North Carolina State Flag

North Carolina State Seal

North Carolina Location

North Carolina

North Carolina is a Southern state in the United States. North Carolina is one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. It is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east.

The USS North Carolina was named in honor of this state.

Geography

The State of North Carolina is included between the parallels 34° and 36°30' north latitude, and between the meridians 75°30' and 84°30' west longitude.

Its western boundary is the crest of the Smoky Mountains, which, with the Blue Ridge, forms a part of the great Appalachian system, extending almost from the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River to the Gulf of Mexico; its eastern is the Atlantic Ocean. Its mean breadth from north to south is about one hundred miles (160 km); its extreme breadth is one hundred and eighty-eight miles (303 km). The extreme length of the State from east to west is five hundred miles (800 km). The area embraced within its boundaries is fifty-two thousand two hundred and eighty-six square miles (135,000 km²).

Major geographic features include the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, the Piedmont region of the central portion of the state, the Coastal Plain, and Cape Fear, Cape Hatteras, and the Outer Banks off the eastern coast. These regions are roughly divided by their elevation, with the Coastal Plain extending to areas below 400 feet above sea level; the Piedmont encompassing those areas between 400 and 1,500 feet; and the Mountain region referring to areas from 1,500 feet to the highest Appalachian peaks at more than 6,600 feet.

History

North Carolina was originally inhabited by a number of native tribes, including the Cherokee, Creek, Tuscarora, Lumbee, and Catawba. North Carolina was the first American territory the English attempted to colonize. Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom the state capital is named, chartered two colonies on the North Carolina coast in the late 1580s, both ending in failure. The demise of one, the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke Island, remains one of the great mysteries of American history. Virginia Dare, the first English child to be born stateside, was born in North Carolina. Dare County is named for her.

By the late seventeenth century, several permanent settlements had taken hold in the Carolina territory, which encompassed present-day South Carolina and Tennessee as well. In 1712, North Carolina became a separate colony. It reverted to a royal colony seventeen years later. In April 1776, the colony became the first to instruct its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence from the British crown.

On November 21, 1789, North Carolina ratified the Constitution to become the twelfth state in the Union. Between the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War, North Carolina worked to establish its state and local governments. In 1840, it completed the state capitol building in Raleigh, still standing today. In mid-century the state's rural and commercial areas were further connected by construction of a 129 mile (208 km) wooden plank road, known as a "farmer's railroad," from Fayetteville in the east to Bethania (northwest of Winston-Salem).

In 1860 North Carolina was a slave state, however according to the Museum of Cape Fear, it was only two percent of the population that owned over 99 percent of the slaves in the state. There were also about 30,000 free blacks residing in the state. Somewhat divided on whether to support the North or the South in the Civil War, North Carolina was the last state to secede from the Union in 1861. Governor Ellis, leader of the state at the war's beginning in 1861, famously declared in response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops to suppress the "rebellion" that "you can get no troops from North Carolina." However, under his leadership and that of his successor, Governor Zebulon Baird Vance of Asheville, elected in 1862, the Tar Heel State did provide 125,000 troops to the Confederacy, more than any other Confederate state. Approximately 40,000 of those troops never returned home, dead of battlefield wounds, disease and privation. Although few major engagements took place in North Carolina itself, her troops served in virtually all the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. The largest battle that occurred in North Carolina was at Bentonville, a futile attempt by Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston to slow Union Gen. Sherman's advance into the Carolinas in the spring of 1865. Gen. Johnston surrendered one of the largest Confederate armies near Durham in late April 1865, weeks after Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, but the final surrender in North Carolina came at Waynesville in Western North Carolina in May, when remnants of Thomas' Cherokee Legion laid down their arms. In modern times, Fort Bragg is located in North Carolina, near Fayetteville; it is one of the largest and most comprehensive military bases in the United States and is headquarters of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Over the past century, North Carolina has grown to become a national leader in agriculture, financial services, and industry. The state's industrial output—mainly textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, paper and paper products—ranked eighth in the nation in the early 1990s. Tobacco, one of North Carolina's earliest sources of revenue, remains vital to the local economy. Recently, technology, research, and banking has become a driving force in the state, especially with the creation of the Research Triangle Park between Raleigh and Durham in the 1950's, along with Charlotte's newfound international status as the second largest banking center in the entire United States. The state is also a center of American motorsports with many NASCAR racing teams and related industries located near Charlotte.

North Carolina has had three constitutions:

1776: This one was ratified December 18, 1776, as the first constitution of the independent state. The Declaration of Rights was ratified the preceding day.
1868: This was framed in accordance with the Reconstruction Acts after North Carolina was readmitted into the Union. It was a major reorganization and modification of the original into fourteen articles. It also introduced townships which each county was required to create, the only Southern state to do so.
1971: This is a minor consolidation of the 1868 constitution and subsequent amendments.

Law and Government

The capital of North Carolina is Raleigh, though the largest city is Charlotte. North Carolina's governor is Mike Easley, a Democrat. Its two U.S. senators are Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, both Republicans.

