When America went to war to fight for its independence, it was a nation of immigrants.

Among those disparate groups looking for opportunity in the new country were the Highland Scots, thousands of which made the journey after being forced out of their homeland. In the Cape Fear region, they found an abundance of land, the chance to build a new life and the rumblings of a war that would redefine their history forever.

This week's episode explores the history of the Highland Scots, why they fled to America, how they forged a life in Southeastern North Carolina, why the Revolutionary War turned their new lives upside down and how they built a legacy that still survives today.

Joining the episode is Kimberly Sherman, a historian, writer and lecturer at Cape Fear Community College.

Cape Fear Unearthed is written, edited and hosted by Hunter Ingram. Additional editing by Adam Fish.

The show is sponsored by Northchase Family Dentistry and Tidewater Heating & Air Conditioning.

Sources:

-- "The Highland Scots of North Carolina: 1732-1776," by Duane Meyer

-- "Thistle Among the Pines: Flora MacDonald and the Highland Scots of the Cape Fear," by Kimberly Sherman, Salt Magazine

-- "Migration, Settlement and Revolution: The Highland Scots in the Cape Fear Region of colonial North Carolina," by Roy Charles Garrison