William A. Link, North Carolina: Change and Tradition in a Southern State (2009)

William A. Link, North Carolina: Change and Tradition in a Southern State (2009)

In William Link’s North Carolina: Change and Tradition in a Southern State he gives an overview of North Carolina’s history that covers the colonial period through the twenty first century. “Part Three: The Civil War Crisis,” includes social changes and political parties during the antebellum period, and the Civil War.
When highlighting the social changes before the war, he places large emphasis on the divisions between Western and Eastern North Carolina. He attributes that division to class inequalities and political corruption. He goes into detail about the state constitutions of 1776 and 1835 and how they enabled that corruption to exist. Agriculture was another factor that Link believes increased class distinctions.
Link includes various sources to support the information he provides in his book. He cites diary articles, political documents, speeches, and census data. Also, he includes pictures, maps, and recommended readings for further information on each chapter.

William A. Link

William A. Link, “Part Three: The Civil War Crisis,” North Carolina: Change and Tradition in a Southern State (Wheeling, Illinois: Harlan Davidson inc., 2009).

2009-XX-XX

Haslam, Miranda

Document

North Carolina

Western North Carolina

Eastern North Carolina

Book

In North Carolina, the constitution of 1776 had institutionalized the supremacy of the legislature, which exerted uncontested power over state courts and the executive by annually electing governors and appointing superior court judges.
By 1815, although a majority of the state’s whites lives west of Raleigh, most political power remained with easterners.
The [three-fifths clause] ensured continued dominance, through control of the state senate, of the general Assembly by wealthier eastern slaveholding counties.