Ancestry has added new "communities":

Started by Cynthia Curtis, A183502, US7875087 on Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Showing all 8 posts

Love this newest one I just got:

"Southeast Alabama to Southeast North Carolina Settlers

Community
Southeast Alabama to Southeast North Carolina Settlers

You, and all the members of this community, are linked through shared ancestors. You probably have family who lived in this area for years—and maybe still do.
The more specific places within this region where your family was likely from.

Southeast North Carolina Settlers

Community History
The Carolinas and Alabama were settled by European immigrants, primarily from England, Germany, and Scotland, who hoped to profit from the fertile land, especially after Native people had been forcibly removed. Agriculture and slave plantations were the backbone of these economies, making them major producers and exporters of cotton and tobacco. The populations grew as settlers from northern colonies moved south in search of cheap land and labor. Later, these states were at the center of the American Civil Rights Movement, as African American activists challenged the economic, social, and cultural systems of racial segregation and white supremacy that had grown out of slavery.
1700–1725
Trading with Pirates
The colony of North Carolina attracted poor immigrants from England, Switzerland, and Germany. It promised religious freedom, land ownership, and fertile soil, but only after the Tuscarora War (1711-1715) severely weakened the Tuscarora, who had been North Carolina’s most powerful political and economic players for decades. Settlers traded, negotiated, and fought with Tuscarora and others. The devastation wrought by the Tuscarora War also created the perfect conditions for the arrival of several hundred pirates, led by the famed Blackbeard. After 1718, when the South Carolina government effectively ended their reign, former pirates settled in the colony, forming families with women and children who had been widowed and orphaned in the Tuscarora War."

1725–1750
Small, Simple Farms
White colonists of German, Scottish, and Irish descent began to move into the Piedmont region of North Carolina from other colonies like Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Many settlers knew each other and established communities based on religious and ethnic affiliations. Land in the northern colonies was becoming scarce and expensive, so this region with shallow streams and narrow rivers proved perfect for mills and farms. Settlers also made use of existing thoroughfares created by Native people. Farmers often had small plots of land and grew what they needed to survive. Some settlers were artisans who practiced trades like weaving, shoemaking, blacksmithing, and saddle-making.

1750–1775
Indigo
Wealthy white colonists who made their way to South Carolina modeled the colony after Barbados. Planters first enslaved Native people before turning to enslaved African labor to produce indigo, a labor-intensive and time-consuming crop, for export to British markets. Not only did enslaved workers cultivate and process all the indigo. They built and repaired homes, hunted, fished, and gardened to feed people, and transported goods to market to sell. After being harvested, indigo leaves and stems were placed into a vat with water, then steeped, fermented, and drained. The remaining liquid was then stirred until it thickened and turned blue. African knowledge of indigo production and the skilled labor of enslaved men and women was essential to this process.

1775–1800
Violence in the Backcountry
After the Cherokee War (1759-1761), Cherokees lost much of their hunting lands to South Carolina settlers. A crime wave swept the backcountry region as groups of settlers (both women and men), and escaped slaves traveled in small groups, killing cattle and ransacking homes. In response, a group of settlers known as the “Regulators” whipped and banished suspected bandits, and sought to impose order through violence. Also, they demanded the establishment of a justice system for the backcountry and representation in the colonial administration. Regulators and their supporters were farmers, and they either enslaved Africans or aspired to.

1800–1825
Myrtle Beach’s Sandy Shores
Though a popular vacation spot now, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was fairly remote and remained unchanged for most of the 1700s. The coastal land was difficult for exporting and trading crops due to its poor road systems and rivers with inland ports. Settlers wanting to extend their plantation systems found the area challenging for building profitable farms. Despite this, some attempted to grow tobacco and indigo, though most failed, causing many settlers to pack up and move on. At a time when the whole state was producing 40 million pounds of cotton, Myrtle Beach was not the most desirable place to be. Its popularity as a tourist spot wouldn’t grow until the late 1800s.

1825–1850
Forced Expulsion
Following the Creek War (1813-1814) more than 21 million acres of land in southern Alabama were ceded to the U.S. government. So settlers migrated from South Carolina and Georgia, hoping to produce cotton on their own plantations. In doing so, they forced the migration of about a million enslaved people from the Upper South. The Alabama state legislature also passed laws extending jurisdiction into remaining Creek territories and denying Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw people civil and political rights. The federal government did nothing to stop these efforts. In fact, the U.S. government passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and violated existing treaties with the tribes to force them further west into Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).

1850–1875
Education & the Civil War
Public schooling for white children in Alabama often lacked community support and funding. For those not rich enough to hire private tutors, the options for public education were slim and sometimes non-existent. In poorer areas, insufficient money meant that schools could only stay open for five months a year. Alabama fined those who taught enslaved people to read and write, and enslaved people were prohibited from gathering in groups or leaving plantations without written permission.
During the Civil War, schooling became even more challenging for most white families because able-bodied men, including many school-age boys, joined the Confederacy. Women and young girls devoted their time to maintaining the family farm and supplying troops with clothing. After emancipation, Black Alabamians and their white allies prioritized a state-funded system of public schools for both Black and white children, but faced significant resistance from former Confederates.

Feels a bit biased but oh well.
Nice to SEE Alabama in my "communities".

Showing all 8 posts

Create a free account or login to participate in this discussion