North Carolina People, Places, and Things-July 25
I am the dad to five adult children. As they were growing up I attempted to remind them they were special and to implore them to learn something new. My goal was to do that daily.
In 2016 my goal is to learn something new daily on the people, places, and things that make North Carolina special. Everyday this year I am doing a post on what I have learned new.
Last week our new dean of the library at UNC Pembroke asked me to come by for a visit. When I got to his office I saw volumes of books related to the Civil War. It got me curious about North Carolina role in that bloody chapter of our state’s history.
I never knew what North Carolina flag looked like when it seceded from the union. It is depicted below.
Today of course the flag takes on a slightly modified and different look.
In 1860 on the eve of the American Civil War, North Carolina was a rural state with a total population of 992,622. Most citizens had been born in North Carolina and farmed for a living. Foreign-born people made up less than 1 percent of the state’s population in 1860, and 72 percent of white families owned no slaves. African Americans, however, accounted for approximately one-third of the total population, and the majority were slaves.
The total white population of the eleven seceding states was 5,441,320 – North Carolina’s was 629,942, and it was third in white population. North Carolina, however, provided more troops to the Confederacy than any other Southern state.
As shown in the 1860 census, the total number of men in North Carolina between the ages of 20-60 was 128,889. It was reported that 125,000 men from North Carolina served in some capacity of the war. That is mind boggling. Of those 125,000 almost 40,000 would die from wounds or disease.
In fact the first casualty of the civil war for the confederate army was from North Carolina and his name was Pvt. Henry L. Wyatt. He died in June 10, 1861 in Big Bethel, Virginia.
Good link about North Carolina losses in the Civil War can be found below:
http://www.nccivilwar150.com/features/nc-civil-war_death-study.htm
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