History of Charlotte

Demographic and Social History

Before the first settlers arrived in the 1750s, the area was inhabited by what are today known as the Catawba Indians. Later, in 1753, Thomas Spratt and Thomas Polk arrived with their families, becoming Charlotte’s first permanent inhabitants. Other settlers followed their example and eventually took up permanent residences. They were mostly Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, but they also included those of English, Scotch, German, French Huguenot, and Swiss descent. These settlers sought religious and economic freedom, as well as an escape from the overcrowding in colonies like Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Another attraction was the fertile soil, which provided the ideal farming conditions. These settlers proved to be self-sufficient, hardworking, ambitious, enterprising, and they became notorious for their streaks of stubbornness and independence.

There were frequent battles between the natives and the settlers, which caused a dramatic decrease in the native population within fifty years of the arrival of Spratt and Polk. This was due not only to conflicts, but also to diseases brought over by the Europeans, such as small pox, chicken pox, measles and yellow fever, which ravaged the lives of many Indians. The Catawba were later restricted to an assigned territory of approximately 144,000 acres along the banks of the Catawba River. In 1830, the Indian Removal Act, signed by President Andrew Jackson, would force tribes off their ancestral lands. After this, Indian culture diminished, as many eventually assimilated. It would be many years before a cultural revival would cause it flourish again. 

In the 1840s, new immigrants came to the area, due to the increasing cost of gold mining. The owners of gold mines brought immigrants from Poland, Italy, Germany, and Wales to work in the mines, as a form of cheap labor. Immigration continued, and by 1929, a large Greek community developed in Charlotte, and by the 1990s, the Asian population tripled. 

After the end of the slave trade in 1808, freed slaves were given ninety days to leave the area. In addition, freed blacks were not allowed to enter North Carolina from other states. The slave owners feared these freed blacks would encourage those still enslaved to rebel against their masters. Even with this restriction, rebellions did occur. In 1831, Nat Turner led a slave rebellion, which incited harsher slave laws. For example, it was illegal for a slave to defend him/herself, even if the master tried to kill him/her.

It was not until the Civil War that all slaves were freed under the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. This became effective in the South after its defeat and during the Reconstruction period. North Carolina abolished slavery in December of 1865. Two years later, the Biddle Institute was established to train black ministers, and it was later renamed Johnson C. Smith University. More progress was made by 1868 when blacks were given rights enjoyed by white citizens, like owning property. The first school for blacks opened in 1882 in the basement of the Episcopal Church and had 253 black students. In 1933, the first interracial baseball game was held, signifying a slow growing acceptance of African Americans.

Finally, segregation in Charlotte began with four black students, who bravely tested the new segregation laws. They were Dorothy Counts, Gus and Girvaud Roberts, and Delois Huntley. Gus will be the only one of the four to stay until graduation. Charlotte, because of its implementation of segregation laws, became nationally known as “the city that made segregation work.” More progress was made by 1982 when the city’s first African American mayor was elected. In 1992, Mel Watt and Eva Clayton were the first African Americans elected to Congress from North Carolina.

he city’s suburban growth can be accredited to Edward Dilworth Latta, who introduced the concept in 1876. He, with the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company, or the Four C’s, also developed trolley transportation, making this growth to Charlotte possible. Today, there are almost 200 neighborhoods, the main ones of which include Dilworth, Cherry, Biddleville, Myers Park, Elizabeth, Plaza Midwood, and Washington Heights to name a few.

Political History

When Mecklenburg County was created in December of 1762, Thomas Polk wanted Charlotte to be the county’s seat. This would ensure continued growth and prosperity for the town, and make it the main trade city. The citizens accomplished this when it was incorporated in November of 1768, and a courthouse and prison were built. The town was named after Queen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife of King George III, to curry his favor, even though many of the settlers did not necessarily agree with British laws.

By the 1770s, colonists were feeling an increasing alienation from Britain. The Crown’s desire to maintain a strong hold on the colonies lead to a series of acts that increased taxation on the colonists and reduced their personal freedoms. The colonists divided between the Rebels and Tories, provoking unrest as these groups clashed. 

Charlotte, by this time, had attracted many clergymen who were active in the “independence movement.” These ministers took opportunities to include independence rhetoric in their sermons, which planted the seeds of independence in the minds of the town’s citizens. 

Queens College was established in 1771, but by 1773, King George III had revoked the College’s charter, which approved its operation, and revoked the right of Presbyterian ministers to perform marriages. Direct attacks, like this one, no doubt increased tension between the colonists and Britain. In response, Charlotte participated in the colonial boycott of Britain. By May 20, 1775, the citizens of Charlotte had already decided they wanted independence, and they signed what was known at the “Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.” It predates the joint Declaration of Independence by more than a year. There is dispute over whether or not this document ever existed, but it might have, considering that on May 31, 1775, the “Mecklenburg Resolves”, a series of new laws to govern this independent town, were drafted.

In September of 1780, Lord General Charles Cornwallis, commander of British forces in the South, marched his army into Charlotte. He expected to be greeted by loyal followers of the Crown, but instead he was met with strong opposition. He encountered American Major William Davie leading a band of 150 rebel soldiers. They fought a small skirmish at the Mecklenburg Courthouse and the rebels were forced to disperse. Despite their departure, the citizens of Charlotte, who did not support the British, continued to harass them. When he finally left in October of 1780, he called Charlotte "a damned hornet's nest of rebellion,” a nickname that survives to this day.

