The Carolinas
—  Region  —
Country	USA
U.S. state	North Carolina
U.S. state	South Carolina
Colonized as Province of Carolina	1663
Population
• Total	13,942,126
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)

"The Carolinas" is a term used in the United States to refer collectively to the states of North Carolina (NC) and South Carolina (SC). Combining NC's population of 9,535,483 and SC's of 4,625,364, the Carolinas have a population of 14,160,847 as of the 2010 U.S. census. If the Carolinas were a state it would be the fifth most populous state, behind California, Texas, New York, and Florida. The Carolinas were known as the Province of Carolina during America's early colonial period, from 1663–1710. Prior to that, the land was considered part of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, from 1609–63. The province, named Carolina to honor King Charles I of England, was divided into SC and NC in 1729, although the actual date is the subject of debate.^[1]

Culture[link]

The culture of the Carolinas is a distinct subset of larger Southern culture. Notably, the coastal Carolina region was settled by Europeans over a century before the inland regions of the South,^[2] and was influenced by the culture of the Caribbean, especially Barbados; many of the early governors during the unified period were Barbadians.^[3] Though the two states are often grouped together as a region of the south,^{[citation needed][who?]} there are historically a number of significant differences in the settlement patterns, political development, and economic growth of the two states. For example, during the Civil War, SC was the first Southern state to secede from the Union,^[4] while NC was the last state to secede.^[5] During the war, SC was generally one of the strongest supporters of the Confederacy. Many North Carolinians (especially in the western part of the state), however, refused to support the Confederacy at all; they either remained neutral or covertly supported the Union during the war. NC's Civil War governor, Zebulon Vance, was an outspoken critic of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and frequently refused to obey Davis's orders for reinforcements and supplies; Vance insisted the soldiers and supplies were needed in NC.^[6] Nevertheless, NC lost more soldiers in the Civil War than any other state in the Confederacy.

Politics[link]

During most of the 20th century, SC was a bastion of the "solid Democratic South" with almost no Republican officeholders, and the state frequently elected politicians who were outspoken supporters of racial segregation. NC, while mostly Democratic, contained a large Republican minority – the state voted Republican in the presidential election of 1928 and elected several Republican congressmen, governors, and senators from 1868–1928 – and NC was widely known as one of the more progressive Southern states on the issue of segregation and civil rights. In 1947, the famous journalist John Gunther wrote, "that North Carolina is by a good deal the most progressive Southern state will, I imagine, be agreed to by almost everybody."^[7] On the other hand, he described South Carolina as "one of the poorest American states, and probably one of the balkiest."^[7] In describing the differences between the two states, Gunther noted that, in 1947, divorce in North Carolina "may be granted simply on the ground of absence of cohabitation; South Carolina is the one American state in which divorce is not possible."^[7] NC's nickname for many years was "a vale of humility between two mountains of conceit"; the "mountains" were Virginia and South Carolina.^[7]

Despite these differences, NC and SC are the country's two most politically similar states, according to a comparison of the states along a range of 19 variables performed by the statistician Nate Silver.^[8]

Economy[link]

Traditionally, like much of the South, the Carolinas have been agricultural.^[9] However, the predominance of certain crops has influenced the regional economy:^{[citation needed]}

Like other [Southern] states, until after World War II NC remained primarily a region of small farms and factories heavily dependent on just a few labor-intensive crops, relying on sharecropping and tenancy, especially for black laborers. The Carolinas are distinct for their economic dependence on tobacco as well as on cotton and rice, and for their many small-scale furniture, textile, and tobacco factories.

These small industries gave the Carolinas, in particular NC, a more significant industrial base than most Southern states, but as increased mechanization in the textiles, apparel, and furniture industries combined with the decline of the tobacco industry,^[10] many rural and small urban communities suffered.^[11] However, during the 1990s, both states began to experience growth in the technological and banking sectors, bringing jobs and population growth.^[12] These changes, as with earlier industrialization, were more pronounced in the northern state, and SC has experienced a slower rate of economic growth for several years.^[13]

Professional sports[link]

The Carolinas have three professional sports teams in the Big Four major leagues. Supported by the both states, the three teams are all based in NC, two in Charlotte and the third in Raleigh. All of the sports teams are fairly recent additions; the oldest team, the NFL's Panthers, was established in 1995, while the youngest, the Bobcats, was added to the NBA in 2004. Of all the teams, the Hurricanes are the most successful, being the only team with a championship. The New Orleans Hornets are the only former team in the big four leagues, playing in the NBA and were based in Charlotte from 1988 to 2002.

