Question: what three colonies were formed from the lands originally called carolina

title: North Carolina
text: On November 21 , 1789 , North Carolina became the twelfth state to ratify the Constitution . In 1840 , it completed the state capitol building in Raleigh , still standing today . Most of North Carolina 's slave owners and large plantations were located in the eastern portion of the state . Although North Carolina 's plantation system was smaller and less cohesive than that of Virginia , Georgia , or South Carolina , significant numbers of planters were concentrated in the counties around the port cities of Wilmington and Edenton , as well as suburban planters around the cities of Raleigh , Charlotte , and Durham in the Piedmont . Planters owning large estates wielded significant political and socio - economic power in antebellum North Carolina , which was a slave society . They placed their interests above those of the generally non-slave - holding `` yeoman '' farmers of western North Carolina . In mid-century , the state 's rural and commercial areas were connected by the construction of a 129 - mile ( 208 km ) wooden plank road , known as a `` farmer 's railroad '' , from Fayetteville in the east to Bethania ( northwest of Winston - Salem ) . Map