North+Carolina

North Carolina's involvement in the Revolution
North Carolina is one of the original Thirteen Colonies, which was first known as the Province of Carolina. North Carolina was very influential in the fight for freedom. On April 12, 1776, North Carolina became the first colony to instruct their Continental Congress delegates to vote for independence from the British crown through the Halifax Resolves, passed by the North Carolina Provincial Congress. A major victory and turning point for the American side took place in North Carolina, at King's Mountain. Exactly 227 years ago today (October 7, 1780), a group of 1000 mountain men from western North Carolina overwhelmed a force of 1000 trained British troops, led by Major Patrick Ferguson. This victory gave the Americans the advantage and prevented the British from recruiting Loyalists. On January 17, 1781, during the "Race for the Dan", American General Nathaniel Greene led Lord Cornwallis and his troops across North Carolina and away from Cornwallis' supply base in Charleston, South Carolina. They met in what was called the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781. Even though the British held the field at the end of the battle, the casualties were considerably worse for the British. This caused Lord Cornwallis to move his troops to Virginia to allow the British Navy to protect his weary army. However, this decision eventually led to his defeat at Yorktown, Virginia. The victory there guaranteed American independence.

William Hooper[[image:William_Hooper1.jpg align="right"]]
-By Camille Staheli

[[image:William_Hooper_signature.png width="259" height="56" align="left"]]
William was the first child of five, born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 17, 1742. William’s father had hoped that William would follow in his footsteps as an Episcopalian minister, and he placed William in a Boston Latin School at the age of seven. At the age of fifteen, Hooper entered Harvard university where he was considered an industrious student and was highly regarded. In 1760, Hooper graduated from Harvard with honors, obtaining a bachelors of arts. However, after graduating William Hooper did not wish to pursue a career in the clergy as his father had hoped. Instead, William decided on a career in law. In 1764 William Hooper moved temporarily to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he began to practice law and became the circuit court lawyer for Cape Fear. Hooper began to build a highly reputation in North Carolina among the wealthy farmers as well as fellow lawyers. In 1767 Hooper married Anne Clark, the daughter of a sheriff of New Hanover County, who was wealthy early settler to the region. They had a son named William born in 1768. Later had a daughter named Elizabeth born in 1770, followed by another son, called Thomas, born in 1772. Hooper quickly moved up the ranks, first in 1769 when he was appointed as Deputy Attorney of Salisbury district, and then in 1770 when he was appointed Deputy Attorney General of North Carolina. Hooper supported the British colonial government in North Carolina. In 1768 Hooper worked with Colonial Governor William Tryon to suppress a rebellious group known as the Regulators who participated in the War of the Regulation. The Regulators had been operating in North Carolina for some time, and in 1770, it was reported that the group dragged Hooper through the streets in Hillsborough during a riot. Hooper advised the Governor Tryon use as much force as was necessary to stamp out the rebels, and even accompanied the troop[s at the Battle of Alamance in 1771. Hooper’s support of the colonial governments began to erode, problems for him due to his past support of Governor Tryon. Hooper had been labeled a Loyalist, (he is loyal to British) and therefore was not accepted by Patriots. In 1773 he was eventually was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly, he became an opponent to colonial attempts to pass laws that would regulate the provincial courts. This helped to sour his reputation among Loyalists. Hooper realized that independence in the country was most likely to occur, he mentioned this in a letter to James Iredell, saying, “striding fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire upon the ruins o Great Britain.” Hooper was appointed to Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry; he helped to organize a new colonial assembly. In 1774 Hooper was appointed a delegated to the First Continental Congress, where he served on numerous committees. Hooper was again elected to the Second Continental Congress, but much of his time was split between the congress and work in North Carolina, where he was assisting in forming a new government. Due to dealing with this new government, Hooper missed the vote approving the Declaration of Independence e on the fourth of July of 1776 but later that year he arrived in time to sigh it on August 2. In 1777, Hooper resigned from Congress due to continued financial concerns, and returned to North Carolina to resume his law career. Throughout the Revolution the British attempted to capture Hooper, having his home in Finian which was vulnerable to British attacks, Hooper moved his family to Wilmington. In 1781 the British captured Wilmington, to where Cornwallis and his forces fell back after the Battle of Guilford Court House, and Hooper found himself separated from his family. In addition to this the British burned his estates in both Finian and Wilmington, so Hooper was forced to rely on friends for food and shelter, as well as nursing him back to health when he contracted malaria during this time. Finally, after almost a year of separation, Hooper was reunited with his family and they settled in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where Hooper continued to work for the North Carolina assembly until 1783. In 1787 and 1788 Hooper campaigned heavily for North Carolina to ratify the new United States Constitution, but by this time Hooper had become quite ill, eventually dying on October 14, 1790, at the age of 48. He was laid to rest in the Presbyterian Churchyard in Hillsborough, North Carolina. His remains were later reinterred at Guilford Courthouse National Military Ground.   Found information on this website: []
 * His involvement in the American Revolution **
 * Ending of Life**

