The City of Raleigh

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            During colonial times, cities would spring up all over the place in the thirteen original colonies.  Most of the time, these cities just happened as a result of a lot of people living in close proximity to each other and growing from there.  Raleigh, North Carolina, however, is an exception to this common theme.  Raleigh was created to be the planned capital city of North Carolina in 1972 by the State of North Carolina.  The reason for this planned capital was that North Carolina’s General Assembly decided that the state needed a centralized, permanent location in order to manage state government.  Once this was decided, the state purchased 1,000 acres of land from a landowner in Wake County named Joel Lane on March 30, 1792.  The city plan was developed and approved that December, and was officially named “Raleigh” after the sixteenth-century English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh.  Raleigh would grow to become one of the most desired places to live and work in the country.

            Although the city grew slowly at first, as time went by it became more than just a city of government.  Businesses began to open all over Raleigh including inns, taverns, and other services and basic needs.  Store began to replace residences downtown, and commerce became a big part of the capital.  This expansion and creation of new businesses was directed toward consumers up until the Civil War.

            On May 20, 1861, North Carolina seceded from the Union and became part of the Confederacy in the Civil War.  Raleigh had the first training camp in the state, resulting in thousands of North Carolina residents arriving there to train for the war.  Raleigh, however, was fortunate enough to not have received the devastating demolition that other southern capitals experienced.  This was because by the time General William T. Sherman of the Union arrived in Raleigh, the Confederate general Robert E. Lee had already surrendered in Virginia.  Raleigh still played a very important roll in the Civil War, and was hurt by the loss of the war.

            After the Civil War, Raleigh tried to expand economically through manufacturing.  Despite these efforts, it did not really thrive as a manufacturing base like many other cities in North Carolina.  Instead, it became a center of family businesses, which provided slow and steady economic growth for the city.  Raleigh experienced a movement of different publishing establishments, which helped with communication and advertisement.  Over time, Raleigh evolved into the social nucleus of the state.  People from all over the state would come to downtown Raleigh for the rich culture it offered.  This included, opera, motion pictures, shopping, and other entertainment.

            Not only did Raleigh establish itself as the governmental and cultural center of the state, but also the educational center.  Women’s colleges such as Peace College and Meredith College, black colleges like Shaw University and St. Augustine’s college, and a large land grant university in North Carolina State University all helped the city’s standing in this department.  Raleigh was a pivotal provider in the world wars, offering sons, money, and time.  It did benefit from World War II once it was over, as it experienced a housing boom, which led to population growth.  Research Triangle Park was established and made Raleigh a high-tech research city.

            Despite all of these changes, the event that affected Raleigh the most in history would be the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s.  Black students and activists performed public protests all over the city.  They paraded through the streets, drank out of white water fountains, and went into white restaurants all to ensure equal rights for all citizens.  These actions made sure that the Jim Crow laws were abolished and that the city of Raleigh would soon have legislation that would safeguard all people, no matter their race.  After this monumental change in culture, Raleigh continued to expand over the next few decades, while remaining the core cultural focus of North Carolina, as well as one of the most important cities in the South, and in the county.

Works Cited

Peters, Ken. "North Carolina History Project : City of Raleigh." North Carolina History Project : Encyclopedia. Raleigh City Museum, 23 Feb. 2006. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.