The residents of North Carolina were genuinely honest, peace-loving, and good-natured; this is especially true when corrupt rulers and unfair laws do not provoke them. Although a large percentage of the population had fled from other colonies to escape the hand of the law or run away from debts, many…
A rebellion was brewing in North Carolina in the 1760s; deeply ingrained social and economic differences have led to sectionalism in North Carolina. The eastern part of the state was composed of rich, fertile farmlands. As such, the farmers reaped bountifully and made considerable profits. However, the westerners lived in the…
The start of the Civil War challenged the general idea that had defined the roles of men and women in the antebellum era. In the North and South, the Civil War compelled women to act in capacities they could have hardly imagined before. Before the Civil War outbreak, American women’s…
The Spanish invasions of North Carolina coast in the early 1700s were a result of a sequence of clashes between Spain and England starting with the War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739-42). The conflicts began in late April 1741, when two Spanish privateers with about 98 men aboard captured six vessels,…
The Oyster Wars were a series of occasionally violent battles in the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River between oyster pirates, authorities, and legal watermen from Maryland and Virginia. Maryland oystermen carried fifteen million bushels off of the Chesapeake Bay in 1884. According to John R. Wennersten, the slippery little…
Since its arrival in 1864 the brand new 152 ironclad Ram CSS Albemarle had proven to be a threat to federal interests along the Roanoke River. This battleship had already sank two ships; USS Miami and the USS Southfield and had helped General Robert F. Hoke’s Confederate forces recapture the…
Virginia Beach has a very colorful past and it is not surprising that the area is of special interest to history enthusiasts. In the 1700s, suffering and hardship were all too common, and in a quest to find explanation for different paranormal activities people delved beyond the realm of reality.…
The 18th century is known as the “golden age of piracy.” It is not unusual to see Pirate ships roaming the Atlantic Ocean and along the coast of North America while plundering busy commercial ports in the West Indies. Due to its shallow inlets, the North Carolina Outer Banks became…