North Carolina Enters the Union
On November 21, 1789, North Carolina was admitted as the 12th state of the union. It had been the first state to reject the Constitution, but finally ratified after the Bill of Rights was created.
Civil War
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Birth of President James Garfield
The last of the “log cabin presidents,” James A. Garfield was born November 19, 1831, near Cleveland, Ohio, to impoverished farmers. Rising from those humble beginnings, he forged a remarkable path as a scholar, Civil War general, and eventually the country’s 20th president.
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Birth of Margaret Mitchell
On November 8, 1900, future novelist Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Decades later, she would capture the world’s imagination with her sweeping Civil War epic Gone With the Wind.
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Civil War Battle for Harpers Ferry
On September 12, 1862, the Civil War Battle for Harpers Ferry began. Though the Confederate attack was successful, Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the North ultimately failed.
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Birth of Jane Addams
Social worker Jane Addams was born on September 6, 1860, in Cedarville, Illinois. She was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and is often considered the founder of the profession of social work in America.
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Birth of John Ericsson
John (Johan) Ericsson was born on July 31, 1803, in Värmland, Sweden. He was an inventor and ship designer, most famous for his ironclad ship Monitor, which participated in the Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads.
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Birth of Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét was born on July 22, 1898, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he’s best known for his historically inspired poems, short stories, and novels.
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Siege of Port Hudson Ends
On July 9, 1863, Confederate forces surrendered Port Hudson, Louisiana, ending a 48-day siege. The longest siege in American history, the victory returned control of the Mississippi River to the Union.
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The Revenue Act of 1862
On July 1, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1862 into law, to help fund the Civil War. Revenue stamps remained in use off an on for a century, paying the tax on a wide variety of items.
