No known celebrations of the Declaration took place in North Carolina during the Revolutionary War, but on May 16, 1783, the General Assembly declared July 4 a day of thanksgiving. Governor Alexander Martin's proclamation to that effect reached the Moravian settlement at Salem in time for the community to organize a "Festival of Peace" on July 4, marked by hymns with trombone accompaniment, a love feast, and a candlelit procession. A version of this service continues in Winston-Salem today. By the 1790s, newspapers recorded cannon fire, military parades, and formal toasts in New Bern and Southport. Antebellum celebrations followed a standard format—bell ringing, readings of the Declaration, orations, and dancing—before declining as Civil War tensions grew. After the war, newly freed people celebrated the Fourth more visibly than many former Confederates. The 1976 Bicentennial featured statewide commemorations of the Halifax Resolves, as well as remembrances of the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, the Battle of Kings Mountain, and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. North Carolina's 1868 State Constitution explicitly echoed the Declaration's language. April 12, 1776—the date of the Halifax Resolves—has appeared on the state flag since 1885. North Carolina state license plates read "First in Freedom."
Interviewees
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Sally Bloom
- Curator of Distance Education, North Carolina Museum of History
