Province of North Carolina

The Province of North Carolina was a British colony in North America that became the U.S. state of North Carolina in 1776.

Connect

Province of Carolina: An English colony in North America, chartered in 1663 and divided into North and South Carolina in 1712. North Carolina began as the northern part of this larger proprietary colony.
Royal Colony: A colony governed directly by a monarch through appointed officials. North Carolina became directly governed by the Crown after the proprietors surrendered their charter.
John White (colonist and artist): An English artist and governor associated with the Roanoke voyages of the 1580s. His expeditions preceded the province’s later English settlements on the coast.
Battle of Alamance: A 1771 battle in which royal forces defeated North Carolina Regulators. The defeat marked the movement’s collapse but did not resolve backcountry political grievances.
Carolina Charter of 1663: A royal charter granting Carolina to eight English Lords Proprietors. It established the proprietary authority that governed the colony before royal rule.
Governors of North Carolina: Chief executive officials who administered North Carolina under proprietary and royal governments. Governors exercised Crown or proprietary authority, often amid conflict with local leaders.
John Lawson (explorer): An English explorer and naturalist who wrote about Carolina and served as surveyor general. His accounts documented the province’s geography and Indigenous communities.
Halifax Resolves: A 1776 resolution authorizing North Carolina’s delegates to support independence from Britain. It made North Carolina the first colony to instruct its delegates to seek independence.
Lords Proprietors of Carolina: Eight English noblemen and courtiers who received Carolina from Charles II in 1663. Their land grants and governance shaped North Carolina’s early settlement.
North Carolina General Assembly: The legislative body of North Carolina, with roots in colonial representative government. Its colonial assemblies negotiated taxation and local law with successive governors.