Executive branch

The governor, lieutenant governor, and eight elected department heads form the North Carolina Council of State; Ten other department heads appointed by the Governor form the North Carolina Cabinet. The state's current governor is Democrat Mike Easley.

Legislative branch

The North Carolina General Assembly consists of two houses, a 50-member Senate and a 120-member House of Representatives. For the 2005–2006 session, the current President Pro Tempore of the Senate is Democrat Marc Basnight (the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina is the President of the Senate); The House Speaker is Democrat James B. Black. The prior term's power sharing Co-Speaker arrangement is no longer in effect, as the House Democrats won a decided victory and majority of the seats in the 2004 election.

Judicial branch

The Supreme Court of North Carolina is the state's highest appellate court; it numbers seven justices. the North Carolina Court of Appeals is the only intermediate appellate court in the state; it consists of fifteen judges who rule in rotating panels of three. Together, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals constitute the Appellate division of the court system.

The Trial division includes the Superior Court and the District Court. All felony criminal cases, civil cases involving more than $10,000 and misdemeanor and infraction appeals from District Court are tried in Superior Court. A jury of 12 hears the criminal cases. In the civil cases, juries are often waived.

Civil cases such as divorce, custody, child support and cases involving less than $10,000 are heard in District Court, along with criminal cases involving misdemeanors and infractions. The trial of a criminal case in District Court is always without a jury. The District Court also hears juvenile cases involving children under the age of 16 who are delinquent and children under the age of 18 who are undisciplined, dependent, neglected or abused. Magistrates accept guilty pleas for minor misdemeanors, accept guilty pleas for traffic violations and accept waivers of trial for worthless-check cases among other things. In civil cases, the magistrate is authorized to try small claims involving up to $4,000 including landlord eviction cases.

Economics

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state's 2003 total gross state product was $314 billion. Its 2003 Per Capita Personal Income was $28,071, 38th in the nation. North Carolina's agricultural outputs are poultry and eggs, tobacco, hogs, milk, nursery stock, cattle, and soybeans. Its industrial outputs are tobacco products, textile goods, chemical products, electric equipment, machinery, and tourism. Charlotte, the largest city in the state, is also the nation's largest banking presence outside of New York City. North Carolina is also the largest film making state outside of California. Movie Studios are located in Shelby, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, and the most popular, EUE Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington. Some of the film/telelvision credits filmed there include: Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, Cape Fear, Maximum Overdrive, and The Crow.

Demographics

Important Cities and Towns

Small towns/areas with interesting names:

Mount Airy, North Carolina (in Surry County was the inspiration for Mayberry in the TV Show The Andy Griffith Show, and was Griffith's birthplace)
Climax, North Carolina (in Guilford County, near Greensboro)
Frog Level, North Carolina (in Pitt County)
Frying Pan Landing, North Carolina (in Tyrrell County)
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina (in Wake County)
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina (in Dare County)
Lizard Lick, North Carolina (in Wake County, near Raleigh)
Rich Square, North Carolina (in Northampton County)
Rockfish, North Carolina (in Hoke County)
Soul City, North Carolina (in Warren County)
Tickbite, North Carolina (in Pitt County)
Welcome, North Carolina (in Davidson County)

Colleges and Universities

Professional Sports Teams

Carolina Panthers, National Football League
Carolina Hurricanes, National Hockey League
Charlotte Bobcats, National Basketball Association 2004
Charlotte Sting, Women's National Basketball Association
Carolina Courage, Women's United Soccer Association (playing in Cary)

Minor League Baseball teams
Charlotte Knights (playing in South Carolina)
Durham Bulls
Kinston Indians
Winston-Salem Warthogs
Burlington Indians
Carolina Mudcats
Kannapolis Intimidators
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Asheville Tourists
Hickory Crawdads

Miscellaneous

Official state symbols of the U.S. state of North Carolina, listed in the order adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly:

State motto: Esse quam videri ("To be, rather than to seem"), adopted 1893
State song: "The Old North State", adopted 1927
State flower: Dogwood (Cornus florida), adopted 1941
State bird: Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), adopted March 5, 1943
State colors: The red and blue of the Flag of North Carolina and Flag of the United States
State toast: North Carolina State Toast; adopted 1957
State tree: Pine tree, adopted 1963
State shell: Scotch Bonnet, adopted 1965
State mammal: Grey squirrel, adopted 1969
State salt water fish: Channel Bass, adopted 1971
State insect: Honeybee, adopted 1973
State precious stone: Emerald, adopted 1973
State reptile: Eastern box turtle, adopted 1979
State rock: Granite, adopted 1979
State beverage: Milk, adopted 1987
State historical boat: Shad Boat, adopted 1987
State dog: Plott Hound, adopted August 12, 1989
State military academy: Oak Ridge Military Academy, adopted 1991
State vegetable: Sweet potato, adopted 1995
State red berry: Strawberry, adopted 2001
State blue berry: Blueberry, adopted 2001
State fruit: Scuppernong grape, adopted 2001
State wildflower: Carolina lily (Lilium michauxii), adopted 2003