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From Tar Heel to Those Tar Heels!
Tar Heel and Tar Heels: Definition (Meaning), Origin, and History
Introduction
Tar Heel. Most have heard the words Tar Heel, but what is its origin?
Ponder the following questions and phrases, for they are associated with the State of North Carolina. Tar Heel definition?
From Tar Heel meaning, Tar Heel legends, Tar Heel history, Tar Heel facts, to what is a Tar Heel, explore the earliest
date that North Carolina became known as the Tar Heel State. What in the world is a Tar Heel? Now let's discuss the facts
about Tar Heels, and the year that Tar Heel was first coined. So, are you a Tar Heel?
History
One legend has the nickname, "Tar Heel", being applied to the state's
residents as long ago as the Revolutionary War. According to this story, the troops of British General Cornwallis were fording
what is now known as the Tar River between Rocky Mount and Battleboro when they discovered that tar had been dumped into the
stream to impede their crossing. When they finally got across the river they found their feet completely black with tar. Their
observation that anyone who waded North Carolina rivers would acquire tar heels led to the nickname first being used.
Others say the nickname was acquired during the War Between the States. During
one of that war's fiercest battles a column supporting North Carolina troops was driven from the field. After the battle,
the North Carolinians who had successfully fought it out alone, happened to meet the regiment which had fled to safety and
were greeted with the question, "Any more tar down in the Old North State, boys?"
"No, not a bit," shot back one of the North Carolina soldiers. "Old Jeff's
bought it all up," he went on, referring to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy.
"Is that so? What's he going to do with it?"
"He's going to put it on you'ns heels to make you stick better in the next
fight."
Upon hearing of the incident, Robert E. Lee smiled and said to a fellow officer,
"God bless the Tar Heel boys."
A letter found in 1991 by State Archivist David Olson lends credence to another
more direct theory. A letter from Maj. Joseph Engelhard describes a fight involving men from North Carolina in which Lee was
heard to have said, "There they stand as if they have tar on their heels."
The letter, dated August 24, 1864, told the tale of a battle on the outskirts
of Petersburg, Va. Engelhard was elected secretary of state for North Carolina in 1876.
Source: University of North Carolina (© 2009 CBS Interactive). Located online at tarheelblue.cstv.com/trads/unc-trads-whytar.html
Recommended Reading: The Tar Heel State:
A History of North Carolina (Hardcover). Description: The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina constitutes the most
comprehensive and inclusive single-volume chronicle of the state’s storied past to date, culminating with an attentive
look at recent events that have transformed North Carolina
into a southern megastate. Integrating tales of famous pioneers, statesmen, soldiers, farmers, captains of industry,
activists, and community leaders with more marginalized voices, including those of Native Americans, African Americans, and
women, Milton Ready gives readers a view of North Carolina that encompasses perspectives and personalities from the coast,
"tobacco road," the Piedmont, and the mountains in this sweeping history of the Tar Heel State. The first such volume in more
than two decades, Ready’s work offers a distinctive view of the state’s history built from myriad stories and
episodes. The Tar Heel State is enhanced by one hundred and ninety illustrations and five maps. Continued below...
Ready begins with a study of the state’s geography
and then invites readers to revisit dramatic struggles of the American Revolution and Civil War, the early history of Cherokees,
the impact of slavery as an institution, the rise of industrial mills, and the changes wrought by modern information-based
technologies since 1970. Mixing spirited anecdotes and illustrative statistics, Ready describes the rich Native American culture
found by John White in 1585, the chartered chaos of North Carolina’s proprietary settlement, and the
chronic distrust of government that grew out of settlement patterns and the colony’s early political economy. He challenges
the perception of relaxed intellectualism attributed to the "Rip van Winkle" state, the notion that slavery was a relatively
benign institution in North Carolina, and the commonly accepted
interpretation of Reconstruction in the state. Ready also discusses how the woman suffrage movement pushed North Carolina into a hesitant twentieth-century progressivism. In perhaps his most significant
contribution to North Carolina’s historical record,
Ready continues his narrative past the benchmark of World War II and into the twenty-first century. From the civil rights
struggle to the building of research triangles, triads, and parks, Ready recounts the events that have fueled North Carolina’s
accelerated development in recent years and the many challenges that have accompanied such rapid growth, especially those
of population change and environmental degradation.
