WHAT NICKNAMES HAVE
NORTH CAROLINA BEEN
GIVEN?
The Tar Heel State
The Old North State
The
Rip Van Winkle
State
 Show from for three minutes
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJtqoEHGGF8
You will determine why North
Carolina was called the “Rip
Van Winkle State” in the early
1800’s and create a political
cartoon that will influence NC
citizens to take action.
Areas in which NC
needed
improvement
Causes
NC was:
 Internal improvements
 Rural
 Agriculture
 Conservative
 Manufacturing/industry
 Poor
 Education
 Government
Effects
• NC was nicknamed the Rip
Van Winkle State
• Many NC citizens emigrated
The Rip Van Winkle State
North Carolina: 1800-1840
I.
Internal Improvements
A. improve roads and build railroads
and canals
B. clear and deepen shallow rivers to
make them navigable
C. needed to connect markets, state,
and east/west
The Rip Van Winkle State
North Carolina: 1800-1840
II. Agriculture
A. western farmers were landlocked
B. unnavigable rivers
C. swampy land in the east
D. mostly small farms
E. fewer slaves than most southern states
III. Manufacturing – Industry
A. money needed to build factories
B. difficult to transport goods to market
The Rip Van Winkle State
North Carolina: 1800-1840
IV.
Education
A. one-third of all white adults were illiterate
B. few schools, teachers, and books
C. attendance was not mandatory
V.
Government
A. state legislature had one representative per county
B. most counties were in the east = wealthy eastern
planters in control
1. easterners had more developed markets and
transportation
2. easterners were unwilling to pay taxes and
make reforms
The Rip Van Winkle State
North Carolina: 1800-1840
VI.Emigration – many North Carolinians left the
state
A. not a lot of economic opportunity
B. not as democratic as other state governments
C. rural, conservative, and poor
D. isolated due to an underdeveloped
transportation system
VII.
Archibald DeBow Murphey
A. teacher, lawyer, judge, Senator
B. created a plan to improve North Carolina
1. internal improvements – construct harbors,
canals, and turnpikes
2. agriculture – drain swampland in the east
3. education – established public schools in
the west and created a literary fund
4. government – called for constitutional
reforms to create a more democratic
government
C. his plan was rejected due to a conservative
legislature, but his ideas would later influence
political changes
What IB Learner Profiles
does he relate to?
Explain how he relates.
Why might North
Carolina be called the
Rip Van Winkle State
today?
 A POLITICAL CARTOON is an
illustration that uses symbols to
address an issue and influence people’s
opinion. (You should not have to
provide an explanation of your visual; it
should speak for itself.)
Using the concept of the story of Rip Van
Winkle, your notes and pages 282-292 in your
North Carolina text, draw a political cartoon
that may have been published in a NC journal in
the early 1800’s that represents why North
Carolina was called the Rip Van Winkle State.
Remember, North Carolina was “behind the
times”, “not progressing like the rest of the
nation”, “dormant”, “rural, conservative, and
poor”, “unwilling to make changes”, . . .
DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
Clearly demonstrates one of the problems
that caused NC to be called the Rip Van
Winkle state.
Everything in the illustration is
representative of the time period (early
1800’s).
Causes citizens of NC to be ashamed and
want to take action.