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North Carolina

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North Carolina

This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to North Carolina. It supports research on the state’s firearms history, technology, law, policy, and culture from the colonial period through statehood to the present.

  • Legal sources: statutes and session laws, administrative code, attorney general opinions, appellate decisions, and select municipal ordinances.
  • Historical materials: newspapers, photographs, maps, catalogs, militia and frontier records, coastal and naval stores archives, manufacturing and law-enforcement collections, and oral histories tied to North Carolina people and places.
  • Research outputs: technical reports, academic studies, training manuals, and curated datasets relevant to the state.

Cite the Firearms Research Center and the item’s handle/DOI when using materials. Rights and licensing vary by item.

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Start date: 1760Category: search.filters.subject.MILITIAS

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Now showing 1 - 12 of 12
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    1782 N.C. Sess. Laws 413-14
    (1782)
    Created a draft for the Continental Army. Subject to the draft were "all the inhabitants ... between the ages of sixteen and fifty." To prevent the widespread community practice of filling draft ranks with the most vulnerable and least motivated, the act specified that "no British or Hessian deserter who hath not been a resident of this State twelve months, or orphan or apprentice under eighteen years of age, Indian, sailor or negro slave, shall be received as a substitute for any class volunteer or draft whatever."
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    1792 N.C. Sess. Laws 33-34
    (1792)
    The minimum age remained 18, while the maximum dropped to 45. The mandatory arms paralleled the federal statute. Each infantryman was required to "provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than 24 cartridges suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball ; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch and powder-horn, 20 balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder."
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    1777 N.C. Sess. Laws 1
    (1777)
    The Militia of every County shall consist of all the effective men from sixteen to fifty years of age.
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    1760 N.C. Sess. Laws 518
    (1760)
    "[T]hat all Freemen and Servants within this Province, between the Age of Sixteen and Sixty ... there be mustered, trained, and exercised in Arms, and be provided with a well-fixed Gun, shall forfeit and Pay, if at a private Muster, Six Shillings, if at a general Muster Ten Shillings; and shall also be provided with a Cartouch-Box, a Sword, Cutlass or Hanger, and have at least Nine charges of Powder (made into Cartridges) and sizeable Bullets or Swan Shot, and Three spare-flints, a Worm, a Picker..."
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    1787 N.C. Sess. Laws 813-14
    (1787)
    The militia law kept the militia as "all freemen and indented servants within this State, from eighteen to fifty years of age." The required arms and equipment were now more specific and varied by role in the militia. For commissioned officers in the infantry, "side arms" (handguns) "or a spontoon" (a pole arm). For private and non-commissioned officers, a musket or rifle, plus a cartridge box, powder horn, shot pouch "in good condition," "nine charges of powder made into cartridges with sizeable balls or swan-shot," a spare flint, and one worm and picker. As for artillerymen, they "shall be armed and accoutred with small arms in the same manner of the infantry, except the non-commissioned officers, who shall have swords instead of fire-arms." Horsemen, whether officers or privates, needed "a strong, serviceable horse, at least fourteen hands high, with a good saddle, bridle, holsters, one pistol, horseman's sword and cap, a pair of shoe boots and spurs," plus "a proper cartouch-box and cartridges all in good order."
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    1785 N.C. Sess. Laws 710-11
    (1785)
    Raised the minimum militia age to 18. Militiamen included "all freemen and indented servants" (but not servants for life, a/k/a slaves). Militiamen had to arm themselves with "a well fixed gun and cartouch-box, with nine charges of powder made into cartridges and sizeable bullets or swan-shot, and one spare flint, worm and picker.
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    1792 N.C. Sess. Laws 33
    (1792)
    The minimum age remained 18, while the maximum dropped to 45. The mandatory arms paralleled the federal statute. Each infantryman was required to "provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than 24 cartridges suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball ; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch and powder-horn, 20 balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder."
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    1760 N.C. Sess. Laws 521
    (1760)
    Every trooper (horseman) needed "Holsters, Housing, Breast-Plate and Crupper, a Case of good Pistols, a good Broad Sword, Twelve Charges of Powder, Twelve sizeable Bullets, a Pair of Shoe-Boots, with suitable Spurs, and a Carbine well fixed, with a good Belt, Swivel and Bucket."
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    1770 N.C. Sess. Laws 787-88
    (1770)
    Eliminated a conscientious objector exemption and ordered "all Male Persons of the people called Quakers, between the age of Sixteen and Sixty" to enlist in the militia. Additionally, the act provided that "the Father or where there is no Father living, the Mother of each and every Person under the age of Twenty One Years, shall be liable to the Payment of the Fines becoming due from their respective sons so under age."
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    1779 N.C. Sess. Laws 191-2
    (1779)
    [E]ach Militia Soldier [had to] be furnished with a Good Gun, Shot bag a Cartouch Box or powder Horn, a Cutlass or Tomahawk.
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    1777 N.C. Sess. Laws 1
    (1777)
    The Militia of every County shall consist of all the effective men from sixteen to fifty years of age.
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    1893, N.C. Sess. Laws 356-57
    (1893)
    Pub. Laws, ch. 374, § 38: It shall be unlawful for any persons to organize a military company, or drill or parade under arms as a military body, except under the militia laws and regulations of this state; and no person shall exercise or attempt to exercise the power or authority of a military officer in this state unless he holds a commission from the governor, and any person offending against this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned at the discretion of the court.