THE CAROLINAS

Jessica Hung

Founder

In 1670, the English established a new colony on the coast, north of Florida but south of Virginia.

In 1663, King Charles II issued a royal charter to eight nobles to settle the area south of Virginia. They created Carolina and included the previous settlement. Because southern Carolina relied heavily on rice farming, and northern Carolina was more based on tobacco, lumber, pitch and other goods, they were split into North and South Carolina in 1729.

Plan of Government The government of North Carolina, shaped by

its political system, is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. These consist of the state governor's office, a bicameral state legislature known as the general assembly, and a state court system. The state constitution delineates the structure and function of the state government.

Leaders Originally, under the first North Carolina Constitution, Edward

B. Dudley became the first governor elected by the people in 1836. However before North Carolina was a state within the United States Richard Caswell was the first governor of the U.S. State of North Carolina, serving from 1776 to 1780 and from 1784 to 1787. Caswell was president of the provincial congress that wrote the first North Carolina Constitution in 1776. October 18, 1865, James Lawrence Orr was the first Governor of South Carolina to be elected by popular vote to the State of South Carolina IN the United States of America. John Rutledge was the first Governor (rather President) of South Carolina following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 1776-1778.

Life in Colonies Major settlement began after 1712 as the northern half of the

British colony of Carolina attracted frontiersmen from Pennsylvania and Virginia, while the southern parts were populated by wealthy English planters who set up large slave plantations. Therefore the Province of South Carolina was separated from the Province of North Carolina in 1729. With its capital city of Charleston becoming a major port for traffic on the Atlantic Ocean, South Carolina produced a large export surplus in the colonial era, making it one of the most prosperous of the colonies. A strong colonial government fought wars with the local Indians, and with Spanish imperial outposts in Florida, while fending off the threat of pirates. Birth rates were high, food conditions were abundant, and offset the diseased environment of malaria to produce rapid population growth. The colony developed a system of laws and self-government and a growing commitment to Republicanism that patriots feared was threatened by the British Empire after 1765.

Economy of Colonies Like other [Southern] states, until after World War II NC

remained primarily a region of small farms and factories heavily dependent on just a few labor-intensive crops, relying on sharecropping and tenancy, especially for black laborers. The Carolinas are distinct for their economic dependence on tobacco as well as on cotton and rice, and for their many small-scale furniture, textile, and tobacco factories.

These small industries gave the Carolinas, in particular NC, a more significant industrial base than most Southern states, but as increased mechanization in the textiles, apparel, and furniture industries combined with the decline of the tobacco industry, many rural and small urban communities suffered.

Relation with Native America Native American history in North Carolina

predates that of any group, and since the earliest settlement of Europeans, the two groups have been inextricably linked. As North Carolina has evolved, so has the relationship between Native Americans and the government of the state. The featured documents showcase Native Americans' changing legal rights, as well as records their health and culture over time.

Colony of North Carolinahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiSVvlQzM0A&safe=active

Primary Source

King Charles II