Read more about the article Internal Improvements and the Soul of America

Internal Improvements and the Soul of America

North Carolina's 1800s debate over internal improvements – essentially a public policy debate over transportation infrastructure – was often a tactical battle over a specific canal, turnpike or railroad project. But it was also a broad referendum on the soul of America, and that aspect of the 1800's debate lives on even today.

Read more about the article North Carolina’s First Railroads, part 1: Anticipation & Resistance

North Carolina’s First Railroads, part 1: Anticipation & Resistance

In the late 1820s and early 1830s, there was great public excitement about the prospect of building North Carolina's first railroads. Our state was one of the first to show interest in the new technology. But powerful conservative voices resisted the intrusion of this modern contraption into a hallowed economic and social order. It would be a decade before North Carolina had an operational railroad.