1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA (see ). The pop. in 1920 was 2,559,123, as compared with 2,206,287 in 1910, a gain of 352,836, or 16%. Somewhat fewer than one-third were negroes and 7,099 were foreign-born whites, representing 43 different nationalities. There was less foreign admixture than in the population of any other state. There were 490,370 persons living in cities of 2,500 or more, 240,753 in villages, and 1,828,000 in the open country, so that the state was still predominantly rural, 71% of the pop. living outside of incorporated towns, as against 76% in 1910. This is emphasized by the absence of any large city.

The following table shows the cities having a pop. in 1920 of 15,000 and their gain for the preceding decade:&mdash;

History.&mdash;The state Government throughout the period 1909-21 was under the undisputed control of the Democratic party. In 1913 Locke Craig succeeded William W. Kitchin as governor, and in 1917 was succeeded by Thomas Walter Bickett. In 1920 Cameron Morrison was elected governor. The Legislature at every session had large Democratic majorities. One Republican member of Congress was elected in 1914. So confirmed was the Democratic faith of the people of the state that alone of all the states it increased the party majority in the election of 1920. There was little of purely political interest during these years. The striking fact was the influence exerted upon politics by the steady development in the state of a social consciousness which manifested itself in demands for advanced social legislation. The result was a greater body of progressive legislation than that of any other southern state for the same period. During the World War the state furnished to the armed forces of the nation 88,168 men; casualties were 1,610 killed and 4,128 wounded. The subscription to Liberty and Victory loans was $138,095,400, besides $21,085,388 for war stamps. (Author:Joseph Gregoire de Roulhac Hamilton)