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King Charles II & The Making of Carolina
By Don Pendergraft, Director of Regional Museums
The recent coronation of Charles III was a historic spectacle watched by people around the world. Why do we as Americans and North Carolinians care about the British monarchy?
About 360 years ago in 1663, the Albemarle region and North Carolina were born. King Charles II was back in control of the British government, Great Britain, and the colonies. He was interested in establishing a greater British presence on the Atlantic coast of North America. The British government had experienced a coup, resulting in the English Civil War and the conversion of political systems from royal rule to a republican government. The former king, Charles I, had been deposed and beheaded in 1649. The next in line to be king, his son young Charles II, fought and lost the war to continue ruling as sovereign monarch. He escaped and lived in exile in France, the homeland of his mother, remaining there for nine years during the civil experiment to govern without a royal ruling class.
This royal document granted lands to the eight Lord Proprietors. Charles II’s portrait appears in the heading.
Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the new republican regime, banned most traditional holidays including Christmas and Easter, closed the theaters, and forbid any form of gambling. Taxes were increased to fund a larger army to quell unrest. This made it difficult to govern and to prosper. The attempt failed miserably, and popular opinions and powerful men prevailed. The royals were brought back to rule, known as the Restoration.
Charles II rewarded the men responsible for his return to power. These eight men were recipients and benefactors of Charles’s gratitude. They are known as the Lord Proprietors. The Carolina Charter was created to officially grant them new territories via the Crown. This rare document is in the collection of the State Archives of North Carolina with a portrait of Charles II painted in the heading.
The states of Northand South Carolina were named after the Latin derivative of Charles (Carolina), which goes back as far as Charlemagne (747–814).
The Albemarle region was granted to George Monck, an English general of the army; he helped end the rule of the Republican Roundheads and restored Charles to power. Charles II bestowed on Monck the royal title Duke of Albemarle, a Norman title and duchy established by William the Conquer after his 1066 conquest of England.
The Lord Proprietors were appointed to help colonize America. They proved to be poor managers of the territories, making land grants to entice settlers into the Albemarle and North and South Carolina. They dealt with the colonists as serfs and collected quit rent, a tax paid in lieu of required feudal services. This created confusion and conflicts between Indigenous tribes who had been living on their tribal lands for thousands of years and the recent immigrants from Virginia, who drifted “into the Southward,” the common name for land south of Virginia, below the Dismal Swamp on fertile lands around the Albemarle Sound.
A Few Interesting Facts about Charles II
The English called him the Merry Monarch because of his tolerance of different religions; love of the arts, sports, and hunting; and skill as a horseman. He enjoyed attending and sponsoring many extravagant parties and events. He was a trendsetter and stylish dresser and began the fad of wearing wigs. He loved dogs so much that they were present at formal meetings of state, thus the breed King Charles Cavalier Spaniel is named in his honor. Charles II was the third ruler to ascend the English throne from the Scottish House of Stuart.
Diana, Princess of Wales, is a descendant of King Charles II. Prince William, should he ascend the throne, will be the first monarch to be a blood descendant to him.
Visit Our Story: Life in the Albemarle, the chronological gallery of the museum. It contains the history of the Proprietary Period, the beginnings of North Carolina.
