NORTH CAROLINA 



4266 



NORTH CAROLINA 



This curtailment of the power of the governor 

 is a surviving trace of the early colonial laws 

 :i the colonists thought it necessary to limit 

 the powers of the proprietary and royal gov- 

 ernors lest they should establish themselves as 

 absolute rulers. 



The judiciary department consists of a su- 

 preme court having one chief justice and four 

 associate judges elected for eight years, supe- 

 rior courts, district courts, justices of the peace 

 and such inferior courts as are established by 

 law. The state is divided into twenty judicial 

 districts, each having one judge elected for 

 eight years. 



There is state-wide prohibition, and the manu- 

 facture as well as sale of liquor is illegal. A 

 child-labor law prohibits the employment of 

 children under twelve years of age in factories, 

 and those under sixteen years of age between 

 9 P. M. and 6 A. M. 



Colonization and Early Government. North 

 Carolina was first explored by expeditions sent 

 out by Sir Walter Raleigh, and a settlement 

 was made as early as 1585 under a charter 

 granted to him. Permanent colonization was 

 begun in 1630 by settlers from Virginia. The 

 territory including the present states of North 

 Carolina and South Carolina and most of Geor- 

 gia was granted by Charles I to Sir Robert 

 Heath, as "Carolina." In 1663 Charles II, ex- 

 tending this territory to the Pacific Ocean, 

 granted it to eight favorites whom he made 

 lord proprietors of the colony. They attempted 

 to establish the "Fundamental Constitution," 

 an unsuitable and elaborate scheme of govern- 

 ment devised by the famous philosopher, John 

 Locke. This government was wholly aban- 

 doned in 1693. In 1711 the Tuscarora Indians 

 massacred many of the colonists, and they were 

 suppressed only when aid was received from 

 Virginia. In 1728 seven of the proprietors sold 

 their shares to the Crown. North Carolina and 

 South Carolina were then separated and were 

 governed as royal provinces. Many Scotch 

 settled along the upper Cape Fear River, and 

 the Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania settled in 

 the western part of the colony. 



North Carolina was conspicuous in the pre- 

 revolutionary discussion. In 1774 the first 

 provincial Congress was called in defiance of 

 the royal governor, and delegates were sent to 

 the Continental Congress. It was the first colony 

 to authorize its delegates to vote for independ- 

 ence, and on December 18, 1776, a state con- 

 stitution was adopted. North Carolina fur- 

 nished troops for the Continental armies, and 



in 1780-1781 was invaded by the British. The 

 state refused to ratify the Federal Constitution 

 until ten amendments had been added, and 

 signed it November 19, 1789. 



Statehood. The western section of North 

 Carolina, now T nnr-see, was given to Con- 

 gress in 1784. The inhabitants revolted and es- 

 tablished the state of Franklin, but this state 

 was dissolved and the territory again ceded to 

 the United States in 1790. The Old North 

 State steadily prospered, and in 1835 adopted 

 a new constitution providing for representation 

 in the senate based on property, and in the 

 house of representatives, on population. 



North Carolina at first opposed secession, 

 but after Lincoln's call for troops to coerce the 

 seceding states to remain in the Union, a popu- 

 lar convention passed an ordinance of seces- 

 sion, May 20, 1861. The state lost the first 

 soldiers of the war at Big Bethel, and, furnish- 

 ing almost double its share of troops (120,000), 

 suffered the heaviest losses throughout the war. 

 At the close of the war, a new constitution was 

 adopted, abolishing slavery and granting the 

 negro the privilege of suffrage, and the state 

 was readmitted to the Union in July, 1868. Dur- 

 ing the Reconstruction period political strug- 

 gles were bitter and violent, and military au- 

 thority was proclaimed. 



A new constitution was adopted in 1876, 

 which was revised in 1879 and 1888. In 1900 

 amendments were added, practically excluding 

 negroes from suffrage by the institution of edu- 

 cational and property tests. Since the organi- 

 zation of parties, the state has been Democratic 

 except from 1840 to 1848 and when Grant was 

 elected in 1868 and 1872. In 1907 the state 

 came into conflict with the Federal government 

 by passing rigorous measures regulating rail- 

 roads, which in the next year were declared 

 unconstitutional by the United States Supreme 

 Court. In 1908 prohibition was established. 

 Wilson received a large majority of votes in 

 the Presidential elections of 1912 and 1916. 



Other Items of Interest. Raleigh, the capital 

 of North Carolina, is in almost the same longi- 

 tude as Niagara Falls. 



An interesting industry is the growing of 

 flower bulbs, which is extensively carried on 

 in one of the southeastern counties. Even Hol- 

 land, long famed for its tulips and hyacinths, 

 does not produce better bulbs. 



The Dismal Swamp, unlike most swamps, is 

 not unhealthful, for it has no decayed vegeta- 

 tion and no miasma. Its air is pure and sweet, 

 and its water, to which the juniper has given 



