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Rural No More 1853-1860

1856 - Women's Education

The Charlotte Female Institute opens to educate young women. The school building at the corner of Ninth and College streets will be used in 1896 to start Presbyterian College for Women. In 1912, the school will move to a suburban campus on Queens Road in the Myers Park neighborhood.Charlotte Female Institute

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1860 - The Decline of Slavery

Some slaves are granted their freedom, called manumission, from their owners. Local laws give newly freed blacks 90 days to leave the area. Some travel east to the coastal cities and look for work. Others move west, hoping to find land and opportunity. The number of free blacks is increasing faster than the number of slaves. Lawmakers worry that free blacks are encouraging slaves to run away from their owners, so a law is passed prohibiting free blacks from entering North Carolina from other states.Pamphlet on Slavery

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1860 - A House Divided

November, 1860 - Abraham Lincoln is elected president. He vows to end the spread of slavery and to keep the United States, or Union, from splitting apart over the controversy. But the economic impact on the South will be enormous if slavery is outlawed. Unlike the North, there are few laborers for hire to work on the South's farms. One by one, 11 Southern states will break away from the U.S.

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1860 - Medical Advances

Physicians are learning better ways to treat the sick. An anesthetic, called ether was discovered in 1845. Now, surgeons can operate on patients without causing undue pain. Still, communicable diseases can be deadly. This year, 761 North Carolinians will die of the fevers and coughs of tuberculosis, often called consumption.

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1860 - Secession

December 20, 1860 - South Carolina declares it is no longer part of the United States! Next month, six other Southern states soon follow. Those who leave, or secede, join together and form the Confederate States of America, or C.S.A. They no longer believe in the U.S. government. For the time being, North Carolina remains in the Union.

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1853 - Distinguished Citizen

His motto is Push, Pluck and Perseverance. Jewish store owner Samuel Wittkowsky is one of Charlotte's earliest civic boosters. As a friend of Governor Zebulon Vance, this European immigrant will intervene with those who want Vance arrested at the end of the Civil War. The building and loan company Wittkowsky organizes will one day become Home Federal Savings. 

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1854 - Mint History

Sparks from a furnace ignite the roof of Charlotte's Mint. Luckily, the fire is quickly discovered and doused. The Mint is spared the destruction of the fire that broke out ten years ago in 1844. But another twist of fate awaits this regional branch of the U.S. Mint. Soon it will be taken over by the Southern states who break away, or secede, from the U.S. during the War Between the States.

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