A+Letter+Home

Margaret Nelson ECI 435/ Lee Raleigh Story

Only a few centuries ago, in the heart of what is now Raleigh, North Carolina, a young girl sat down to write a letter to her mother about her week of excitement. She had been working for Senator Joel Lane for almost a month and he had begun letting her serve drinks with the older women in the tavern. Elizabeth was very proud of her movement forward and hoped for the same pride from her mother. The women had been showing her the ropes, and she had been working incredibly hard to keep up because she was the youngest girl working there, by far. Senator Lane, being such a very generous man, was more than willing to take the young industrious girl in and give her a job, and she was eternally grateful to him. Even though she was known to exaggerate, Elizabeth's letter was full of intriguing excitement, not only for the mother and daughter, but for the entire state. She wrote of her night serving a group of very impressive-looking men from all over the state who had come to Senator Lane's Tavern and from their banter she could tell that they were just as important as they appeared. Senator Lane came to his staff before the men arrived and told them that there were going to be life-changing men coming to the tavern that night, and told them to treat the men as if they were the President himself. Elizabeth became so nervous at first that she became ill, but thankfully she was able to gain control over her nerves. Her mother knew very well Elizabeth would never want to miss any opportunity to be a piece of important history, even if it were only a small part. Senator Lane also told each worker to make sure every man was given one of his signature Cherry Bounces, which he felt was sure to win the men over. To say his Cherry Bounces were delicious would be of the greatest disservice to this drink. It takes six weeks to make, but it surely is one of a kind magic, and the young girl agreed with Senator Lane that it was sure to make an impact. The whole night, the men did a lot of talking and a lot of drinking, and both were so interesting that Elizabeth just couldn't pull herself away. They spoke of going to Mr. Isaac Hunter's Tavern, which was just a few miles away, and made promises to him about the Capital. Elizabeth asked some of the older women what the men were talking about and they said that a few years back, they had what they called a “commission” to decide where the Capital of North Carolina should be and that a group of men decided that it must be within 10 miles of Mr. Hunter's Tavern and plantation. She, of course, didn't know what was so special about Mr. Hunter or his plantation and Tavern, but she did know that it was special that Joel's tavern was within those 10 miles. The men said a few days before, they were in Mr. Hunter's Tavern looking at plans for building a “state house,” but decided that they weren't going to make any contracts or plans until they found exactly where they wanted the Capital to be, which seemed like a pretty sound decision for everyone. The men spoke of all the land they had inspected over the past few days. They said they had looked at 17 tracts of land from 17 different residents, and Senator Lane's tract was one of them. It sounded as though the men had narrowed their choices down to three, one being Senator Lane, and two other men, Nathaniel Jones, though no one sounded too excited about his land, and John Hinton. After a few Cherry Bounces and the persuasion of Senator Lane, there was no way those men could choose anywhere but his land to build the new Capital. Senator Lane told the staff the following day that the commission would have a decision by the end of the week and Elizabeth couldn't wait to hear the news, because she knew that even if they didn't choose Senator Lane's land, it was still exciting to have heard all of the talk before the decision. Though her letter was hurried, due to the new responsibilities given to her at the inn and tavern, Elizabeth made sure to send her love to her father and family and promised her mother to write back as soon as she heard any news about the capital. Little did she know, how quickly she would be sending some of the most important news in state history to her family, and the impact that one night of work had on her and North Carolina.

Teaching Implications: The main focus for students is to learn about the capital, what is it, where it is, what goes on in it, who works there, and the history of how the capital landed where it is today. In the classroom, I would have students tell me first what they know about the capital, or what they think of when they hear the word capital, meaning for other states as well as for North Carolina. From there I can show students maps, or have them create their own, tracking the move of the capital around the state and show reasons for the moves over the years. To bring the story of Hunter and Joel into the mix, I would have students get into groups and make business plans to present to their classmates, who would act as the commission, and after all of the plans were presented, the class as a whole would vote on the best plan for the capital. This would lead into my assessment, which would be in parts, with the maps, the written business plans, and the business presentations as a part of the whole assessment.