Plenty of NC history to celebrate this July Fourth

Did you know that the wire tip of a sparkler burns at more than 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit?

So when you’re lighting up the night on July Fourth with the family, keep the children safe, and make sure you use that little-known fact to begin a conversation with them about how North Carolina played a key role in lighting a fire in the fight to break away from King George III’s British Empire — the most powerful empire on Earth at that time in 1776.

2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in North Carolina — the Semiquincentennial (maybe you can see how many people at your Fourth of July party know that word). There is a lot going on, and the John Locke Foundation’s NC250 initiative seeks to make sure our state’s residents are made aware of North Carolina’s contributions to the struggle for independence, the ideals of individual freedoms and liberty, and the shaping of the American Republic.

Most people have little knowledge of how much Revolutionary-era history took place in the towns and counties of early colonial North Carolina. NC250 will be taking you on a journey through that critical part of our state’s roots in the next few years. Already celebrations have occurred and a video has been produced highlighting the bravery of North Carolina women in the town of Edenton in 1775. These brave women wrote a provocative letter to King George telling him they would no longer drink tea because of the egregious “tea tax” — an act that served to agitate British royals and Parliament every bit as much as the more-written-about Boston Tea Party.

So many of today’s North Carolina cities were once colonial towns that have rich Revolutionary and colonial-era history. There’s Charlotte, where brave citizens declared themselves “free and independent” of the English Crown on May 20, 1775. Greensboro was the site of the one of the influential battles of the Revolution. Wilmington was home to some of the inflammatory agitators in the colony and a site of British occupation during the war. There’s New Bern, the colony’s royal capital during the Revolution’s early years. Hillsborough served as the colony’s wartime capital. Fayetteville — or Cross Creek, as it was known then — was a center of activity, as were Salisbury and the Moravian towns around what became Winston-Salem.

NC250 will be promoting activities in the months leading into 2026 and hoping that you will be encouraged to participate in some in your local area. We believe it is important for our children to understand that the brave patriots who risked their lives in 1776 weren’t playing some role in a historical movie when they signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, saying, “[W]e mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” 

These patriots faced being charged with and possibly even executed for treason if they were arrested for signing that document.

So, have a time of great fun. Enjoy watermelon, ice cream, fireworks, and watersports this July Fourth. But at some point, take the time to tell somebody about the upcoming milestone anniversary of this great American achievement.

Follow us and join in as we celebrate NC250.

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