take over Wilmington. The Patriots, who were people who wanted to form a new country, soaped and greased the only bridge in town so the Loyalists couldn’t get across.  The Battle of Moore’s Creek was the first battle in North Carolina.

          North Carolina was the first colony to have a vote for independence from England.  It became the twelfth state to join America.  Some of North Carolina’s land was given to the government.  This became Tennessee.  North Carolina  is known for its independent spirit!

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Last Updated: 02/23/06