Joseph Hewes (January 23, 1730 – November 10, 1779)[[image:Joseph_Hewes.jpg align="right"]]
By: Cicely Davis

 Joseph Hewes was born on January 23, 1730 in Princeton, New Jersey to Aaron and Providence Hewes. His parents were part of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Very little is known of his childhood. He attended and graduated from Princeton University, after which he was apprenticed to a merchant. After finishing his apprenticeship, Hewes earned a good name for himself, became a merchant and after a few years was very successful. At the age of 30, he moved to North Carolina and was elected to the North Carolina legislature in 1763, only three years after moving to North Carolina. Joseph Hewes largely influenced North Carolina and their support for independence. In 1774, Hewes was elected as a delegate for the Continental Congress because of his activism in the fight for America's independence. However, the views of the people and the views of Congress, in many cases, did not correspond. Almost two-thirds of Congress still believed in keeping ties with King George. Hewes found in difficult to speak in Congress without be interrupted, laughed at, and scorned. Despite this, he was actively involved in several committees sympathetic to the cause of independence, such as the Committee of Correspondence. The committee supported ideas for independence. One of the statements Hewes contribtued to the committee was: "State the rights of the colonies in general, the several instances in which these rights are violated or infringed, and the means most proper to be pursued for obtaining a restoration of them." Because Hewes was politically involved and in favor of a war against Britain, he was removed from the Society of Friends. In 1776, Hewes was appointed as the first Sectretary of the Navy. John Adams said that Joseph Hewes "laid the foundation, the cornerstone of the American Navy." He is known as one of the greatest military achievers, alongside such names as George Washington and Nathaniel Greene. Hewes is also one of the chief reasons the Declaration of Independence was even signed. Hewes suffered from ailing health, and after signing the Declaration, he retired to his home. Despite this, he ran for re-election to Congress, but did not make it. He continued his last few months as a congressman and died on November 10, 1779 at the age of 50. Joseph Hewes never married. In a diary kept during the last years of his life, he said that he would die a sad and lonely man and had never wanted to remain a bachelor. He said the girl he loved had died just days before they were to be married, and he had never married, leaving no children to leave his large fortune to. Joseph Hewes was a member of the Masons and was buried with masonic funeral honors. His funeral was attended by Congress, by the general assembly of Pennsylvania, the president and supreme executive council, the minister plenipotentiary of France, and many citizens. Congress, as a sign of their respect, wore crapes on their left arms for a month.

Richard Dobbs Spaight (March 25, 1785-September 6, 1802)[[image:richarddobbsspaight.jpg align="right"]]
By: McKenzie Draper Spaight was born in New Bern, North Carolina by the age of eight he was an orphan. Spaight was sent to Ireland to attend school he returned to North Carolina in 1778. Spaight was really involved in politics. From 1782-1785 he was a delegate to the Continental Congress, from 1785-1787 Spaight was named the Speaker of the House in the Carolina House of Commons. In 1787, Spaight was a delegate to the Philidelphia Convention and he signed the Declaration of Independce when he was only 29 years old. Spaight had to retire from politics for years because his health was not good. He returned to the House of Representatives in 1792 and was elected governer that same year. He stepped down from governer in 1795 because he had served his three terms. He was then elected to the House of Reprsentatives in 1798, he filled Nathan Bryan's spot. He was elected as a federalist but became associated with Democratic-Republican party of Thomas Jefferson. Spaight had also stayed apart of the army all these years. Spaight died in 1802 at the age of 44. He died of injuries from a duel that was against the Federalist John Stanly.