North Carolina Teacher Guide

General Facts

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Timeline

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Landmark Postcard

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Fun Facts

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Essential Questions for North Carolina

1. What are some significant events in the history of North Carolina?
2. What are some facts and features that make North Carolina unique?
3. What are some interesting places in North Carolina that people would want to visit?

All About North Carolina

Date of Statehood: November 21, 1789 (12th state)

State Motto: To Be Rather Than to Seem

State Nickname: The Tar Heel State

State Bird: Cardinal

State Tree: Pine

State Flower: Flowering Dogwood

Tourist Attractions: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Wright Brothers National Memorial, Biltmore Estate, Blue Ridge Parkway, Outer Banks

Famous Citizens of North Carolina: Dale Earnhardt, Steph Curry, Michael Jordan, Andrew Johnson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Julianne Moore, James Polk, Randy Travis.

Capital City: Raleigh

Major Cities: Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Fayetteville, Winston-Salem

Brief History of North Carolina

Native American Tribes: Before Europeans arrived, North Carolina was home to many Native American tribes, including the Cherokee, Catawba, and Tuscarora. These tribes had their own cultures, languages, and ways of life.

First European Explorers: Spanish explorer Juan Pardo traveled through the area in the mid-1500s, but it was the English who would eventually settle there.

Lost Colony of Roanoke: In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh sent settlers to Roanoke Island. This colony mysteriously disappeared, leaving only the word "CROATOAN" carved into a tree. This remains one of America's greatest historical mysteries.

Permanent Settlements: The first permanent English settlements began in the late 1600s. By 1710, settlements had spread, and the area became a colony named after King Charles I of England.

Split from South Carolina: In 1729, the Carolina colony split into two, creating North Carolina and South Carolina. Years later, North Carolina played a significant role in the American Revolution. On April 12, 1776, it became the first colony to instruct its delegates to vote for independence from Britain.

Statehood and the Civil War: North Carolina was the 12th state to join the Union on November 21, 1789. North Carolina seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States during the Civil War (1861-1865). After the Confederacy lost, North Carolina had to go through Reconstruction, a period of rebuilding and integrating the Southern states back into the Union.

Modern History: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, North Carolina grew as an industrial state, especially in textiles, tobacco, and furniture manufacturing. In the 1960s, North Carolina was an important state in the Civil Rights Movement. The Greensboro sit-ins in 1960, where African American students protested segregation at a lunch counter, became a pivotal moment in the struggle for equal rights.

Students will create a historical timeline, a postcard, a spider map, and a fun facts storyboard showing what they have learned about North Carolina. Creating these visuals gives the students the opportunity to show their creativity and their unique view of the state that they have researched. In addition, the combined use of words and illustrations allows students with different learning styles to show what they know in an exciting and eye-catching way.