The Influence of Geography Upon Early North Carolina

CHAPTER II

The Coastal Plain

HOW GEOGRAPHY INFLUENCED ITS SETTLEMENT

The sand banks and shifting inlets on its coast, and its lack of a harbor, prevented North Carolina’s colonization from the outside and caused it to be settled initially by an overflow from the colonies in the north. Many of the early settlers came from Virginia. The Albemarle region, to which these pioneers came, has been described as “a location abounding in attractions for the hardy pioneers.” The Albemarle Sound, while furnishing in its wide expanse a protection from the southern Indians, offered an unfailing supply of fish and game. For a while there was a rapid flow of population into this region. Among those who came were a number of men of large means, each of whom brought with him ten to thirty persons. The planters took up land along the water courses, since the land there was more fertile and the streams afforded a means of transportation. Within two years after the Charter was granted to the Proprietors, the population was sufficient for the settlers to organize a government of their own. In 1665 they held their first assembly and the little settlement became a self-governing community. Even with this step toward a democratic form of government, growth became slow. The Proprietors realized that unless people came and established homes, and began to make use of the resources the region contained, they could not make the profit which they expected. They held out inducements through advertising the riches and beauty of the region, the fertile soil and the healthy climate. When these inducements did not bring settlers in large numbers, the Proprietors offered specific advantages. A new settler would not be required to pay any taxes for the first year. He would be free for five years from trial for any debt or crime that had been charged against him before his arrival in Carolina. In spite of these promises, the colony grew slowly. Settlers found it hard to prosper in the region, since geographic conditions hindered easy trade with the outside world. However, as Virginia became more crowded, settlers drifted into North Carolina and by 1715 the population in that colony numbered about 11,000.

THE ECONOMY OF THE COASTAL PLAIN

Geographic factors determined that the economy of eastern North Carolina would be based on agriculture and forest products in its early years. The topography, soil and climate combined to make the region an ideal one for growing crops. The forests of the area formed the basis of an early naval stores industry. These two sources of wealth were closely related.

When the planter first decided upon his tract of land, his greatest task was the clearing of a space in the woods and building a rude log house. Further clearing followed which was done in the crudest way. Often the trees were cut down but usually the trunks were girdled, leaving the trees to die, while crops were planted between them and cultivated with the hoe. The leading crops were Indian corn, wheat, oats, rye, tobacco and rice. John Brickell, writing about 1730, comments on the crops as follows:

The writer lists potatoes among the crops grown for home use, also a number of vegetables. “Asparagus thrives in this province to a miracle ...”

One of the greatest handicaps to farming was the inadequacy of the supply of tools. While this was generally true in the other seaboard colonies, the lack of trade with the outside world made it difficult for Carolina to get such as were brought into use elsewhere. Crude makeshifts were used for hoes, harrows, forks, spades and other implements. Bishop Spangenburg reported in 1752 that in a 140-mile journey he saw “not one wagon or plow.”

Corn was planted and cultivated with the “hoe,” as Brickell says, and by the nature of its growth the harvesting was not too difficult. The planting and harvesting of small grain, however, was harder. Wheat was broadcast and covered with a bush harrow. It was cut with a scythe or a cradle and threshed with a flail. This method of threshing was used in all the colonies until long after the Revolution, since the “Ground” thresher and ordinary fanning mill were not patented until 1837. At first, the grinding of all grain was done by hand. Then windmills were tried, but this was a slow and unsatisfactory process. The flat country and sluggish streams of the Coastal Plain afforded few sites for grist mills run by water power. Any suitable sites for such mills on the plantations were employed by the planters for their own private use. In 1715 the Assembly enacted a law stipulating that suitable mill sites be restricted for the use of public mills. Brickell says, “The stones for these mills are got just up the Neuse and at heads of other rivers.”

The early farmers raised horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. In the first decades horses were used chiefly for riding, while the slower, stronger and less nervous ox was used largely as a draught animal. The mule, a hybrid animal, did not come into use until a much later date. Sheep were raised chiefly for their wool, most of which was used in the homes for making cloth. Hogs formed an essential factor in the farmer’s economy; they were a principal export as well as a product used freely in home consumption.

The forests of the Coastal Plain proved of no less importance in the lives of the pioneer settlers than did agriculture. R. D. W. Connor wrote, “It was the presence of an unlimited food supply in the forests that enabled the pioneers to push out into the wilderness and prepare the way for civilization.” The dense forests sheltered a great variety of wild animals—rabbits, squirrels, possums, and deer. There were also many kinds of wild fowl, some of which were edible. These furnished both food and clothing, the skins and furs being used as leggings, gloves, caps, as well as for rugs and cover. From the forests came berries, fruits, grapes, and other edible foods. But the greatest value of the forests lay in their commercial worth. Their trees served as a money crop to supplement the agricultural crops of the farmers. The predominating trees were the longleaf and loblolly pine. Other trees of a commercial and domestic value were cypress, oak, maple, and walnut. From the pines came lumber, tar, pitch, turpentine, and staves. Statistics show that in 1753 the colony exported 61,528 barrels of tar, 12,055 barrels of pitch, 10,429 barrels of turpentine and 762,000 staves.

