Writing North Carolina History is the first book to assess fully the historical literature of North Carolina. It combines the talents and insights of eight noted scholars of state and southern history: William S. Powell, Alan D. Watson, Robert M. Calhoon, Harry L. Watson, Sarah M. Lemmon, and H. G. Jones. Their essays are arranged in chronological order from the founding of the first English colony in North America in 1585 to the present. Traditionally North Carolina has not received the same scholarly attention as Virginia and South Carolina, despite the excellent resources available on Tar Heel history. This study, derived from a symposium sponsored by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History in 1977, asks questions and describes methodologies needed to redress past neglect. Besides providing a comprehensive evaluation of what has been written about North Carolina, the essayists offer perspectives on how historians have interpreted the state's history and what directions future historians need to take. Particularly important, the book provides a bibliography and suggests opportunities for future historical investigation by discussing topics, themes, and source materials that remain untapped or underused. North Carolina's unique and colorful culture, folklore, geography, politics, and growth demand new and creative historical analysis. Collectively the authors and editors of Writing North Carolina History offer a welcome, necessary guide to the study of Tar Heel history. Originally published in 1979. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Described by an early visitor as "the Goodliest Soile Under the Cope of Heaven," the land that would become North Carolina presented its first settlers with the promise of prosperity, wealth, and--with luck--liberty, too. Since North Carolina's beginnings, in the age of Queen Elizabeth I, the people who came here and stayed found that, while life may not always have been easy, between two richer and more powerful neighbors, it has at least been a challenge they were willing to meet.

This extensive study in historical geography exhibits a precise understanding of the physical environment of pre-revolutionary North Carolina and skillfully interprets this environment in terms of mid-eighteenth century culture. Merrens is the first author to effectively examine the relationship between geographical factors and to analyze it for the entire colonial period. Originally published in 1964. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

On May 8, 1861, Matt Ransom resigned from the North Carolina House of Commons and accepted a commission as a Confederate officer. Like many North Carolinians, Ransom had been reluctant to see his state leave the Union; though he owned slaves at the onset of the war, he strongly believed that slavery was a doomed institution. However, the action at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, had made his course of action all but inevitable. Despite the fact he was without military experience or training, Ransom saw it as his duty to join the Confederate forces. He left behind a young family and courageously fought Union forces until the end of the war; his brigade was present at Appomattox for Robert E. Lee's surrender. He was twice wounded in battle and was widely recognized as an effective and highly competent leader by enlisted men and officers alike. After the war, he returned to his beloved North Carolina, and following considerable hardship, rebuilt his plantation.

For his humanistic religious verse, his poignant and deeply personal antislavery poems, and, above all, his lifelong enthusiasm for liberty, nature, and the art of poetry, George Moses Horton merits a place of distinction among nineteenth-century African American poets. Enslaved from birth until the close of the Civil War, the self-taught Horton was the first American slave to protest his bondage in published verse and the first black man to publish a book in the South. As a man and as a poet, his achievements were extraordinary. In this volume, Joan Sherman collects sixty-two of Horton's poems. Her comprehensive introduction--combining biography, history, cultural commentary, and critical insight--presents a compelling and detailed picture of this remarkable man's life and art. George Moses Horton (ca. 1797-1883) was born in Northampton County, North Carolina. A slave for sixty-eight years, Horton spent much of his life on a farm near Chapel Hill, and in time he fostered a deep connection with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The author of three books of poetry, Horton was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in May of 1996.

In telling the story of the North Carolina Railroad's independent years (1849-71), Trelease covers all aspects of the company and its development, including its construction and rolling stock; its management, labor force, and labor policies; its passenger and freight operations; and its role in the Civil War. He also assesses the impact of the railroad on the economic and social development of North Carolina. Originally published in 1991. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Edmonds gives a detailed and accurate record of the political careers of prominent North Carolina blacks who held federal, state, county, and municipal offices. This record shows that the ration of Afro-American voters was so low that black domination was neither a reality nor a threat.

Monuments honoring leaders and victorious armies have been raised throughout history. Following the American Civil War, however, this tradition expanded, and by the early twentieth century, the Confederate dead and surviving veterans, although defeated in battle, ranked among the world's most commemorated troops. This memorialization, described in North Carolina Civil War Monuments, evolved through a challenging and contentious process accomplished over decades. Prompted by the need to rebury wartime dead, memorialization, led by women, first expressed regional grief and mourning then expanded into a vital aspect of Southern memory. In North Carolina, 109 Civil War monuments--101 honoring Confederate troops and eight commemorating Union forces--were raised prior to the Civil War centennial. Photographs showcase each memorial while committee records, legal documents, and contemporaneous accounts are used to detail the difficult process through which these monuments were erected. Their design, location, and funding reflect not only the period's sculptural and cultural milieu but also reveal one state's evolving grief and the forging of public memory.