North Carolina: Chapter 10

The 1900s versus Today

NC: Then and Now1910 mid 1990s

Total population 2,206,287 6,992,300

Percent urban 14.4 52

Number of citiesover 25, 000

2 22

Major crops Cotton, corn,sweet potatoes,& tobacco

Tobacco, sweetpotatoes,livestock

Number ofacres farmed

22,000,000 9,300,000

Average farmsize

90 acres 160 acres

North Carolina in 2000• NC’s population had

grown to nearly 7 million in the mid 1990s

• ranked as 11th most populous state

• 2000 census: 8,049,313 people: 4.7% Hispanic, 21.6% African-American, 72.1% white

• 51% female and 49% male

Changing Cities and Farmland• Farmers used mules,

wagons, single-furrow plows, hoes and harvest their cotton and tobacco by hand

• Most farmers were working on land owned by someone else

• Machines plow fields, plant seeds, irrigate, and harvest crops

• scientists study fertilizers and pest killers

• farmers read magazines for new ideas

• NC’s farmers are producing more now than before

• Farms are larger now

• Less people farm (2%)

http://www.farmland.org/farmingontheedge/sitemap.htm

People Move to the Cities

• Factories and mills were being built

• at first the businesses were built very close together

• people started moving to suburbs and the cities expanded

Signs of Change

• Wilmington had the largest population

• 1910, Charlotte becomes the city with the largest population

• Other cities growing: Durham, High Point, Winston & Salem

P. 213 -214

North Carolina’s Largest Cities

http://www.investnc.com/ddata/msa.asp

Alamance County Profile

Using Resources

• As more cars are used, gasoline is needed

• Cities needed water:– to drink – to provide electricity– fun activities like swimming, fishing, or

boating

Changing Economy• People have a variety of

jobs in NC: – textiles– medicine– electronics– transportation equipment – tourism – military – education– sales

Manufacturing

• Textile mills make blue jeans, carpet, and bedspreads

• furniture manufacturers• wood products like paper

and lumber• companies make

computers and appliances• food processors

Transportation• Good Roads

Movement - in 1920 the state paid for roads connecting the counties

• Scott Roads- in the late 1940s dirt roads were paved

• I-40 now crosses the entire state from east to west

Education

• Teaching is part of the service industry

• NC has an integrated school system

• most students finish high school and some go to colleges or universities

Inventions from NC

• R.F. Butler & Caleb Bradham invented Pepsi-Cola in New Bern

• Orville & Wilbur Wright tested a plane at Kitty Hawk

• Many other inventions and ongoing research is done at universities like in the Research Triangle