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History Timeline

1776 - Declaration: Freedom

July 4, 1776 - The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. It proclaims freedom forever from British rule for all 13 colonies, including North Carolina. But the colonists' struggles are just beginning. Freedom will come at a terrible price as bloody battles will be fought throughout the new United States of America. North Carolina will pay, too, with the lives of its citizens. It will be more than five long years before the fighting ceases.

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1789 - Finally Ratification

November 21, 1789 - Nearly two years after the approval process for individual states began, North Carolina finally ratifies the U.S. Constitution. Proposed changes called amendments have eased North Carolina's doubts. Rhode Island is the only remaining state not to approve, but will do so the following May.

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1802 - The Value of Gold

John Reed asks a Fayetteville jeweler to examine the unusual rock that the Reed family has used as a doorstop for two years. The jeweler extracts enough gold from the stone to form a bar nearly eight inches long. Reed accepts $3.50 for the gold. He goes home, not realizing the gold is worth over $3,000.Miners

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1776 - Establishing Order

December 18, 1776 - Now that the 13 American colonies have as a nation declared their independence from Britain, each individual state must decide what kind of laws it will have. As the fight for freedom continues throughout the colonies, today North Carolina adopts its first set of state laws, called its Constitution.

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1789 - NC Holds Out

March 4, 1789 - Lawmakers gather together for the first meeting of the United States Congress, as provided by the U.S. Constitution. These representatives will discuss the changes that the states have suggested. Still, North Carolina refuses to accept or ratify the Constitution, believing the document gives too much power to a central government.

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1819 - Rosedale Plantation

William Davidson, soon to be elected state senator, moves into an elegant home north of Charlotte, near Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church. With its formal gardens and ballroom, the home built by Archibald Frew has been called Frew's Folly. The pre-Civil War era plantation house will be preserved in years to come, and will be called Rosedale.

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1776 - The Break

July 2, 1776 - More than a year after citizens of Mecklenburg declare their freedom from British tyranny, the Second Continental Congress approves a resolution that will unite the colonies in their battle for liberty.

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1790 - Rural Hill

Major John Davidson builds a brick mansion house called Rural Hill in northern Mecklenburg County. He owns 26 slaves. Most of Mecklenburg's farmers have none. Only the owners of large estates, called plantations, can afford to buy, transport, feed and shelter slaves.

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1781 - Beginning of the End

Dozens more battles have been fought throughout the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia. But the British have made a serious mistake. They have assumed that Southerners who are still loyal to the Crown will help them easily defeat the American army. Their strategy fails as the South continues to fight for independence.

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1803 - Louisiana Purchase

All of the land from the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, north to Canada and west to the Rocky Mountains -- 828,000 acres -- becomes part of the U.S. The Louisiana Purchase will be the largest expansion to the country's boundaries at a cost of $15 million, or about 3¢ per acre.

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