F a54 \A/38 NORTH CAROLINA -2A-- ^^1^ PHILADRIiPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 1891. Class. ^pi^ Book_-., \M 32 NORTH CAROLINA. K PHILADELPHIA: J. B. liJPPTNCOTT COMPANY. 1891. Copyright, 1891, by J. B. Lippincott Company. NORTH CAROLINA. North Carolina, one of the thirteen original United States of America, is situated on the Atlantic seaboard, south of Virginia, in 33° 50^ — 36° 33^ N. lat., and 75° 27' — 84° 30^ W. long. Its extreme length is about 500, its breadth 186 miles. Area, 52,250 sq. m., or larger than that of England. The eastern part of the state is low, and in some parts swampy, the central part undulating, and the western mountainous; but everywhere, except in lim- ited areas in the eastern section, the soil is remarkably fertile and the climate salubrious. The highest moun- tains in the United States east of the Mississippi are in North Carolina, at least twelve peaks being higher than Mount Washington, in the White Mountains, and more than fifty exceeding 6000 feet in altitude — Mitchell's Peak (6707 feet) the highest. Most of these are clothed to their tops with thick forests, but some have prairie-like summits covered with deep turf. All this picturesque region, known as * the Land of the Sky,' is a favourite resort in summer for southerners and in winter for northerners. North Carolina is rich in mineral products. The 4 NORTH CAROLINA. value of its gold and silver deposited for coinage and assay from 1793 to 1891 exceeds ;^ 12,000,000. A branch U, S. mint was established at Charlotte in 1838, and has since 1873 been continued as an assay office. Silver occurs associated with lead in Clay and David- son counties, and zinc in the latter county. Iron is widely disseminated in the form of specular ores, hematites and magnetites; copper and plumbago also are found in many counties. Coal of excellent quality has been profitably mined in the vicinity of Deep River, and is abundant, too, near the Dan River. There are valuable deposits of corundum and extensive beds of mica in the west; and more than 150 species of gems, &c. are found in the state, including the rich ' hiddenite' or lithia-emerald, which is not known to occur elsewhere. Granite and marble abound in some localities, and there are valuable phosphate beds in the eastern section. Maize has hitherto been the principal agricultural product, but has recently been rivalled by cotton in the annual value of its crop. Wheat, oats, hay, to- bacco, and sweet potatoes are the next most valuable products of the soil. One of the chief industries in eastern North Carolina has long been the production of tar, rosin, and spirits of turpentine from the forests of long-leaved pin^ [Plmis palnstris) and allied species. The manufacturing industries until 1880 were limited, but since that date the spindles and looms for the manufacture of cotton and woollen fabrics have been largely increased, tobacco-factories have been estab- lished and enlarged, and in 1888 the first silk-factory in the southern states was established. Fisheries con- NORTH CAROLINA. 5 stitute a profitable industry along the coast, and employ from 6000 to 7000 men. North Carolina contains 96 counties, and returns nine members to congress. It has about 3000 miles of railway. The chief port and largest city is Wil- mington, the capital Raleigh. Parts of the state are deficient in good schools, but there are excellent graded schools in the principal towns. Besides several denominational colleges, there is a state university (1795) at Chapel Hill, and a state agricultural college was established at Raleigh in 1889. There are asylums for the insane at Goldsboro, Raleigh, and Morganton — the first for negroes only ; and provision is also made by the state for the blind and deaf-mutes, both white and black. The penitentiary has about 1300 convicts, but most of them are hired out by contract. History. — In 1584 Raleigh's first expedition landed on Roanoke Island, and was kindly received. In 1585, 1586, and 1587 Raleigh planted colonies on the island, but the first returned with Drake in 1586, and the others were destroyed. In 1629 Charles I., claim- ing under Cabot's discovery, granted to Sir Robert Heath the territory, also claimed by Spain and called Florida, from lat. 30° to 36° as Carolana Florida. By the English it was called both Carolana and Carolina. In 1653 a colony from Virginia settled on the banks of the Roanoke and Chowan rivers : this was the first permanent settlement in North Carolina. In 1663 Charles II. granted the region across the continent between lat. 31° and 36° to eight of his favourites, under the name of Carolina. In June 1665 the king extended the limits of Carolina to 29° on the S. and 5 NORTH CAROLINA. to 36° 30' N. The proprietors, ' to avoid erecting a numerous democracy' in Carolina, adopted a Utopian form of 'fundamental constitutions,' prepared by John Locke and Shaftesbury, which recognised a nobility of landgraves and cassiques. The eldest proprietor was palatine, and the other seven had high-sounding titles. The proprietary rule ceased in 1729, when the king bought out the claims of the proprietors for ;^2500 each, and North Carolina became a royal prov- ince. Under the administration of the second royal governor, Gabriel Johnston (1734-53), the colony in- creased in population from 14,000 to 45,000 and be- came very prosperous. The arbitrary rule of Gov- ernor Dobbs (1754-66) and Governor Tryon (1766-73) served to intensify the dislike of the people to the taxation policy of parliament ; and when the colonial assembly at Wilmington protested against taxation without representation it was dissolved by Governor Tryon. The Mecklenburg Convention met at Char- lotte and adopted a declaration of independence on May 20, 1775. The early years of the war (1775-83) were marked by bitter local and partisan conflicts between Whigs and Tories. In the years 1779-81 North Carolina furnished about one-tenth of the Ameri- can army; still, it was the last state but one to ratify the federal constitution, November 21, 1789. It was the last, too, of the eleven Confederate States to pass in convention an ordinance of secession, May 21, 1861, which was not submitted to the people. The capture of Fort Fisher in January 1865 led to the federal occupation of Wilmington, the advance of the union forces on Raleigh, and the surrender of General Johns- NORTH CAROLINA. y ton, which practically ended the war of secession. Pop. (1800)487,103; (1840) 753,419; (1880) 1,399,750; (1890) 1,617,947 — making North Carolina the six- teenth state in order of population. Presidents Jack- son, Polk, and Johnson were natives ; and Flora Mac donald (q.v.) for a time resided here. ^^^\- ^ iiiii^lM . LIBRARY OF tf^ -iP^ i! CONGRESS ^1 iiiiiiil lllMiiiiiiiiB 014 419 321 ^ H ■^ ^H^^^^^^V i/^^w^ vh,..'. JKt^