Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

You are here

Home

History Timeline

1763 - Native Land Deals

Representatives of Great Britain meet the Catawba Indians at the Great Congress of Augusta. An Indian interpreter named Hexayours, sometimes called Ayers, helps the tribe negotiate with the British for 144,000 acres along the banks of the Catawba River. This land will be set aside for the Indians. Since there is no American government yet, the British claim control of the land in the colonies.

Date of Event:

1640 - The Catawbans

The Catawba Indian Tribe was once part of several tribes of the Sioux Indian Nation in the west. They fled to the southeast to escape their enemies in 1640. Settling first in Botetourt County Virginia, the Catawba eventually established homes along the Catawba River by 1660. Their name, Catawba, means people of the river. There are several thousand members of the tribe.

Date of Event:

1775 - Rumblings of War

May 1775 - Charlotte's Committee of Safety, men who keep order among the citizens, learns that Britain's Parliament has decreed the colonists are in a state of actual rebellion. The Crown will not tolerate this revolt against its authority and will send troops to suppress the uprisings.

Date of Event:

1764 - Slave Trade

The first sale of a slave in Mecklenburg County is officially recorded. Prices are set in units of British currency, called pounds. The price paid for the African man is 75 pounds. Slaves are given new names by their masters. Some names, such as Joseph and Jacob, come from the Bible. Other names come from literature and history -- Romulus, Titus and Daphne. The slaves are not allowed to use their African names.

Date of Event:

1760 - Catawba Nation Declines

Of the many thousands of Indians who lived in the Piedmont just 50 years ago, only 1,000 remain. The diseases brought by settlers, and the battles with neighboring tribes and whites, have claimed many lives. Some Indians unite with other nearby tribes, such as the Wateree and Cheraw. By joining together, they become the Catawba Nation, with 500 warriors and 2,500 people.

Date of Event:

1780 - Change of Command

August 16, 1780 - More than four years after colonists proclaimed their independence from Britain, fighting continues. Soldiers in the Southern American army, commanded by General Horatio Gates, are defeated by British troops at Camden, South Carolina. Soon Gates will be replaced by Nathanael Greene, who will spend time in Charlotte.Gen.

Date of Event:

1766 - Colonial Physicians

Dr. Joseph Kennedy becomes the first physician to practice medicine in Mecklenburg County. Second is Dr. Ephraim Brevard. In just a few years, both men will become important leaders as the colonists fight for their freedom from British tyranny.

Date of Event:

1750 - Establishing Roots

The self-sufficient, hard-working settlers believe that adults and children alike should learn to read so they can study the Bible. They begin to build churches so they can worship as a community.

Date of Event:

1780 - Andrew Jackson

April, 1780 - Andrew Jackson is just 13 years old, but knows how to find his way through the tangled trails surrounding his home at Waxhaw on the North-South Carolina border. Revolutionary War Major William R. Davie needs help, and enlists young Andy as his scout and messenger.

Date of Event:

1767 - A President Born

March 15, 1767 - Andrew Jackson is born at Waxhaw, on the border between North and South Carolina. Though his father died before Jackson's birth, this working-class descendant of Scots-Irish immigrants will be elected to the highest office in the U.S. He will become its seventh president in 1828.

Date of Event: