<P> During the first half of the nineteenth century , North Carolina remained a rural state , with no cities and few villages . Most whites operated small subsistence farms , but the eastern part of the state had a growing class of planters , especially after 1800 when cotton became highly profitable due to the invention of the cotton gin , which enabled cultivation of short - staple cotton in the uplands . All cotton cultivation as a commodity crop was dependent on the slave labor of African Americans . Politically the state was highly democratic , as heated elections pitted the Democratic east versus the Whiggish west . After the fire and ensuing battle on Fort Sumter in April 1861 , North Carolina seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America . More soldiers from North Carolina fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War than from any other state , but few major battles were fought here . During the early years of Reconstruction , strides were made at integrating the newly freed slaves into society . Whites regained political power by violence and in 1899 , disfranchised blacks through a new constitution , imposing Jim Crow and white supremacy . </P>
<P> During the first half of the nineteenth century , North Carolina remained a rural state , with no cities and few villages . Most whites operated small subsistence farms , but the eastern part of the state had a growing class of planters , especially after 1800 when cotton became highly profitable due to the invention of the cotton gin , which enabled cultivation of short - staple cotton in the uplands . All cotton cultivation as a commodity crop was dependent on the slave labor of African Americans . Politically the state was highly democratic , as heated elections pitted the Democratic east versus the Whiggish west . After the fire and ensuing battle on Fort Sumter in April 1861 , North Carolina seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America . More soldiers from North Carolina fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War than from any other state , but few major battles were fought here . During the early years of Reconstruction , strides were made at integrating the newly freed slaves into society . Whites regained political power by violence and in 1899 , disfranchised blacks through a new constitution , imposing Jim Crow and white supremacy . </P>
during the first political party -- in the early republic before the 1820s -- most north carolinians were
during the first political party -- in the early republic before the 1820s -- most north carolinians were
democratic
democratic