Trees for a Navy

By 1704, the area had great plenty of timber for building ships and for producing pitch, tar, and rosin. At the time of the battle, patriot leaders were trying to make their fortunes from the area's vast tracts of longleaf pines. Tall trunks became ships' masts, and pine rosin waterproofed rigging and sealed boat hulls. This local wilderness became a key player in the 18th-century international economy. As its empire expanded, Great Britain depended on the Carolinas' naval stores, or pine products, to build a massive fleet of wooden ships. Tensions over British trade restrictions and price controls on naval stores fueled conflicts between colonists and Crown.

North Carolina · United States