Welsh farmers in the southeast, German Lutherans in the Piedmont, Moravians praying in German and Czech near today’s Winston-Salem, Highland Scots muttering in Gaelic around Cross Creek, Scotch-Irish along the wagon roads, Quakers on the Albemarle, Swiss and German Palatines at New Bern, and French Huguenots along the coast. This wide variety of cultures and languages made us a very noisy, very complicated corner of the British Empire.
And yet, in the space of a single generation, these people managed to agree on something huge: the old world’s way of ruling them from afar wasn’t acceptable anymore.
Most of them had fled something: state churches, petty tyrants, confiscated land, or just the heavy hand of bureaucrats who “knew better.” They came here for the chance to work their own soil, worship without a knock at the door, and raise children under rules they helped make.
When North Carolina moved toward independence, those voices did not suddenly sound the same. They still argued, in different accents, about taxes, trade, and who exactly should be in charge.
But they recognized a common good: a government close enough to hear them and limited enough to leave them alone. That, not some tidy cultural sameness, is what held this place together.
Today, we’re told that diversity requires a bigger, more intrusive state to manage all our differences. Colonial North Carolina says the opposite.
A wildly diverse people managed to unite not by expanding government power, but by insisting that it had clear limits, and that rights came from the Creator, not from the crown.
As we approach America’s 250th birthday, it’s worth remembering that North Carolina didn’t become a beacon of liberty because everyone looked or sounded alike. It did so because people who had tasted persecution decided, together, that they’d had enough of distant rulers deciding their fate.
You can read more about America’s 250th birthday and North Carolina’s role here, here, and here.
Esse quam videri,
Donald Bryson
CEO
John Locke Foundation
RSVP today for our School Choice Week poll lunch!
RSVP to attend our School Choice Week poll lunch and presentation! Have a bite, and chew on the latest poll results in our offices in Raleigh on Thursday, Jan 29 at 11:30AM.
Jan. 1 ushered in a new year and new laws in North Carolina, including, but not limited to:
Gender and Biological Sex (HB 805): Formally defines "man," "woman," "boy," and "girl" based on biological sex at birth. It specifies that "gender identity" is a self-declared identity and is not legally or biologically equivalent to sex.
Social Media in Schools (HB 959): Requires school boards to prohibit student access to social media in classrooms unless directed by a teacher for educational purposes. It specifically bans TikTok on district-owned devices and internet networks.
Prescription Drug Transparency (SB 478): Known as the SCRIPT Act, it requires drug manufacturers to notify "interested parties" by January 31 of any price increase of 15% or more for drugs costing $100+ for a 30-day supply.
CPA Licensing Path (SB 248): Establishes an alternative pathway to becoming a CPA that requires a bachelor’s degree and two years of experience, removing the previous requirement for an additional 30 graduate-level credit hours.
Medical and Hospital Regulations:
Allows internationally trained and licensed physicians to practice in the state.
Requires hospitals to use smoke evacuation/filtering systems during surgical procedures that generate "surgical smoke" (e.g., from lasers or saws).
Law and Order Enhancements (SB 311): Increases penalties for several offenses, including burglary, package theft, reckless driving, street racing, and shoplifting. It also imposes penalties for protesters who block roads or businesses.
North Carolina’s founders intentionally adopted the Declaration of Rights in 1776 before ratifying the state's first constitution, signaling that individual liberties are the foundation upon which government is built, not gifts granted by it.
Unlike a mere "wish list," the Declaration was established as binding constitutional law.
Article XLIV of the 1776 Constitution explicitly stated that the Declaration was part of the Constitution and should never be violated.
Section I established that all political power is derived from the people.
Section IV mandated a distinct tripartite system (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial) to prevent the consolidation of power.
It also included early versions of rights against unreasonable searches and self-incrimination, which later influenced the U.S. Bill of Rights.
North Carolina’s "great refusal" to ratify the federal Constitution, until it was assured that a Bill of Rights would be added, demonstrated the state's commitment to explicit constraints on power.
With only minor changes, the 1776 Declaration remains the first article of North Carolina's current (1971) Constitution, serving for nearly 250 years as a "firewall" against the expansion of regulatory and bureaucratic power.
Reflecting the Lockean view that government exists solely to protect pre-existing natural rights, specifically life, liberty, and property.
The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor’s new division, DAVE (Accountability, Value, and Efficiency), identified $1.04 billion in "lapsed salaries" across state agencies as of August 2025.
These are funds budgeted for positions that remain vacant.
While the jobs are unfilled, the agencies still receive the taxpayer money intended for those salaries and benefits.
The report found over 8,800 long-term vacancies (positions open for six months or longer) across various state departments.
Notably, data revealed that a portion of these positions have never been advertised or posted, despite the associated funds being collected by the agencies.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was identified as a primary contributor, generating $386 million in lapsed salaries (roughly 30% of the state total).
State Auditor Dave Boliek criticized the practice, arguing that agencies are using vacancies to "buoy" their budgets rather than providing necessary services.
The findings were released via a new public-facing dashboard designed to increase transparency regarding how state government operates and where taxpayer dollars are being held.
The report highlights a disconnect where DHHS is holding hundreds of millions in unfilled position funds while simultaneously requesting more money for Medicaid or enacting service cuts.
