North Carolina’s Role in the New Nation · mained in richer states like New York and Virginia. Al- ... ists who wrote the Constitution ... than a dozen wagons passed through Asheville

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North Carolina’s Rolein the New Nation

Above and right: James Iredell,Sr., bought this house in Edentonin 1778. He lived in the house untilhe died in 1799.

As you read, look for:• North Carolina’s shift from Federalist to

Antifederalist• causes and results of the War of 1812• vocabulary terms state’s rights, republican simplicity,

War of 1812

North Carolina had been a backwater colony before theRevolution. Little changed, relatively speaking, once theConstitution was written. Much of the political power re-mained in richer states like New York and Virginia. Al-though North Carolina was large in area and people, it onlymarginally shaped the early nation. Its tradition of distrust-ing political power of any type, however, reflected the gov-erning approach that dominated the nation after 1800.

North Carolina and FederalismNorth Carolina’s defiant character came out soon after

the state joined the Union. Congress had passed a law toorganize the United States Supreme Court. The law saidthat any dispute between a state and people in another statewould be decided in the federal court, not the state courts.North Carolinians once again remembered how WilliamTryon had tried to take away their ability to govern them-selves. They objected to this measure so strongly that thestate legislature, meeting in 1790, refused to take an oathof allegiance to the new federal government.

North Carolinians were happy to see the ratification ofthe Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. It reserved allpower to the states not directly stated in the Constitution itself. NorthCarolina, thus, became one of the first proponents of state’s rights, thepolitical position that the states could assert their independence whenthey believed the federal government was doing something wrong. JamesIredell of Edenton argued this position in 1794. His dissent against the

North Carolina’s Rolein the New Nation

Section 3: North Carolina’s Role in the New Nation 197

This section will help you meet thefollowing objectives:8.3.01 Describe the causes of theWar of 1812 and its impact on NorthCarolina and the nation.8.3.02 Investigate the conditionsthat led to North Carolina’s declineand assess the implications for thefuture development of the state.8.3.08 Examine the impact ofnational events on North Carolina.

Above: The sitting room of theJames Iredell House in Edentonwas part of the original house,built in 1759. Right: The diningroom of the Iredell House waspart of a 1776 addition.

President GeorgeWashington appointed

James Iredell to the U.S.Supreme Court in 1790.He was the sixth justice

appointed.

198 Chapter 6: A Fledgling State in a New Nation

rest of the Court helped pave theway for the passage of the EleventhAmendment to the Constitution.It restrained the Supreme Courtfrom taking over cases broughtby a citizen of one state againstanother state.

During the 1790s, the Federal-ists who wrote the Constitutioncontinued to run the new nation.Only a few North Carolinians hada role in running the government.In addition to James Iredell onthe Supreme Court, John Steele ofSalisbury became the comptroller ofthe treasury, which meantthat he made sure the ac-counts were accurate and

honest. William R. Davie became ambassador to France in 1799.North Carolinians tried as hard as they could to follow Feder-

alist policies, but state leaders often disagreed with what was goingon in the nation. Some congressmen objected to plans to pay offall the war debts of the various states. They did not want poorNorth Carolinians to help pay off other states’ debts.

When the French Revolution caused France and England togo to war in 1794, President Washington declared the United Statesto be neutral in the conflict. North Carolinians, however, stillresented the British for what they had done during the Regula-tion and Revolution. Many openly sided with the French. Frenchships were even supplied in ports like Beaufort and New Bern.

Many North Carolinians condemned the Federalists when Jay’sTreaty was approved in 1795. One part of that treaty restrictedthe size of cargoes shipped to British islands in the Caribbean.Since much of the profit gained from North Carolina productscame from such islands, this hurt the state. As a result, NorthCarolinians voted for Antifederalist Thomas Jefferson for presi-dent, instead of Federalist John Adams, in the 1796 presidential election.Only in 1798, when France threatened the United States with war be-cause Jay’s Treaty helped the British, did the state vote for Federalists.

North Carolinians Become JeffersoniansAmericans who came to distrust the Federalists rallied to the leadership

of Thomas Jefferson. The Virginian, who had been the author of the Dec-laration of Independence, believed the Constitution did not give the Feder-alists the power to do all the things they wanted to do. Many Antifederalistsin North Carolina agreed, and their leaders soon controlled the state. Wil-liam R. Davie, the state’s leading Federalist, was so disheartened by this

Jay’s Treaty resolvedsome old issues between

the United States andGreat Britain. The mostimportant concessionwas that the British

agreed to leave westernforts. The United Stateswas also named a “mostfavored nation” in trade

with Great Britain.

Above: Antifederalist ThomasJefferson had the support of NorthCarolinians in the 1796 presidentialelection (which he lost to FederalistJohn Adams) and in the 1800election (in which he defeatedAdams).


that he moved to South Carolina. Re-placing him as the state’s most influ-ential leader was Nathaniel Macon.