Dozens of battles were fought afterwards, between the British and rebel forces, as General Nathanael Green, commander of the American forces in the South, prevented Cornwallis from getting the supplies desperately needed by his army. Finally, on October 19, 1781, Cornwallis was defeated by American forces, aided by the French, at Yorktown, Virginia. The Treaty of Paris, formally ending the war between Britain and the colonies and acknowledging the colonies' independence, was signed on September 3, 1783.

At the end of the Revolution, several things concerned not only the citizens of Charlotte, but also those of the entire South. Many were concerned about the slaves and whether or not they would be granted freedom. There were also concerns with the Articles of Confederation, which no longer accommodated to the needs of the colonies. A new constitution was drafted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by delegates from all of the colonies except Rhode Island. North Carolina did not ratify this new constitution until two years after the ratification process began.

During the Civil War, North Carolina seceded in 1851 and was the tenth state out of eleven to do so. Charlotte served as the Confederate Naval Yard when it was sent inland when Confederates feared losing Norfolk to the Union. The Naval Yard is destroyed in an explosion in January of 1864, and its causes remain unknown. In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis held the last Confederate Cabinet meeting in Charlotte. When the Civil War finally ended in 1865, there was a panic in Charlotte. Union soldiers ran around drunk, those who lost their worldly possessions looted, and slaves ran away leaving no one to harvest the crops. Order was restored with the arrival of Captain McRunyan, signaling the start of the Reconstruction period in the South. Union soldiers would not leave Charlotte until 1867.  

Economic History

The first industry brought into the area was a rifle factory, started by two men from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Otherwise, Charlotte’s economy, as with much of the South, was dependent on agriculture, and not trade and industry. “Urban centers” were small towns that were usually located on rivers.

Slavery at this time was a legal and accepted practice. The official sale of slaves in Mecklenburg County started in 1764, with the sale of an African man for 75 pounds. The farmers and large plantation owners relied on the slaves as farmhands. In addition, the men learned skills such as woodworking, blacksmithing, and masonry, while the women were seamstresses and cooks. This made them virtually indispensable to plantation life and the Southern economy.

By 1786, the growing community of almost three hundred was served by a flour and saw mill, rifle factory, merchants, tailors, weavers, and blacksmiths. Mecklenburg County took part in the agricultural revolution that shaped urban development of the South. An example of this was the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, which helped to clean cotton quickly and cheaply. This was beneficial to the county's thirty plantations and dozens of small farms. Charlotte, in time, became a ginning center, paving the way for its textile industry.

There were also two other major events that lifted Charlotte out of its periphery plantation economy, the first of which was the discovery of gold. It is said that in 1799, a man named John Reed found a seventeen pound stone on his farm, twenty-five miles east of Charlotte. He tried to have it identified that same year, but was unsuccessful. It wasn't until he took it to a jeweler sometime between 1801 and 1802 that it was found to contain gold. He sold it for only $3.50, a complete rip-off, considering the amount of gold in the stone was worth around $3,000. Whatever the truth may be, it was not long after this that the nation experienced its first gold rush, making Charlotte a center for US gold production. Production was so heavy that President Andrew Jackson authorized the establishment of a US Mint branch in Charlotte, which was completed in 1837. The mint attracted banks to Charlotte, the first of which opened in 1834. Gold fever would last in Charlotte until the discovery of gold in California in 1845, and production ceased around 1910. Today, investors still hold mines, waiting for the gold price to rise.

The second event was the coming of the railroad. In 1854, the State of North Carolina began work on a state owned railroad. Charlotte became an important junction and it gave the town an advantage over other towns similar to it. By 1877, the Carolina Central Railroad stretched from Charlotte to Wilmington, a distance of two hundred miles. It was later expanded to stretch from Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia. More lines, as well as other advancements in transportation, would appear in Charlotte as its economic growth attracted several business sectors.

Charlotte survived the Civil War virtually untouched and instead of experiencing economic downturn, Charlotte experienced a boost. It became a center for wartime industry. The Mecklenburg Ironworks cast Confederate cannon, while others made gunpowder, chemicals, woolen goods, and canteens. The Naval Ordinance Works provided blacksmith and foundry services, along with machine shops and rigging. The city also produced locomotives, textiles, farm machinery parts, and continued to mine. After the war, the city continued to experience a boom. Money flowed in from reopened gold mines and capital from northern industrialists seeded development. This boom was not limited to Charlotte, as it occurred nation-wide, and this prosperity would tie Charlotte’s economy to that of the nation. Charlotte capabilities during war were also put to use during both World Wars.

As mentioned previously, Charlotte’s textile industry became massive, and took over after gold fever had diminished. In 1876, Edward Dilworth Latta opened a clothing store in Charlotte, just before starting the Four C’s. Other department stores that followed were Belk and Efird, which later merged with Belk. In 1882, D.A. Tompkins designed and built over one hundred cotton mills. By 1903, over half of the nation’s textile production was located within a hundred mile radius of Charlotte.

The banking industry developed around the time of the gold rush. The banks provided capital for new development, not only in Charlotte, but also the entire Piedmont region. By 1897, Charlotte National Bank opened. The Federal Reserve opened in Charlotte in 1927, bringing prestige and allowing the city’s banks to grow. Even before the opening of the Federal Reserve, Charlotte had more banks, capital, deposits, and resources than any other city in North Carolina.

This page was last updated: Tuesday May 02, 2006