Education
- not a priority in the state
- families thought it was more important for children to stay home than to go to school
- Landowners didn't want to pay the taxes for a school system
- State legislature didn't follow the rules:
- NC State Constitution of 1776 said schools should "be established by the Legislature for the convenient Instruction of Youth, with such Salaries to the Masters paid by the Public"
- We had "academies" or schools that depended on local interests and funding
North Carolina in the 1800s:
Under the Surface
Government
- Unequal representation in NC legislature: determined by county
- eastern NC had greatest number of counties, and the smallest percentage of the state's voting population
- eastern NC basically governed NC
- 1777-1836: only 6 out of the 24 men that served as governor were from the west
- County Competition: when the west would establish a new county, easterners would divide an eastern county (similar to what happened during Regulator movement)
- the west could not gain any momentum
- Wealthy landowners from east controlled the legislature
Economy
- NC was a one-crop agricultural state- cotton. Easy to clean with Whitney's cotton gin
- Neglected food crops. They had to be brought from other states at a high price
- NC had little industry, commerce, and banking
- Wealthy landowners invested money in slave labor rather than making agricultural improvements
Geography/Isolation
- People in NC lived scattered apart on farms
- There were few towns and a small amount of trade
- No good transportation or communication
- individualism: people only concerned with their own needs and freedoms
- they did not welcome state officials regarding taxes or laws
Farm Conditions/ Migration
- NC farm conditions were poor. Farmers rarely improved land or its fertility
- 1815-1833 NC land value plummeted
- We lacked quality transportation and communication
- rivers were hard to navigate
- roads not maintained
- no bridges
- floods
- Farmers could not get to market!
- 1815-1850: 1/3 of NC population migrated because of these conditions