Peopling+the+Backcountry

=The Scots-Irish= The people to settle the backcountry were the Scots-Irish. The people who went by that name were actually descendants of Scots who had been transplanted to northern Ireland during the 1600s.



=The Germans= Coming right on their heels were Germans from Pennsylvania. Since their language was called "Deutsch" in German, they came to be called "Ducth," even though few of them had ever been to Holland.



=English Quakers= Mixed into the backcountry by the 1760s were people who were English in their background. Many were Quakers. These families belonged to a religious movement started in England in the 1600s that challenged some of the usual ways people worshipped and lived together.



=African Slaves= Quite a few of the early Scots-Irish households brought along one or two slaves with them. Twins Paul and Saul, owned by Adam Sherill, became the first backcountry settlers to cross the Catawba River in 1747.



=The Moravians= The most unusual group to come to the North Carolina backcountry was the Moravians, a close knit German-speaking community who first arrived in 1752. Like most other immigrants who sought religious freedom, the Moravians came first to Pennsylvania.



=The Highland Scots= The last of the many ethnic groups to come to the backcountry were the Highland Scots, who wedged themselves into the Sandhills. Most were victims of a rebellion against the British in 1745.



=Native Americans= Finally, a few remnans of Indian groups were still to be found in the backcountry of the 1760s. North of Wachovia lived the Saura, part of the Siouan people who had once controlled the region.