North Carolina

State: North Carolina

Lat/Long: 35.5000, -80.0000

Located in the southeastern United States, North Carolina was one of the original thirteen colonies. Prior to the coming of Europeans, North Carolina was home to the Tuscarora, Cherokee, and other Native American nations. European explorers began arriving in the area in the 1580s, and in 1585, the English established an ill-fated settlement at Roanoke Island. Originally part of the Carolina colony, North Carolina became a separate royal colony in 1729. During the American Revolution, Loyalists and Rebels battled for supremacy, and in 1780-81, the colony became an important theater of the wider conflict, as British forces under Charles Cornwallis invaded the region to revive Loyalist support and British fortunes. In 1789, North Carolina became the twelfth and next-to-last of the original states to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Several locations served as the seat of government until 1766, when the General Assembly made New Bern the permanent capital. During and after the American Revolution, the General Assembly met at various places, but in 1790, it agreed to establish the permanent seat of government at what would become Raleigh. A slave state, North Carolina seceded from the Union in May 1861 and sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War.

David A. Norris, "Capitals, Colonial and State," NCPedia, https://www.ncpedia.org/capitals-colonial-and-state, accessed 19 April 2022; Courtlandt Canby, The Encyclopedia of Historic Places (New York: Facts on File, 1984), 2:669.