NORTH CAROLINA
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NORTH CAROLINA
Albemarle, the name originally given to what now
constitutes North Carolina, was augmented by settle-
ments from Virginia, New England, and Bermuda.
In 1674 the population was about four thousand.
In 1729, Carolina became a royal province, the king
having purchased from the proprietors seven-eighths
of their domain. Carteret, subsequently Earl Gran-
ville, surrendered his right of jurisdiction, but re-
tained in severalty his share of the land. It gained
considerable accessions in population by a colony of
Swiss at New Bern, of Scotch Highlanders on Cape
Fear, of Moravians at Salem, and of Scotch-Irish
and Pennsylvania Dutch, who settled in different parts
of the state. For many years, however, there has
been very little immigration and the population is
now essentially homogeneous.
The people of North Carolina were among the earliest and most active promoters of the Revolution. The Stamp Tax was bitterly resented; a provincial congress, held at New Bern, elected delegates to the first Continental Congress in September, 1774, and joined in the declaration of Colonial rights. As early as 20 May, 177.5, a committee of citizens met in Charlotte and issued the "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence", formally renouncing allegiance to the British Crown. In December, 1776, the provin- cial congress at Halifax adopted a State constitution which immediately went into effect, with Richard Caswell as governor. The delegates from this state signed the Declaration of Independence and the Arti- cles of Confederation. In 1786 the General Assembly elected delegates to the Federal Constitutional Con- vention and its delegates present signed the Constitu- tion; but the General Assembly did not ratify it until 21 November, 1789, after the Federal Govern- ment had been organized and gone into operation. During the Revolution the state furnished the Con- tinental army with 22,910 men. Important battles were fought at Guilford Court House (between Green and Cornwallis, 15 March, 1781), Alamance, Moore's Creek, Ramsour's Mill, and King's Mountain on the state line. There was a predominant Union senti- ment in North Carolina in the early part of 1861 ; and at an election held 28 February, the people voted against calling a convention for the purpose of seces- sion; but after the firing on Fort Sumter and the actual beginning of the war, a convention, called by the Legislature without submission to the people, met on 20 May, 1861, passed an ordinance of secession, and ratified the Confederate Constitution. Fort Fisher was the only important battle fought in the state. The State sent 125,000 soldiers into the Civil War, the largest number sent by any southern state. In 1865 a provisional government was organized by President Johnson, and later the state came under the Recon- struction Act p.assed by Congress, 2 March, 1867. On 11 July, 1868, the state government was restored by proclamation of the presitient.
The Constitution of 1776 had some remarkable provisions. It allowed free negroes to vote because they were "freemen", all slaves, of course, being dis- franchised because in law they were considered chattels. Any freeman could vote for the members of the House of Commons; but must own fifty acres of land to vote for a senator, who must himself own at least three hundred acres, and a member at least one hundred acres. The governor must own a free- hold of five thousand dollars in value. The borough towns of Edenton, New Bern. Wilmington, Salisbury, Hillsboro, and Halifax were each allowed a separate member in the House of Commons apart from the counties. It declared: "That all men have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God, ac- cording to the dictates of their own conscience"; but that no person who denied the truth of the Protestant religion should hold any civil office of trust or profit. No clergyman or preacher of any denomination should
be a member of either house of the Legislature while
continuing in the exercise of his pastoral functions.
All of these provisions, except the declaration of re-
ligious freedom, have since been abandoned. The
Convention of 1835 adopted many amendments, rati-
fied in 1836; among others, all persons of negro blood
to the fourth generation were disfranchised; and
the Protestant qualification for office omitted. The
Constitution of 1868 restored negro suffrage, but in
1900 amendments, adopted by the Legislature and
ratified by the people, provided that every qualified
voter should have paid his poll tax and be able to read
and write any section of the Constitution; but that
any person entitled to vote on or prior to 1 January,
1867, or his lineal descendant, might register on a
permanent roll until 1 November, 1908. This ia
called the "Grandfather Clause".
Education. — In early times there were no schools; private teachers furnishing the only means of educa- tion. Beginning about 1760, several private classi- cal schools were established in different parts of the state, the most prominent being Queen's College at Charlotte, subsequently called Liberty Hall. The State University was opened for students in February, 1795; but want of means and a scattered population prevented any public school system until long after the Revolution. The Civil War seriously interfered with all forms of education; but the entire educational system is now in a high state of efficiency. The fol- lowing are under State control, but receive aid from tuition fees and donations: the State University, situated at Chapel Hill, endowment, $250,000; total income, $160,000; annual St ate appropriation, $75,000; faculty, 101; students, 821; the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College for women at Greens- boro, founded in 1891, buildings, 13; annual State appropriation, $75,000; faculty, 63; students, 613; North Carolina College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts at West Raleigh, opened in 1889, annual State appropriation, $37,000; annual Federal appropriation, $49,4.50; faculty, 42; students, 446; the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the coloured race at Greensboro, annual State approjiriation, $10,000; an- nual Federal appropriation, $11,5.50; faculty, 14; students, 173. A training school for white teachers has just been established at Greenville. There are three State Normal Schools for the coloured race. The official reports of public schools for the year 1908-9 show a total school population of whites, 490,- 710 ; coloured, 236,855 ; schoolhouses, 7670 ; white teachers, 8129; coloured teachers, 2828; total avail- able fund, $3,419,103. There are a large number of flourishing denominational colleges both for men and women, several of which belong to the coloured race. AmongtheState institutions are: a large central peni- tentiary, three hospitals for insane, three schools for deaf, dumb, and blind, and a tuberculosis sanitarium.
Relicuous Conditions. — Under the lords propri- etors there was much religious discrimination and even persecution; but there was little under the Crown except as to holding office and celebrating the rite of matrimony. The disqualification for office involved in denying the truth of the Protestant religion re- mained in the Constitution until the Convention of 1835. In 1833 William Gaston, a Catholic of great ability and noble character, was elected associate justice of the Supreme Court for life. Regarding the religious disqualification as legally and morally in- valid, he promptly took his seat without opposition. While still remaining on the bench, he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1835, and attended its session. His great speech against any religious discrimination was conclusive, and the obnoxious clause was stricken out of the Constitution. Since then there has been no legal discrimination against Catholics. All-persons denying the existence of Almighty God have been disqualified from holding
