Early Statehood North Carolina grew slowly as a state-there were few good roads, large cities, or schools. After many years, North Carolina’s government began to work to improve our state! In this lesson and power point we will learn how North Carolina grew and changed during its early years as a state!

A New State Capital The first state capital of NC was the coastal town of New Bern. Raleigh was made the state capital 1792. It was an ideal state capital because it was located near the center of the state. The capitol building-where state lawmakers meet was built in 1794. The building burnt down in 1831 and a new, larger building was built on the same spot in 1840. It still stands today!

State Improvements Archibald Murphy-a lawmaker who worked to improve education, transportation, and worked for equal representation for people in western NC. In 1835 the people of NC were given a voice in their government by being allowed to vote for the governor. A public school is school run by the government and paid for my citizens taxes. By 1846 every county in NC had at least one public school!

Transportation Improvements Ways of transportation changed and made it easy for people to travel and move goods. Transportation in NC consisted of the following features: Canals Railroads Plank roads-made by laying boards side by side across the trail (used in rainy/muddy weather) Travelers paid a toll(fee) to use the plank road.

Indian Removal Gold! In 1892, gold was found on Cherokee Land in North Georgia. People rushed to the area and forced the government to open the land up-remember the Cherokee Land was protected by the government due to treaties from the past! In 1830, the government passed the Indian Removal Act which FORCED American Indians to the west of the Mississippi River

Indian Removal Act-Map The red arrows tell where the American Indians had to move because of the Act. Look at North Georgia-that is where the gold was found. The purple shows where the Indians were allowed to live.

Indian Removal Act The Cherokee Indians were furious with this decision and decided to fight the Act with the United States court. The courts decided that the Indians did not have to move. Government leaders ignored that decision and decided to force the Indians out of their land anyway.

Trail of Tears On March 28, 1838, the Army FORCED the Indians in NC west into what we now know as Oklahoma. It was a 1,000 mile walk and about 4,000 out of the 17,000 Cherokee Indians forced to move died. This journey became known as the Trail of Tears. Notice that there were two routs-a land route and a water route. Think of having to travel over 1,000 miles to a new home when you didn’t want to leave your old one!

Slavery In the 1800s, people around the country were becoming dependent on slaves to grow their cash crops. By 1840, there were about 25,000 African American slaves in NC. Slavery is the practice of keeping people and forcing them to work against their will. Some slaves tried to escape to the North where slavery had ended. Abolitionist were people who wanted to abolish or end slavery everywhere. They helped slaves to escape.

Underground Railroad Levi Coffin was an abolitionist from Guilford Country. He and his wife helped to set up the Underground Railroad when they moved to Indiana in the 1820s. The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and escape routes for runaway slaves to use as shelter. The safe houses in NC were located in Greensboro and Goldsboro.

Map of the Underground Railroad Notice that all of the arrows point to slaves trying to leave the south and move to the northern states. They were slaves seeking freedom.

Harriet Jacobs Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in Edenton, NC. In 1834 she escaped to Philadelphia and then moved to New York. She wrote about her life as a slave. From her book, people could truly see how terribly slaves were treated. She started a school for African Americans in Virginia.