Macon lived in Warren County in asmall house on a large plantation nearthe Roanoke River. He had fought at theBattle of Guilford Courthouse, attendedPrinceton University, and been anAntifederalist congressman throughthe 1790s. While Jefferson was president from 1801 to 1807, Macon servedas Speaker of the House of Representatives in Washington, one of themost powerful positions in the nation. Macon stayed in Congress, in theHouse or Senate, for more than twenty years.

Macon became North Carolina’s leading spokesman for “republicansimplicity.” The phrase meant something very particular to him and manyof his fellow North Carolinians. The best citizens in a republic lived as simplyand independently as possible in the country. They believed Americansshould be self-sustaining farmers, who depended upon themselves, theirfamily, and their neighbors—in that order—to provide for their needs.Government was to stay out of the way, except to promote defense andother matters essential to the nation’s survival. Education and religion, es-pecially, were family matters. The best government was to be local, wherepeople knew one another and could work out what needed to be done.

Macon was very frugal himself. Although he was a prosperous man,he lived his whole adult life in a two-room house, with a nearby kitchen.When he died, he ordered his family not to put a tombstone above hisgrave. Such extravagance contradicted “simplicity.” Instead, he asked hisneighbors to each bring a rock from their farm and cover his grave. Whilein Congress, he was so against government spending that he voted against

the government paying for furniturein the White House. He believedeach president should be respon-sible for his own furnishings.

When President Jefferson doub-led the size of the nation with theLouisiana Purchase in 1803, Maconand other North Carolinians did notsupport him. Control of the Missis-sippi River basin would greatly helppeople who went into farming inthe future. When President JamesMadison, Jefferson’s friend and ally,continued to oppose the British at-tempts to control American devel-opment, Macon helped sponsorsome of the bills in Congress thatled to the War of 1812.

Above: Nathaniel Macon’s viewsreflected North Carolina’s strictRepublican values.

Map 19The LouisianaPurchase

Map Skill: What formedthe eastern boundary of theLouisiana Purchase?

Nathaniel Macon is theonly North Carolinian, sofar, ever to hold the officeof Speaker of the House.


North Carolina in the War of 1812In the War of 1812, Americans fought the British to ensure that Ameri-

cans could settle the West and be safe from interference on the high seas.Aside from Macon, North Carolinians did not have much of a role lead-

ing the nation during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison. Duringthe War of 1812, North Carolinians continued to follow more than lead.The war hardly impacted the state. The British did land at Portsmouth,but they looked around and decided that the state was too insignificant toinvade. More than 10,000 North Carolina men were called into militia ser-vice during the three-year conflict. Most went to the Outer Banks or theCape Fear to guard the state’s coastline. Others were sent to fight Indiansin Georgia but arrived just “in time to look on” as the campaign ended.

Three state residents became heroes in the war. Benjamin Forsythserved in the U.S. Army. He rose to be a lieutenant colonel before being

During the War of 1812, the British invaded and set fire to Washington, D.C. This British cartoon entitled“The Fall of Washington or Maddy in full flight” shows President James Madison and probably John Armstrong,

his secretary of war, with bundles of papers, fleeing from Washington, with burning buildings behind them.

THE ART OF POLITICSTHE ART OF POLITICS

The War of 1812has been called

America’s “second warfor independence.”


It’s Your Turn

1. What is the state’s rights position?2. Were North Carolinians basically Federalists or Antifederalists?3. Name two North Carolina heroes of the War of 1812.

Top: Captain Johnston Blakeleywon fame for his naval victoriesover the British in the War of1812. Blakeley disappeared withhis ship, the Wasp. Above: Duringthe War of 1812, Otway Burnscommanded The Snap Dragon.

killed in action in 1814 in Canada. Forsyth County was laternamed for him. Johnston Blakeley was a captain in the U.S.Navy. He won a number of sea battles against British war-ships and boldly disrupted traffic in the English Channel. In1814, his ship disappeared at sea. Congress awarded Blakely’sfamily a gold medal for his service. Otway Burns, a Beaufortship captain, became a privateer during the war. Congresscommissioned him to capture enemy merchant ships to dam-age their supply lines. Burns sailed back and forth fromCanada to Brazil and took so many prizes that he became oneof North Carolina’s wealthiest men. Later, the mountain townof Burnsville was named for him.

Two former North Carolinians became national heroes forthe courage they showed during the war. Guilford Countynative Dolley Payne Madison was First Lady during the war.Andrew Jackson became the leading military hero of the war.

After the war, many North Carolinians moved west. Duringthe tumultuous years of the nation’s youth, North Carolina onceagain found itself on the backbench of achievement. It contin-

ued to have the same problems that had hindered it during colonial days.There was one key difference, however. The problems of the colony hadnot kept people from moving in. After 1800, however, more people movedout than came in. By the 1820s, for example, on a typical fall day morethan a dozen wagons passed through Asheville on the way west.