The vast amount of inland water navigable by small craft, plus the great abundance of shipbuilding materials and naval stores, led to extensive shipbuilding. White oak furnished the principal material for this type of industry.

For nearly two centuries the forests of the region supplied abundant food for livestock, furnished material for domestic purposes and for shipbuilding, and afforded a considerable income for the planters. Just as poor and careless methods of farming depleted the soil of the area, likewise the forests were exploited by shortsighted methods of handling them. Brickell cites one example of exploitation as follows:

The planters make their servants or Negroes cut large cavities on each side of the pitch pine tree. Then the turpentine runs and Negroes with ladles take it out and put it into barrels. A tree produced after being boxed for three years then dies and is used for fuel—called light-wood.

Coastal Plain Farm

TRADE AND ITS DIFFICULTIES

While eastern North Carolina was favored with a surplus of agricultural products, as the forests furnished great quantities of salable materials, the geography of the region did not permit an outside market for the exportation of these products. The same factors—dangerous coast and shallow inlets and sounds—that influenced the settlement of the colony handicapped trade with the outside world.

There were only two inlets with access to the sea, Ocracoke and Cape Fear. Ocracoke would not admit water of deep draught, and even when ships entered the sound, navigation was difficult because of its shallow water. Between the Cape Fear and Ocracoke lay the Neuse and Tar region which had no good outlet to the sea. Moreover, communication between the sections of the Coastal Plain was difficult because the region was interlaced with swamps and rivers. These unfavorable conditions, therefore, sent much of the early trade of North Carolina overland into Virginia. In addition, small vessels, usually from New England, entered the inlets and shallow sounds, and came to the wharves of the planters to which the small farmers often brought their products. Here their vessels were loaded with products of the farmers and forests to be carried to the West Indies, or sometimes to England, and exchanged for rum, molasses, sugar, coffee, and such other articles as the planters needed. Often they would be taken to Boston, where the proceeds were invested in clothing, household goods, or slaves.

The demand of the North Carolina people for trade was greater than could be met by the small vessels that entered the narrow inlets, so considerable trade was carried on by other methods. Chief among these was the commerce carried on overland with Virginia. The products sent to Virginia were mainly tobacco and livestock, especially hogs, which were driven overland by the thousands. The trade in tobacco brought trouble between North Carolina and Virginia. The latter colony had been somewhat displeased when North Carolina was carved from the Old Dominion and initially populated at her expense; now it offered keen competition in the staple upon which Virginia’s prosperity was founded. Virginia officials were outspoken in their poor opinion of their neighbors, and cooperation in respect of relations with the Indians was often lacking. The commercial interests in Virginia influenced the Assembly of that colony to pass a law in 1679 forbidding the importation of North Carolina tobacco into Virginia or its exportation through the ports of that colony. This blockade lasted until North Carolina became a royal colony in 1729. This action was a great hindrance to the progress of North Carolina. After the act was disallowed, North Carolina tobacco continued to find its way into the markets of the world, where it was known as “Virginia Bright.” The long dependence on Virginia for markets caused North Carolina to be subordinate to Virginia politically for years.

Early in her history Albemarle had built up a flourishing coastwise trade with New England. As we have noted, skippers from that region, using small craft, entered the shallow waters and inlets and came to the wharves of the planters, where they picked up tobacco and other products. These traders brought goods needed or desired by the planters. Prior to 1672 this trade was free from restrictions and duties. In that year England passed trade laws, known as Navigation Acts, which required the colonists in America to trade only with English merchants and shippers. A tax was imposed on any goods not shipped directly to England and in English or colonial vessels. The purpose of this act was to foster England’s strength by an increase of her sea power and commerce.

The Act of 1672 permitted tobacco, which was subject to a heavy duty when imported into England, to be shipped from one colony to another free of duty. This practice enabled the colonial merchant to undersell his English competitors who paid duty. When the English merchants complained about this defect in the law, Parliament came to their rescue. In 1673 that body passed an act which levied export duties on certain articles when they were shipped from one colony to another. On tobacco this duty was fixed at a penny a pound. The act provided that the duties were to be collected by officials of the Crown. The passage of this act led in 1677 to a popular uprising in Albemarle. This insurrection, which lasted for about three years, is known in history as Culpeper’s Rebellion. It was caused by the attempt to enforce a commercial policy in a colony where geography compelled the inhabitants to engage in a type of trade economically unfavorable to themselves.^*

The whole episode hindered the economic progress of Albemarle and slowed down immigration for nearly two decades.

