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Roanoke Island (fist attempt)
In 1584, 1585, and 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh funded expeditions to Roanoke Island (located on what is now called the Outer Banks). On March 25, 1584, Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter allowing Raleigh to “discover, search, find out, and view such remote heathen and barbarous Lands, Countries, and territories … to have, hold, occupy, and enjoy.” -
Roanoke Island (second attempt)
Raleigh sent a second expedition to Roanoke Island and appointed Ralph Lane as Governor. The colonists set sail on April 9, 1585. The Lane colony was intended to be a military post for men only. Because Lane’s colony lacked sufficient supplies, this second settlement was also abandoned. Shortly thereafter, Sir Richard Greenville arrived with winter provisions only to find the colony abandoned. -
Founding of the colony
In 1653, some Virginians settled in what would become North Carolina. -
When NC became a Royal Colony
In 1663, King Charles II issued a royal charter to eight nobles to settle the area south of Virginia. -
Culpeper's Rebellion
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Culpeper's Rebellion (1677-79), was an early popular uprising against proprietary rule in the Albemarle section of northern Carolina, caused by the efforts of the proprietary government to enforce the British Navigation Acts. These trade laws denied the colonists a free market outside England and placed heavy duties on commodities. -
Edenton tea party
It is unknown whether the Edenton Tea Party was planned. What is known is that Penelope Barker, the dynamic wife of Thomas Barker, Treasurer of the Province of North Carolina, organized a seemingly innocuous tea party. But, I think she was the brilliant mastermind of what happened there on October 25, 1774. -
Mecklenburg resolves
According to North Carolinian lore, some citizens of Mecklenburg County gathered in Charlotte on May 20, 1775 and signed a declaration of independence from Britain — the first such move in the American colonies. -
Halifax Resolve
The Halifax Resolves were passed on April 12, 1776 by the Fourth Provincial Congress of North Carolina that met at Halifax County, North Carolina. The Resolves were the very first instructions by any colony that authorized its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence from Great Britain. -
Battle of Guilford Courthouse
The morning of March 15, 1781, was clear and cold. A light frost had disappeared under the first rays of the sun, but the ground underfoot was soft and spongy from long winter rains and snows. In the damp woods of what had been an isolated farming community in the Piedmont on a major east-west road through North Carolina, some 4,400 American troops, in various uniforms and country clothes, waited for battle. -
Hillsborough Convention
Meeting in Hillsborough, North Carolina, delegates convened from July 21 to August 4,1788 to consider ratification of the newly proposed federal Constitution. Key state Federalists were James Iredell Sr., William Davie, and William Blount. Antifederalist leaders included Willie Jones, Samuel Spencer, and Timothy Bloodworth. -
Current NC constitution
The first North Carolina Constitution was created in 1776 after the American Declaration of Independence. Since the first state constitution, there have been two major revisions and many amendments. The current form was ratified in 1971 and has 14 articles. -
Leandro vs.NC
In May 1994, parents, school boards and students from five low-wealth counties against the State Board of Education and the State of North Carolina. Some of the poorest counties in the State said that the State did not provide enough money for them to provide their children with a quality education. The lawsuit is commonly known as Leandro, after a named plaintiff in the case. -
Hoke vs. State
Beginning in October 2000, the trial court issued a series of opinions, in Hoke County vs. State.
