Individual Most Historically Influential ON North Carolina?

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gtyellowjacket said:
Andrew Jackson for his expulsion of the Cherokee in Western NC, his expansion of Democracy to poorer Americans, and his actions to delay the civil war.

Andrew Johnson for his mismanagement of reconstruction.

I'd say Jackson because of his expansion of Democracy that he hasn't gotten enough credit for lately. But in generations past, his legacy was up there in the realm of Jefferson and Madison.
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The Presidential Trio certainly deserve mention...Jackson and Johnson for the things you mention and James K. Polk for presiding over the doubling of the size of the U.S.
 
donbosco said:
The Presidential Trio certainly deserve mention...Jackson and Johnson for the things you mention and James K. Polk for presiding over the doubling of the size of the U.S.
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Definitely Polk was a big deal for the US. Almost forgotten now, but he really had a big impact. I think he had a little less impact specifically on NC than the other two.
 
gtyellowjacket said:
Definitely Polk was a big deal for the US. Almost forgotten now, but he really had a big impact. I think he had a little less impact specifically on NC than the other two.
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Odd in that he stepped down after a single term...doing that was a campaign promise as I understand it. He's also the only president that we know definitively actually engaged in slave trading from the Oval Office.
 
donbosco said:
Odd in that he stepped down after a single term...doing that was a campaign promise as I understand it. He's also the only president that we know definitively actually engaged in slave trading from the Oval Office.
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That's very interesting. I did not know that he was the only one known to have engaged in slave trading in office. Kind of surprised the early guys didn't at least buy and sell some slaves as I would expect it to have been pretty common at the time.

I think George Washington at one point in his life made a pledge not to break up families which would imply that he would be willing to buy and sell slaves as long as it didn't break up families. Maybe that would be a bigger limitation than I think. And of course that's no indication that he actually did it in office.
 
gtyellowjacket said:
That's very interesting. I did not know that he was the only one known to have engaged in slave trading in office. Kind of surprised the early guys didn't at least buy and sell some slaves as I would expect it to have been pretty common at the time.

I think George Washington at one point in his life made a pledge not to break up families which would imply that he would be willing to buy and sell slaves as long as it didn't break up families. Maybe that would be a bigger limitation than I think. And of course that's no indication that he actually did it in office.
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It is certainly possible that other president's traded slaves while in office, and Polk actually seems to have hid that he was doing it, but the evidence has surfaced. ( The Enslaved Households of President James K. Polk ).

Washington did a strange (thoughtless?) thing in his will...stating that his slaves be freed upon the death of his wife Martha. That would seem to put Martha in a certain amount of jeopardy in regard to life around Mt. Vernon.
 
donbosco said:
It is certainly possible that other president's traded slaves while in office, and Polk actually seems to have hid that he was doing it, but the evidence has surfaced. ( The Enslaved Households of President James K. Polk ).

Washington did a strange (thoughtless?) thing in his will...stating that his slaves be freed upon the death of his wife Martha. That would seem to put Martha in a certain amount of jeopardy in regard to life around Mt. Vernon.
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Yes. I believe there was a suspicious fire that was a bit of encouragement to unbind her life to manumission.
 
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