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The State of Franklin was
set up in 1784 out of the
westerly portion of the
colonial state of North
Carolina. Shortly after the
War of Independence the
original colonies were asked
to pay for the war efforts
and create a country with a
sound financial policy.
Since the taxing the
population was difficult and
cash was in short supply
North Carolina ceded the
western portion of the state
to the federal coffers.
Before the Congress could
accept the offer North
Carolina withdrew the offer.
The citizens of the region
decided that federal rule in
the meantime was probably a
good idea since North
Carolina as a state had
given this remote region
little support in its fight
with the Indians or
protection from criminal
refugees. They saw other
benefits as an independent
state in terms of taxation,
representation and an
understanding attitude
toward local problems.
Representatives of the North
Carolina counties of
Sullivan, Washington,
Greene, and Davidson
accepted the offer of
cessation to federal
territory. The state of
Franklin existed for only
four years to finally merge
with the new state of
Tennessee.
This region is centered
geographically around the
valleys created by the
Holston and Clinch Rivers in
the Cumberland and
Appalachian mountains. This
rugged territory was a
refuge for the frontier type
before and shortly after the
War of Independence. It
includes the towns of
Knoxville, Bristol, and
Greenville, Tennessee. Near
Greenville is the birth
place of Davy Crockett with
Bristol on the Virginia
border as one of the gateway
cities into the western
territory.
A convention of delegates
(except for Davidson County
that sent none) met on
August 23, 1784 and after
intense debate they declared
these western counties
independent of North
Carolina on a unanimous
vote. The statehood vote,
however, was by no means
unanimous with John Tipton
leading a minority position.
Several names were offered
for the new state. The name
Frankland was proposed since
it was translatable as "the
Land of the Free," however,
Franklin was decided upon
perhaps for gaining the
favor of Benjamin Franklin.
John Sevier was elected
Governor. The convention set
the salary of the governor
at two hundred pounds per
annum, the supreme judges at
one hundred and fifty pounds
per annum. There were some
interesting regulations
created in the new
constitution. One set the
prices for goods traded and
another to set the standard
for office holders. Office
holders could not be any
person "if he were immoral,
a Sabbath breaker, a
clergyman, a doctor or a
lawyer."
Unfortunately Benjamin
Franklin was not terribly
supportive of his namesake
state. When solicited by
John Sevier for help
Franklin wrote,
"I am sensible of the
honor which your
Excellencey and your
council do me. but being
in Europe when your
State was formed I am
too little acquainted
with the circumstances
to be able to offer you
anything just now that
may be of importance,
since everything
material that regards
your welfare will
doubtless have occurred
to yourselves. "
He concludes with a
statesman like
paragraph. I will
endeavor to inform
myself more perfectly of
your affairs by inquiry
and searching the
records of Congress and
if anything should occur
to me that I think may
be useful to you, you
shall hear from me
thereupon."
(Franklin's letter to
Governor John Sevier,
1787)
North Carolina tried to
break up the cession and
statehood plans of the
people of Franklin since the
North Carolina had no real
intention of releasing this
territory. John Tipton,
leader of the opposition
within Franklin, had been
responsible for carrying out
court judgment orders to
seize the property of the
then Governor John Sevier,
including nearly all his
slaves. Sevier put together
a small army of one hundred
and fifty men and marched on
John Tipton's estate to get
back the property and
perhaps to seize Tipton
himself. After a brief siege
and a consolidation of Col.
George Maxwell's forces with
Tipton's; Sevier's band was
routed with the capture of
several including two of
Sevier's sons. Meanwhile
Sevier went on a bold
raiding campaign against
Indian settlements in the
western sections of now
Tennessee. When he returns
to Franklin he is captured
by Tipton's men and taken to
trial. Sevier makes a bold
escape at his trial through
a second story window onto a
waiting horse.
North Carolina regains
control of the region in
1788 by pardoning its
leaders. Sevier eventually
learns through all these
travails, the manners and
fallacies of government. He
is elected as a Senator in
North Carolina. In 1789
North Carolina ceded again
the region in the west and
Franklin became part of
Eastern Tennessee in 1796.
John Sevier becomes the
first Governor of the new
state of Tennessee. |