The Carolinas are home to a number of NBA superstars, such as Chris Paul, James Worthy, John Wall, and Michael Jordan (from NC) and Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal, Ray Allen, and Raymond Felton (from SC). Six of these players are All Stars, four are NBA champions, and John Wall and James Worthy were the Number 1 draft picks in the 2010 NBA Draft and 1982 NBA Draft, respectively. An abnormal amount of basketball players come from here, on par with the big cities like New York and Los Angeles. While the Bobcats do little to generate buzz in the Carolinas, they are home to two of the most successful collegiate men's basketball teams in the NCAA, the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Duke Blue Devils, who have a fierce rivalry but have combined to win 6 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships (NC State has 2, Duke has 4).

Boundary between the states[link]

According to the Prefatory Notes to Volume 5 of the Colonial Records of North Carolina, the process of determining the boundary between North and South Carolina began in 1720 "when the purpose to erect a third Province in Carolina, with Savannah for its northern boundary"^[14] began. On January 8, 1730^[15] an agreement between the two states said for the border "to begin 30 miles southwest of the Cape Fear river, and to be run at that parallel distance the whole course of said river;" The next June Governor Robert Johnson of South Carolina said the border should start 30 miles southwest of the source of the Cape Fear "due west as far as the South Sea," unless the "Waccamaw river lyes [sic] within 30 miles of the Cape Fear river,"^[14] which would make the Waccamaw the boundary. North Carolina agreed to this until the discovery that the Cape Fear headwaters were very close to Virginia, which would not have "permitted any extension on the part of North Carolina to the westward."^[14] In 1732, Governor George Burrington of North Carolina stated in Timothy's Southern Gazette that territory north of the Waccamaw was in North Carolina, to which Johnson replied that South Carolina claimed the land. Johnson also said that when the two met before the Board of Trade in London two years earlier, Burrington had "insisted that the Waccamaw should be the boundary from its mouth to its head,"^[14] while South Carolina agreed the border should be located 30 miles from the mouth, not the source. Johnson said this was "only a mistake in wording it."^[14]

Both Carolinas selected commissioners to survey the line between them. The plan called for the line to run northwest to 35 degrees latitude, unless the Pee Dee River was reached first, in which case it would run along the Pee Dee to 35 degrees north. Then the line would run west to Catawba town, though if the town were north of the line the line was to run around Catawba to keep it in South Carolina.

In May 1735, the surveyors went from the Cape Fear westward thirty miles along the coast. Then they turned northwest and marked the location with stakes. The surveyors agreed to meet again on September 18. However, only the North Carolina team returned at that time, extending the line northwest 70 miles. The South Carolina team arrived in October and only followed the previous line for 40 miles because they had not been paid. A deputy surveyor marked where the Pee Dee crossed the 35th parallel.

An extension of the line in 1737 ran 22 miles to a stake in a meadow. In 1764, a second extension ran 62 miles westward. In 1772, after making adjustments to keep the Catawba Indians in South Carolina, "extended in a due west course from the confluence of the north and south forks of the Catawba River to Tryon Mountain."^[14] North Carolina did not agree to the line of 1772 until 1813. Joseph Caldwell, president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that the line west of the Pee Dee did not run along the 35th parallel, but 12 miles to the south. However, the western part of the line ran far enough to the north to make up for the difference.^[14]

A 1905 survey determined the border between Scotland County, North Carolina and Marlboro County, South Carolina. A 1928 survey decided the border between Horry County, South Carolina and Brunswick and Columbus counties in North Carolina.^[16]

Recent history[link]

In the mid-1990s, Duke Energy determined that the border between the Carolinas needed to be re-surveyed, as the company was selling and donating land in the Jocassee Gorge area, which included parts of both states. Also, with more people living outside cities, the precise boundaries of fire, tax, and school district lines needed to be known. This was especially a problem in the mountains, where people had previously lived in valleys, not on the ridges where the border was. A 15-year plan to re-establish the boundary began, using maps from the 1813-1815 survey and GPS technology. A few stone markers still read, "NC/SC 1815 AD"^[17] but other locations were marked with trees which no longer stand.

After 18 years and $980,000, the process of determining the border between the Carolinas should be complete in 2012.^[16] 30 homes and a gas station could change states. The gas station has been located in South Carolina, along Highway 321, and the move to North Carolina would make the price of gas higher and change laws on beer and fireworks.^[18]

See also[link]

• Cuisine of the Southern United States
• Politics of the Southern United States
• Southern American English
• The Dakotas

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• John Gunther. Inside USA, Harper & Brothers, 1947.