Recommended Reading:
Encyclopedia of North Carolina (Hardcover) (1328 pages) (The
University of North Carolina Press). Description: The
first single-volume reference to the events, institutions, and cultural forces that have defined the state, the Encyclopedia
of North Carolina is a landmark publication that will serve those who love and live in North Carolina for generations to come.
Editor William S. Powell, whom the Raleigh News & Observer described as a "living repository of information on all things
North Carolinian," spent fifteen years developing this volume. With contributions by more than 550 volunteer writers—including
scholars, librarians, journalists, and many others—it is a true "people's encyclopedia" of North Carolina.
Continued below...
The volume
includes more than 2,000 entries, presented alphabetically, consisting of longer essays on major subjects, briefer entries,
and short summaries and definitions. Most entries include suggestions for further reading. Centered on history and the humanities,
topics covered include agriculture; arts and architecture; business and industry; the Civil War; culture and customs; education;
geography; geology, mining, and archaeology; government, politics, and law; media; medicine, science, and technology; military
history; natural environment; organizations, clubs, and foundations; people, languages, and immigration; places and historic
preservation; precolonial and colonial history; recreation and tourism; religion; and transportation. An informative and engaging
compendium, the Encyclopedia of North Carolina is abundantly illustrated with 400 photographs and maps. It is both a celebration
and a gift—from the citizens of North Carolina, to the citizens of North Carolina.
"Truly an exhaustive and exciting view of every aspect of the Old
North State!”
Recommended
Reading: Confederate Military
History Of North Carolina: North Carolina
In The Civil War, 1861-1865. Description: The author, Prof. D. H. Hill, Jr., was the son of Lieutenant General
Daniel Harvey Hill (North Carolina produced only two lieutenant
generals and it was the second highest rank in the army) and his mother was the sister to General “Stonewall”
Jackson’s wife. In Confederate Military History Of North Carolina,
Hill discusses North Carolina’s massive task of preparing and mobilizing for the conflict; the many regiments and battalions
recruited from the Old North State; as well as the state's numerous contributions
during the war. Continued below...
During
Hill's Tar
Heel State study, the reader begins with
interesting and thought-provoking statistical data regarding the 125,000 "Old
North State" soldiers that fought
during the course of the war and the 40,000 that perished. Hill advances with the Tar Heels to the first battle at Bethel, through numerous bloody campaigns and battles--including North Carolina’s
contributions at the "High Watermark" at Gettysburg--and concludes with Lee's surrender at
Appomattox.
Recommended Reading: The Civil War in North Carolina. Description: Numerous
battles and skirmishes were fought in North Carolina during
the Civil War, and the campaigns and battles themselves were crucial in the grand strategy of the conflict and involved some
of the most famous generals of the war. Continued below...
John Barrett presents the complete story of military engagements across the state, including the classical
pitched battle of Bentonville--involving Generals Joe Johnston and William Sherman--the siege of Fort
Fisher, the amphibious campaigns on the coast, and cavalry sweeps such
as General George Stoneman's Raid.
Recommended
Reading: North Carolinians in the Era
of the Civil War and Reconstruction (Hardcover) (The University
of North Carolina Press). Description: Although North Carolina was a "home
front" state rather than a battlefield state for most of the Civil War, it was heavily involved in the Confederate war effort
and experienced many conflicts as a result. North Carolinians were divided over the issue
of secession, and changes in race and gender relations brought new controversy. Blacks fought for freedom, women sought greater
independence, and their aspirations for change stimulated fierce resistance from more privileged groups. Republicans and Democrats
fought over power during Reconstruction and for decades thereafter disagreed over the meaning of the war and Reconstruction.
Continued below...
With contributions
by well-known historians as well as talented younger scholars, this volume offers new insights into all the key issues of
the Civil War era that played out in pronounced ways in the Tar Heel State.
In nine fascinating essays composed specifically for this volume, contributors address themes such as ambivalent whites, freed
blacks, the political establishment, racial hopes and fears, postwar ideology, and North Carolina women. These issues of the
Civil War and Reconstruction eras were so powerful that they continue to agitate North Carolinians today.
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