Explanation:From the 1650s to the 1770s, the Coastal Plain Region of the land we now call North Carolina changed greatly. European American settlers began arriving, pushing back the Native Americans who had lived there for thousands of years. Against their will, many Africans and African Americans were forced to settle in the area as slaves. They came with European settlers from other colonies or were imported from other countries.
What is the North Carolina Coastal Plain? The plain stretches from the present-day Virginia border to the present-day South Carolina border. It reaches inland from the Atlantic Ocean to the fall line, which roughly follows the western edges of present-day Northampton, Halifax, Nash, Johnston, Harnett, Hoke, and Scotland Counties. The Coastal Plain can be divided into three subregions: the Albemarle, the middle Coastal Plain, and the Cape Fear. Each of these subregions has a different geography and a different history of settlement.
The Albemarle
Dismal swamp canal
Tefft, Michael. March 28, 2009. "Dismal Swamp Canal, North Carolina."
The first part of North Carolina to be settled by European Americans was the Albemarle. The Albemarle extends from the border with Virginia to the north shore of the Albemarle Sound.
After the failed Roanoke colonies in the 1580s, the English focused on colonizing present-day Virginia. But in the mid-1600s, Virginians began exploring and acquiring land in the Albemarle area. Why did they begin settling there? Most hoped to find better farmland and to make money by trading with the Native Americans. By 1655 Nathaniel Batts, a trader with the Indians, became at least a temporary resident of Carolana. The first permanent inhabitants were probably John Harvey and his family, who were living in the area by 1659. As more Virginians moved into the Albemarle, its population grew to several hundred settlers by the 1660s.
In 1663 King Charles II granted Carolina to eight prominent Englishmen, who were called the Lords Proprietors of Carolina. Settlement was slow in the first decades of the Lords Proprietors' rule. High taxes, uncertainty about land titles, attacks by Native Americans, and inefficient government all discouraged immigration and settlement.
The difficulty of traveling into Carolina also discouraged immigration. The Outer Banks, which are barrier islands along the coast, were dangerous to ships and discouraged immigration by sea. Many ships ran aground in the shallow waters near these islands. The Great Dismal Swamp, poor roads, and rivers that were difficult to navigate also made traveling difficult.
But settlers did find ways to migrate into the area. Many from Virginia traveled by land or journeyed up the Elizabeth and Nansemond Rivers and down the Chowan River. Others may have come to Carolina by ship, sailing from other colonies along the Atlantic coast and passing through the Outer Banks at Currituck and Roanoke Inlets.
