©2007 Clairmont Press

North Carolina: North Carolina: Land of ContrastsLand of Contrasts

Chapter 7Chapter 7North Carolina Finally AwakensNorth Carolina Finally Awakens

Study PresentationStudy Presentation

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: North CarolinaNorth Carolina

Finally AwakensFinally Awakens

• Section 3: Whigs Support Development

Section 3: Whigs SupportSection 3: Whigs SupportDevelopmentDevelopment

ESSENTIAL QUESTION– What improvements were

supported by the Whigs in the early 1800s?

Section 3: Whigs Support Section 3: Whigs Support Development Development

What words do I need to know? 1. Democratic Party

2. Whig Party

3. curriculum

4. plank road

Section 3: Whigs Support Section 3: Whigs Support Development Development

Introduction• 1830s: Andrew Jackson help build up the

Democratic Party and made it a powerful part of the nation

• Whig Party formed to oppose “King Andrew” Jackson

• Nathaniel Macon strong supporter of Jackson• Followers of Archibald Murphey formed the

North Carolina Whig Party• 1840 & 1844: John Motley Morehead (1st Whig

leader in NC elected as NC governor resulting in public education and internal improvements)

The Start of Public EducationThe Start of Public Education

• 1839: the Whigs created the state’s first public school system

• 1840: Rockingham County opened the 1st common school (five years later every county had at least one school – by 1850 more than 2000 schools were in operation)

• During this period the University in Chapel Hill improved in both enrollment & curriculum – broadened in law & agricultural chemistry (Note: David Swain: president – 1835 to 1868)

• Elisha Mitchell: best-known professor in mathematics

The Coming of the RailroadsThe Coming of the Railroads

• 1830s: steam engine results in the locomotive; became the most important thing to happen to the state

• Railroads built where canals could not be

• Steam engine could be fueled with easily obtained wood

• Whigs used public funds to complete costly railroads

The Coming of the Railroads The Coming of the Railroads (2/3)(2/3)

• 1837 & 1841: the legislature invested in the construction of two lines – the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad and the Raleigh & Gaston (the 2nd went bankrupt and had to be reorganized)

• 1848: the North Carolina Railroad (NCRR) established which ran from Raleigh through Greensboro & Salisbury to Charlotte

• 1856: tracks completed with additional rails to Goldsboro connecting with the Wilmington & Weldon

Early Railroads in North CarolinaEarly Railroads in North Carolina

The Coming of the Railroads The Coming of the Railroads (3/3)(3/3)

• Secondary effects: the towns of Goldsboro & High Point grew up around important railroad sidings

• Fayetteville: supported the construction of plank roads (often called “farmer railroads”)

• The plank roads enabled farmers to keep their wagons above the mud and ruts

• Plank roads: extended from Fayetteville to Taylorsville

Social Improvements Social Improvements (1/2)(1/2)

• State set up welfare institutions• Governor Morehead: convinced the legislature to

set up a school for the deaf & blind (opened in Raleigh in 1845)

• 1853: hospital est. in west Raleigh for the insane (encouraged by Dorothea Dix of Massachusetts)

• 1834: the Baptist Literary Institute est. and later known as Wake Forest College

• 1837: New Garden Boarding School (grew into Guilford College a half century later)

Social Improvements Social Improvements (2/2)(2/2)

• Other schools included: – 1837: Davidson College set up north of

Charlotte– 1838: Trinity College (later moved to Durham

& grew into Duke University)– 1840s: Greensboro Female College, St.

Mary’s in Raleigh, and Chowan Baptist Female Institute in Murfreesboro

Industrial BeginningsIndustrial Beginnings

• The Whigs chartered cotton mills• 1840s: more than a dozen factories set up• Located mostly on the Cape Fear River• Marketing of cloth mostly in Fayetteville• Edwin M. Holt: ran the best-known mill –

the Alamance Factory (produced the 1st dyed cloth – the “Alamance Plaid” which became NC’s first famous product)

• 1848: 1st telegraph installed Click here to return to Main Menu.

Section 3: Whigs SupportSection 3: Whigs SupportDevelopmentDevelopment

ESSENTIAL QUESTION– What improvements were supported

by the Whigs in the early 1800s?

1. Public Education

2. Railroads

3. Social Improvements.

4. Mill Towns.

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©2007 Clairmont Press

North Carolina: North Carolina: Land of ContrastsLand of Contrasts

Chapter 7Chapter 7North Carolina Finally AwakensNorth Carolina Finally Awakens

Study PresentationStudy Presentation

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: North CarolinaNorth Carolina

Finally AwakensFinally Awakens

• Section 4: “The Rainbow of Promise”

Section 4: “The Rainbow of Section 4: “The Rainbow of Promise”Promise”

ESSENTIAL QUESTION– What conditions led people to

believe that North Carolina held a “rainbow of promise”?

Section 4: “The Rainbow of Section 4: “The Rainbow of Promise”Promise”

What words do I need to know? 1. superintendent of public instruction

2. literate

3. free suffrage

Section 4: “The Rainbow of Section 4: “The Rainbow of Promise”Promise”

Introduction• North Carolina moves ahead

• Number of people in towns doubled

• 1835-1850: number of newspapers in the state more than doubled

• “The Old North State” no longer asleep

• Mary Bayard Clarke (one of NC’s 1st poets) noted that “Old Rip is awakening”

MiningMining

• By 1830s: fifty mines in operation• Several mines dug under Charlotte • 1837: Federal Government established a branch

of the US Mint in Charlotte• 1831-1849: Christopher Bechtler ran a private

mint near Rutherfordton• 1842: Gold Hill started & became one of the

most famous mine sites• Other valuable mine products included iron ore

& coal

Railroad FeverRailroad Fever

• Railroad from Goldsboro to Charlotte meant that farmers & millers in the west could send goods all the way to Wilmington

• 1850s: Western Railroad chartered by NC

• Benefits felt all over the state– Wayne Co.: cotton productivity went from 300

bales in 1850 to 4,000 bales by 1860– Davidson Co.: wheat production increased from

80,000 to 250,000 bushels

Education and LiteracyEducation and Literacy

• 1850s: every county developed common schools

• 1852: Calvin H. Wiley of Guilford County became the 1st superintendent of public instruction, introduced standards for teachers, published a magazine to help teachers, and wrote the first textbook on North Carolina history

• 1850s: more than 400 private academies & more North Carolinians were literate

Two-Party PoliticsTwo-Party Politics

• 1850s: change in NC’s two political parties

• Whigs lost control of the state

• 1850s: Democrats ran the state & came to champion free suffrage

• 50-acre land ownership requirement for voting in state elections done away with

• Whigs opposed free suffrage amendment to the state constitution

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