EXPANSION AND SECTIONALISM

After the close of Culpeper’s Rebellion, Albemarle enjoyed a period of prosperity under the administration of a group of capable governors. The population steadily increased. In 1690 a group of French and Swiss settled on the Pamlico River. In 1704 the town of Bath was laid off near the mouth of that river. It was incorporated the following year and became North Carolina’s oldest town. By 1710, settlements extended from the Virginia border to Albemarle Sound and along the banks of the Roanoke, Pamlico, and Neuse Rivers. New Bern, the second oldest town, was founded in 1710 by people from Germany, along with some Swiss and a few English. Although in 1711 the settlements around New Bern were almost wiped out by the Tuscarora Indians, the eventual conquest of the Tuscaroras by the colonists opened the lands between the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers for settlement. By 1715, as we have noted, the white population of Carolina numbered almost 11,000.

About this time another instance of the influence of geography upon the affairs of North Carolina is seen. From the beginning of their administration of the government, the Proprietors had attempted to rule the wide expanse of the territory granted them by means of a resident governor. This territory, as we have seen, reached from the Virginia border on the north to the northern part of Florida on the south. As a convenient plan of governing it, the Proprietors had divided this territory into three distinct colonies—Albemarle, Craven, and Clarendon. Because of its good harbor, Clarendon, located in what is now South Carolina, outgrew the two districts in the north. In 1670 a colony was founded at the mouth of the Ashley River and a town called Charles Town was begun. Soon the settlement was moved to the present site of Charleston. The latter colony grew rapidly and was favored by the Lords Proprietors. Later, the seat of government for Carolina was moved here and a deputy governor was appointed for “that part of the Province of Carolina that lies North and East of Cape Fear.” The government of the former county of Albemarle by a deputy, whose authority largely proceeded from that of the governor of Carolina at Charleston, lessened the importance and influence of the executive and increased the power of the people’s Assembly. Realizing that a stronger executive was needed to check the influence of the people, and considering the great distance separating the two parts of the colony, with the attendant difficulty of communication and travel, in 1710 the Proprietors decided to have two co-equal governors. This action provided greater autonomy for the northern section and made possible a government more in keeping with the natural environment of the region. Into the official records gradually crept the name of “North Carolina” for this northern area, and in 1711 Edward Hyde was appointed its governor.

Settlement had been going on in North Carolina for some sixty years before the broad and fertile valley of the Cape Fear was reached. Two attempts at settlement of this region had failed because of the dangerous character of the coast, the menace of the pirates who found the region favorable to piracy, and because the Proprietors had devoted their attention to other regions. By 1729 some of these causes had been removed. In 1718 two of the leading pirates, Edward Teach, or “Blackbeard,” as he was called, and Stede Bonnet, were captured and put to death. In the same year many other pirates who had been operating along the North Carolina coast were captured and hanged in Virginia, and at Charleston. In 1724 Governor George Burrington reopened the land office in the colony which, because of an order of the Proprietors, had been closed for some time, thus preventing any sale of land in the colony. Now that the region was open for settlement, Maurice Moore took the lead and, in 1727, founded the town of Brunswick near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. In 1740 the town of Wilmington was begun sixteen miles up the river. This town soon became an important shipping point. For the first time the settlers had a port and a direct outlet to the ocean. Furthermore, boats could travel the Cape Fear inland eighty miles to the Piedmont. Prosperous settlements grew up in this valley and it soon became the most progressive region of the entire northern colony.

The commercial interests of the Cape Fear settlers, who enjoyed the advantages of direct trade with the outside world, began to conflict with those of the Albemarle Sound region where trade facilities were less adequate. Political leaders were naturally influenced by the conflicts between these two geographical regions. From the early days of the Colonial Assembly the Albemarle counties had had five representatives each. The newer counties had but two. With their large number of members, the northern counties easily controlled the Assembly. Governor Gabriel Johnston (1734-52), who was unpopular with the Albemarle counties, undertook to lessen the power of this region by cutting down its membership in the Assembly. He also favored the removal of the capital from Edenton to a more central part of the colony—a move greatly desired by the southern colonists. In order to accomplish his objective, Governor Johnston called the Assembly of 1746 to meet in Wilmington in November. He knew that on account of the flooded rivers and wretched roads at that season, few of the northern members would make the long and toilsome journey to Wilmington. Just as the governor expected, the northern members did not attend. Although a quorum was not present, Johnston declared it a lawful House. Thereupon laws were passed giving each county only two members and moving the capital to New Bern. The northern counties declared the acts unlawful and refused to be bound by them. For eight years they sent no members to the Assembly, paid no taxes, attended no general courts. At the close of the eight-year period the King’s ministers ordered the full number of members to be restored to the northern counties.

Such were the difficulties which were encountered by the early settlers in their attempt to carry on a government and trade in an unfavorable geographic region. These circumstances hindered the economic and political progress of the colony.

By about 1735 the English or Coastal Plain population had moved westward to the fall line. The white population of North Carolina now numbered nearly 100,000. The English settlers had occupied the territory without interruption, thereby fastening the English political and social institutions upon the colony. English customs molded the form of local government, the system of judicature, and the whole body of legislation. So deeply embedded were these institutions that they endured despite the later coming of different ethnic elements into the colony.

FOOTNOTES

^*For an account of Culpeper’s Rebellion, see Upheaval in Albemarle, by Hugh F. Rankin, a publication of The Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission, Raleigh, 1962.