Late Colonial Period Through Revolutionary War: Resources for Early North Carolina History

From sugar cakes to gun powder in the cabbages, so much was happening in North Carolina during this period in history.  The French and Indian War, the construction of Fort Dobbs, the Regulator Movement, the Moravians settling in Salem, thousands of settlers moving ‘over the mountains’, a grand tea party in Endenton, the Mecklenburg Declaration and the Halifax Resolves to propel us into the Revolutionary War.  Throughout the year we will be working our way through North Carolina History and geography. Each month I will share some resources specific to the topics and time periods we are studying that month. I also have a more comprehensive list of North Carolina history resources that I am continually updating as I find new resources.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

You might be wondering about Governor Martin and the Gun Powder in the cabbages. I find that children remember history much better when it is connected to a story and there are many wonderful stories from history. One story that my children love to retell when we are at historical events, is how Governor Martin hid the gun powder in the kitchen garden with the cabbages in an effort to keep the patriots from taking it after he fled from Tryon’s palace. Stories like this help children connect to the event and keep it from being a ‘boring list of events and dates’.

Another wonderful part of this time period is the Moravians settling in Old Salem. This is a culture steeped in interesting traditions (and food). We have been blessed to attend a homeschool day there as well as a Candle Tea event. If you are able, I highly encourage you to visit. However, for those that are unable to visit there are lots of great videos and recipes included in the lists below. One of the things my daughter found most interesting is that she was served coffee and not tea at the Candle Tea event.

Fort Dobbs is an often-forgotten historical site in North Carolina. Now, it’s just off the main road in a mostly residential area, but when it was built in 1755 it marked the boundary between the civilized British Colony and wild Native American lands. There is a lot of great history at the fort and they recently finished a creating a life size reproduction of the original fort that can be toured. They also offer several special homeschool days and other events with lots of living history. We were hoping to tour the fort on a recent trip through the area but unfortunately, they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We did get some great pictures from outside the gate and look forward to making another trip up that way soon.

There is a lot of moving, expansion, fighting, and growing going on in North Carolina during this time period. Despite being regarded as a poor, backwater colony by the British, North Carolina was a tinderbox and rather influential in the movement for independence. Understanding all of these things helps put the Revolutionary War into perspective and sets up a better understanding of the culture of North Carolina during this period.

I encourage you to check out some of the wonderful resources I have found below (many of which are free) and tell me in the comments what resources you use to learn about the Lost Colony and the early colonial era.  Don’t forget to check back next month for resources on the late colonial period through the beginning of the American Revolution.

North Carolina Late Colonial Through Early Revolutionary Period Resources

Books and Magazines:

Tar Heel History on Foot (good for multiple months)

Voices From Colonial America: North Carolina

Living History Classroom (Free Digital Magazine)

French and Indian War in North Carolina (for older students)

Farming Dissenters

The Young Reader’s Series of North Carolina History: “King George and Broadswords!” The Battle at Widow Moores Creek

Videos:

Old Salem Videos

Old Salem (C-Span)

Old Salem (PBS)

Friends in Liberty: North Carolina in the American Revolution

Trail of History Fort Dobbs

Fort Dobbs North Carolina Weekend

History Kids: French and Indian War

Battle of Alamance (short clip)

North Carolina’s Role In American Revolution

Websites:

Moore’s Creek PowerPoint

French and Indian War

Regulator Movement

History of Fort Dobbs

Eighteenth Century Timeline

NCpedia (An online encyclopedia of all things North Carolina)

Battle of Moore’s Creek Curriculum Materials

North Carolina in the Revolutionary War

North Carolina Continental Line

Field Trips:

Old Salem

Fort Dobbs

Tryon Palace

Alamance Battleground

Moore’s Creek Battlefield

Recipes:

Old Salem Recipes

History of Sugar Cakes

Moravian Sugar Cake

Colonial Pantries of North Carolina

A Taste of Carolina Colonial Recipes

Colonial Williamsburg Recipes (not North Carolina but the proximity means the food would have been similar)

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

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