Figure 12 Causes of the War of 1812

• British blockade of American shipping

• British impressment of American sailors

• British encouragement of Indian attacks on American

settlers

• Election of War Hawks—westerners who wanted to

declare war on Great Britain—to Congress

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CAROLINA CELEBRIT IESCAROLINA CELEBRIT IES

Dolley Madison, the only First Ladyof the United States from North Car-olina, was born in North Carolina butdid not stay here for long. Her par-ents, John and Mary Coles Payne,moved to the New Garden Quakercommunity (at present-day Greens-boro) in 1765. As the New GardenQuakers recorded, “Dolley theirdaughter was born ye 20 of ye 5 mo.1768.” Eleven months later, her par-ents returned to Virginia. Why is notcertain.

Dolley grew up in a prosperousfamily in Virginia. She attended thenearby Quaker school during theRevolutionary War. When the warended, her father freed his slaves—one of the first Quakers to doso in the United States—and movedto Philadelphia. In 1791, at agetwenty-three, Dolley married John Todd, a lawyer and a fel-low Quaker. Two years into their marriage, yellow fever killedboth her husband and her younger son, on the same day.

Because she still had family wealth, Dolley continued tolive in Philadelphia. Within a year she met James Madison;they were married in six months. Madison, a fellow Virgin-ian, was one of the most important men of the new nation.He had been one of the principal writers of the United StatesConstitution. As the first leader of the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives, he had steered to passage the ten Constitutionalamendments that became known as the Bill of Rights. Atthe time he met Dolley, Madison was the major oppositionleader in the government. He opposed the strong govern-ment measures of President George Washington and was

working to elect his friend, ThomasJefferson, to be the next president.Jefferson lost the election of 1796,but he won in 1800. Jefferson madeMadison the secretary of state.Jefferson, a widower, asked Dolley tohost his social events. She threw thebiggest party in the nation’s historyto celebrate the Louisiana Purchasein 1803. When Jefferson finished histwo terms, Madison was electedpresident in 1808.

Since Dolley was a Quaker, she didnot dance, yet she encouraged visi-tors to the executive mansion to havea good time. She was said to alwaysbe “unassuming” and behaved with“dignity, sweetness, and grace” to ev-eryone she encountered. When theexecutive mansion was open to thepublic, Mrs. Madison often greeted

any visitor, then carried his or her concern to the president.She became a national hero after she saved the portrait ofGeneral Washington when the British invaded the capitalduring the War of 1812. When the war was ended, she wasthe most popular person in the country.

The Madisons lived in retirement at their Virginiaplantation for twenty years. After Madison died, she movedback to the District of Columbia to be part of the social scene.No one who was anyone in Washington dared to have a partyand not invite her. Everyone expected to see her. They couldrecognize her immediately, for in those years she wore flashyturbans. The wife of an important congressman of theday noted, “Everyone loves Mrs. Madison, because Mrs.Madison loves everyone.”

Dolley Payne MadisonDolley Payne Madison


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Efforts to ImproveNorth Carolina

As you read, look for:• North Carolina’s new capital• conditions that led to North Carolina’s decline• proposals made by Archibald Murphey to improve

conditions in the state• vocabulary terms recession, internal improvements,

canal, common school, Literary Fund

Efforts to ImproveNorth Carolina

Two children were left at their home in Cabarrus Countywhen their parents went to church. Conrad Reed, 14, andhis sister, Elizabeth, 12, decided to go wading in the nearbystream. Conrad was poking around in the water with a stickwhen he turned up a large shiny rock. Its yellow gleamwas brighter than anything the two children had ever seen.

Their father, John, had never seen untreated gold. Whenhe took the nugget to a silversmith in Fayetteville, the jew-eler gave him $3.50 for it. Only later, when he found moregold and opened the state’s first mine, did he learn he hadbeen cheated.

The Reed family story symbolized the many handicapsNorth Carolinians faced during the founding of the nation.They were proud people with close families and solid neigh-borhoods. But they knew little beyond the habits and val-ues of their locality. Not only were schools lacking for mostresidents after the War of Independence, so were easy linksto the outside world. The towns of the state, with minimalaccess to ports, continued to be small. There was virtuallyno statewide effort to build roads, and the quality of trans-portation varied considerably from county to county.

The State Establishes a New CapitalNorth Carolina made a major effort to get organized and move for-

ward during the debate over the Constitution. The 1788 HillsboroughConvention had agreed to a site for a permanent state capital. The con-

Above: Joel Lane, whose plantationwas the site for the new capital cityof Raleigh, built this house in 1770.It is the oldest house in Raleigh.


This section will help you meet thefollowing objectives:8.3.02 Investigate the conditionsthat led to North Carolina’s declineand assess the implications for thefuture development of the state.8.3.03 Identify and evaluate theimpact of individual reformers andgroups and their programs.8.3.06 Evaluate the implications ofthe North Carolina Gold Rush.8.3.08 Examine the impact ofnational events on North Carolina.

Documents

North Carolina’s Role in the New Nation · mained in richer states like New York and Virginia. Al- ... ists who wrote the Constitution ... than a dozen wagons passed through Asheville