A Fledgling State in a New Nation

A Fledgling State in a New Nation

The State in the Confederation

Efforts to Improve North Carolina

North Carolina's Role in the New Nation

• Raleigh was chosen as the permanent state capital, as it was equal distance from the backcountry and the coast
• The first state University was established in what later became known as Chapel Hill
• North Carolina was still slow to grow following the Revolution, there was less trade and less money, no national bank branch, and continued boundary disputes
• After the War of 1812, over-farming caused smaller harvests, major flooding occured in the western part of the state, and a national recession put farmers in debt
• The Buncombe Turnpike was created which made Asheville a prosperous town
• Lawyer and judge, Archibald Murphey, put forth a series of proposals for the state:
• Deepen inlets and build canals to fix transportation
• A common school in every county
• Academies across the state

North Carolina Joins the New Union

• During the War of 1812, North Carolinians continued to follow rather than lead, and the war hardly impacted the state
• Several citizens became war heroes, including Benjamin Forsyth, Johnston Blakeley, and Otway Burns
• Following the war, many people moved west and more people left North Carolina than moved into the state

North Carolina Joins the New Union

What's Happening in America 1780-1820?

• America was also split between Federalists and Anti-Federalists
• Alexander Hamilton (Federalist) helped create a National Bank
• Thomas Jefferson became a leader of the Anti-Federalists and was elected president without violence, which showed the world that America's way of government worked
• Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the United States, for $15 million
• When war broke out in Europe in 1802, Jefferson and James Madison tried to protect American interests and avoid the war itself, leading to a weakened American economy
• The British aided natives in the west in their attacks on Americans, as well as used their own ships to attack American ships on the coast eventually pulling the U.S. into the war

North Carolina's Role in the New Nation

What's Happening in America 1780-1820?

• The War of 1812
• American invasion of British Canada ended in retreat, but American stayed on the offensive in the west
• Early on, American privateers captured many British merchant vessels
• British sailed up Chesapeake Bay in 1814, landed troops, and burned the U.S. Capitol to the ground
• Treaty was signed in December of 1814 ending the war, but Battle of New Orleans took place before word reached the United States
• General Andrew Jackson decisively defeated the British in New Orleans

The Battle of New Orleans

• After the war, the state was disorganized, the General Assembly moved from place to place, there was very little money, trade suffered, and new towns were slow to grow
• The state continued to illegally sell lands of Tories for money, and many citizens wanted to get rich by selling lands west of the Appalachian Mountains
• Some Tories sued the state for their land, and in a landmark case called Bayard v. Singleton judicial review (a court can judge the constitutionality of the law) was used for the first time and became a part of the checks and balances in the U.S.
• Residents in the west who did not like the leaders in the east moved to set-up their own state, named Franklin, which was not recognized by any government and which ultimately ended due to fights within

• A Constitutional Convention was called in Philadelphia in 1787 after American leaders realized a stronger government was necessary to restore order, but none of the delegates could decide between the two options presented. This led to the Great Compromise which set up the government we have today
• North Carolina played a small role in drafting the Constitution, and when it was sent to the states for ratification, North Carolina hesitated due to distrust of the plan
• The state was divided between Federalists, who supported the Constitution and who lived mostly along the coast, and the Anti-Federalists, who distrusted the Constitution and who came from the backcountry.
• The argument led to two different Constitutional Conventions held in the state

• The Hillsborough Convention
• Voted overwhelmingly to delay ratification as they felt the new government would be too strong
• They would accept the Union if some changes were put into the Constitution, particularly a Bill of Rights
• The Fayetteville Convention
• Held one year later, this vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the Union
• The change in opinion was due to the growing national support for a Bill of Rights and the understanding of the disadvantages should North Carolina not join with the surrounding states

• North Carolina became one of the first proponents of state's rights and occasionally disagreed with the actions of the Federalists running the new country
• North Carolina rallied behind Anti-federalist Thomas Jefferson who believed that the Constitution did not give Federalists the right to do whatever they wanted
• Many North Carolinians believed in "republican simplicity," or that the best citizens of a republic lived as simply and independently as possible
• The Anti-federalists did not support the Louisiana Purchase and they sponsored many of the bills that led to the War of 1812