On October 1, 1856, Benjamin S. Hedrick, a chemistry professor, became the only faculty member in the history of the university to be dismissed because of his political beliefs.
Hedrick openly supported Republican candidate John C. Fremont for the presidency of the United States. He was subsequently attacked in the Raleigh press, causing substantial scandal and embarrassment to the University.
Fremont, a noted explorer of the west, had noted abolitionist views, making him a man of distrust to many voters, especially in the South.
Carolina today prides itself on welcoming students and faculty from every walk of life regardless of race, gender, sexuality, political or social beliefs, and other factors. We’re a very accepting and inclusive place that listens to and understands new and different ideas.
However, there was a time when Carolina was not as open to different ideas and was more concerned with conforming to conventional societal norms.
The run-up to the Civil War in 1861 saw a North Carolina that was substantially different than it is today.
North Carolina, especially the central and eastern portions of the state, was a typical example of the Old South.
The area around Chapel Hill was inhabited by the conservative, solidly democratic, landed gentry that believed in the traditions of plantation slavery, conformity, and aristocratic domination in politics and society.
As tensions over the ever-growing divides between antebellum North and South began to rise, the political atmosphere, especially in the South, became extremely hostile to different political beliefs.
At the time, the Republican party was the party of the North and of abolition, representing everything the South was against.
Carolina was dominated by the same principles as the rest of the South, and often viewed such instances of political dissention with great skepticism.
The firing of Hedrick because of the fact that he did not agree with the mainline political atmosphere was an unfortunate example of how desperately traditional society was at the time, and how it was going to be sure to maintain the existing order, rather than try to accept and welcome new ideas.
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