Author: Chelsea Kiefer
North Carolina played a significant role in the American Revolution. From being the first to call for freedom, to being the site of pivotal battles that shifted the trajectory of the war, our state was influential before, during, and after America’s call for independence. Check out these five key events below to learn more about North Carolina’s revolutionary past.
1. First Provincial Congress
This meeting, held in 1774, was the first independent assembly of North Carolinians that was not approved by royal authority, and was the first Provincial Congress in any of the colonies. The three-day congress was held in New Bern. Despite their close range to Tryon Palace, the seventy-one delegates did not receive much resistance from the royal governor as they discussed principles of self-government. The three-day congress resulted in support for a larger Continental Congress, and the attendees selected William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and Richard Caswell as delegates to such a convention.
2. Moores Creek Bridge:
In early 1776, British authorities in London approved exiled Governor Josiah Martin’s plan to restore royal authority in North Carolina. On February 27, 1776, in the first battle of the American Revolution that took place in North Carolina, the Patriot forces in the region were able to stifle those plans. The Patriot’s success at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge not only allowed Patriot forces to control North Carolina, but encouraged the colony to fight for separation from the British Crown. With boosted confidence, the members of North Carolina’s Fourth Provincial Congress in April 1776 authorized its delegates at the Continental Congress to support American independence .
3. Halifax Resolves
Written and unanimously adopted by the 83 delegates at the Fourth Provincial Congress in April 1776, these resolves authorized North Carolina delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for American independence from Britain. In doing so, they created the first official government document calling for separation from the British, leading to the claim of “First in Freedom” for North Carolina. It was the Halifax Resolves that eventually led to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776—when the United States declared itself a free and independent nation.
4. March to Kings Mountain
The Battle of Kings Mountain is known to many as a turning point in the American Revolution, as the Patriot victory marked the beginning of the end of Loyalist control in the southern colonies. In 1780, British Major Patrick Ferguson led a group of Loyalists into the western Carolinas, threatening frontier settlements. In response, Patriots from southwest Virginia, present-day Tennessee, and Western North Carolina banded together to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains and confront Ferguson’s men. Calling themselves the Overmountain Men, these Patriots travelled through challenging terrain for many weeks before reaching Kings Mountain, South Carolina. There, Patriot troops surrounded and defeated Ferguson on October 7, 1780, dealing a heavy blow to Loyalist morale in the region.
5. Battle of Guilford Courthouse
In 1781, the armies of British General Charles Cornwallis and Patriot Major General Nathanael Greene fought at Guilford Court House after a long campaign in the southern colonies. Though the British ultimately were victorious at the battle, they suffered a devastating loss of lives. Due to his substantially weakened force, Cornwallis retreated out of the Carolinas and was eventually defeated months later at Yorktown. Despite the loss of the battle, the Patriot forces’ impact on the British troops was significant.