Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

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Nation: America 1782-1819

1782 - Questions Arise

Now that the British have surrendered to the Americans, what will happen to the black men who fought in the Revolutionary War? Most slaves who were captured are returned to their masters. But the British agree to hear arguments, called appeals, from the black men. The British give money to the slave masters and grant freedom to those blacks who helped them. 'Liberty to slaves:' The black response By Jeffrey J. Crow

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1783 - Peace

September 3, 1783 - Great Britain has no choice. By signing the Treaty of Paris today, it must finally recognize the United States as a free and sovereign nation, as proclaimed by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The U.S. borders now reach west to the Mississippi River, north to Canada, and south to Florida.

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1795 - Birth of a President

November 2, 1795 - James Knox Polk is born in Mecklenburg County. He is a descendant of Scottish religious reformer John Knox . As the 11th President of the United States, the country grows in size by half a million square miles with the inclusion of Texas, New Mexico and California.

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1799 - Discovery of Gold

Twelve-year-old Conrad Reed finds a large, glittery rock in a stream 25 miles northeast of Charlotte. His father, John, asks a silversmith to identify the 17-pound stone, but no one knows what it is. The Reed family uses the pretty rock for a doorstop. It will be more than two years before anyone realizes what it contains: gold!

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1810 - Second Mecklenburg County Courthouse

The Second Courthouse was built by John Dow in 1810 in the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets. . . . The Second Courthouse was the place of enforcement of judgments. The whipping post, pillory, and stocks stoood on the street outside the courthouse, in full view of the judge from his bench inside the Courthouse.

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1792 - First Charlotte Post Office

A branch of the U.S. Postal Service is established in Charlotte. It is the first year that local officials take an oath to the U.S. government.

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1810 - Iron Industry

Vesuvius Furnace, Tizrah Forge and Rehoboth Furnace are the iron works in Mecklenburg County that melt metal and form it into useful items. Not everyone uses money to pay for goods they buy. Some people bring wagons full of woven cloth and cured meat to trade for cook pots, rifles and cannonballs.Mecklenburg Iron Works

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1812 - War of 1812 Begins

Decades after the end of the Revolutionary War, Britain still tries to control U.S. trade. Indians are attacking settlers in the Northwest Territory, and some Americans believe the British are giving weapons to the Indians. While the Revolutionary War was fought to win freedom from British rule, the War of 1812 will earn the U.S. its economic place in the world.

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1780 - Mecklenburg Communities

With the Revolutionary War now over, citizens work hard for a better life in the growing Charlotte- Mecklenburg communities. Schools are established in Sugaw Creek, Rocky River, Poplar Tent, Steele Creek, Hopewell, Beatties Ford, Providence, Clear Creek and Charlottetown communities.Old-Field Schools

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1812 - WAR!

June 18, 1812 - The United States of America declares war on Great Britain, its former ruler!

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