Fight for Freedom: Kings Mountain & Revolutionary SW Virginia

Continuing our dive into Central Appalachia’s history, part two of our series explores the role Appalachia played in the American Revolutionary War. Often overlooked in comparison to the more textbook headlining battles in New England and along the East Coast, the mountains of Appalachia did serve as an insulating blanket which both hid her people from sight, while also serving as the veil which most Appalachians allowed themselves to ignore the events in the rest of the colonies….until it didn’t. Finally recognized by the British as a potential stronghold and backdoor entry into a perceived ensured victory, Appalachia was finally drawn-in to the fray of fighting towards the latter-end of the Revolutionary War.

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Join us in Part II of Appalachia’s history and the victory she brought to America in what Thomas Jefferson called “the joyful annunciation of the turn of the tide of success.”

Teaching in a rural, former coal-mining and tobacco growing region, Long is both a History/Government/Appalachian History & folklore instructor, as well as an English literature instructor in Virginia and East Tennessee; in high school, and at two local universities. For the past twelve years, he has brought both high school and university students out of their shells to share their stories and understand our local histories and culture; all to better inform those around them and around the world. Additionally, he has been a guest lecturer for Eighteenth Century British Drama and Fiction at Oxford University for three years, as well as a lecturer in Scots-Irish/Appalachian folklore at the University of Edinburgh. All these experiences combined have led him to working with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the Birthplace of Country Music Museum-Bristol to help visitors, students, and educators dig deeper into the rich and diverse culture they have in Appalachia. He is furthering his research into his area, along with the rest of Virginia, to continue sharing the importance Virginia still is in the history of our nation; along with the vitality of the Appalachian region in the early history and growth of the state and nation. This is in conjunction with sharing the “true” story of Appalachia as not a region of disparity, but of history which changed the world, rich storytelling, an Indigenous and European melting pot, and the agricultural lifeblood for our early nation through the recent 21st century.