The Founding of Tennessee
In 1606, following the settlement of the Virginia
colony, King James I chartered the region as a British province.
European immigration to the new world increased with each passing
year and soon American real estate started becoming a worthy
possession for British officials.
Sixty-six years and two royals later, King James II made a huge
gift to eight of his friends in North America that was soon
chartered as the British Province of Carolina. The "gift"
included the lands over the Appalachians reaching to the Pacific
Ocean, an area encompassing close to 150,000 square miles. There
was no way for James II’s friends to realize just how expansive
the gift was. In that era, no one even knew if there was an
overland route to the Pacific Ocean.
In 1693, the King’s friends decided to equally split the
province of Carolina into Northern and Southern territories
with North Carolina laying claim to all lands west of its boundaries
over the Appalachians – including the great valley beyond
its crest.
Following the establishment of the 1763 Proclamation line that
ran along the crest of the Appalachian mountains, British Lieutenant
Henry Timberlake was sent to make an official visit to the Cherokee
tribe as a token of friendship and, in the process, laid out
the first working map of the region. Using native guides as
interpreters,Timberlake first wrote the word "Tennessee"
as a name for one of the regions on the map and, unknowingly,
coined a term that would later become more than a name on a
British chart.
As troubles began brewing with the Southeastern Indian tribes,
Britain started trying to devise a management program to contain
the problems to the western side of the Appalachians and sure
up its claims on the coastal states. Rebellious settlers, however,
began eyeing the western territory as a way to escape the growing
feudalism in the British colonies and as a means to empower
themselves economically.
In 1752, Daniel Boone, following an old Indian trading trail
from Virginia, crossed through what would become known as Cumberland
Gap. It took a while for word to get beyond the frontier outposts
that a way through the mountains was found. While Boone returned
and began clearing and building a trail that would allow wagons
and caravans to pass, others had already been exploring the
area and, in 1769, William Bean successfully crossed over the
mountains on his own and settled on the Watauga River. Other
families soon followed suit and a small settlement began springing
up in the region.
Its population got a big push in numbers when James Robertson
led his family and others over the mountains to the Bean Settlement.
During the process, he became lost in treacherous terrain and
almost led the families to their death. In desperation he turned
his horse loose and started on foot in the direction he thought
he should go. He eventually passed out and was discovered by
some local hunters, who led them to Bean’s settlement.
Robertson’s refusal to give up and his success started
his rise towards prominence in Tennessee and inspired others
to follow his lead into the new territory. Next came names like
Carter, Parker, Brown, Isaac Shelby, who would become the first
governor of Kentucky, and, in 1772, John Xavier, (AKA Sevier)
led his family into the region. The term "Watauga Association"
was used by the region’s first settlers and the name became
synonymous with the frontier outpost. The settlement was outside
the legal reaches of North Carolina forcing the people to form
a governmental body to oversee the village’s growing population.
The rogue colony drew up America’s a free and independently
written Constitution called the "Articles of the Watauga
Association" creating the first non-European civil government
in American history.
The delegation of Wataugans met in assembly with thirteen members
and used the laws of Virginia as a guide to formulate their
government. They elected five commissioners, who settled all
disputes, punish offenders, and generally perform all of the
functions of county courts and administration.
The Watauga Association began growing in numbers and immigration
to the settlement was becoming a steady stream.
Because of their growth, many in the assembly contacted the
North Carolina Colony asking to be annexed as a county or other
division. With the Revolutionary War threatening in the colonies,
the Wataugans wanted to cast their fortunes with the state in
hopes of securing protection. The request was approved by North
Carolina and the Watuagan Association became known as the Washington
District – the first such region named in honor of then
Continental General George Washington. The Wataugans then voted
themselves into being subject to taxes to help pay Revolutionary
debts that would be incurred. At least, that is how it looked
on paper. The petition passed by North Carolina was approved
by the 113 Assemblymen on Aug. 22, 1776, but was soon forgotten.
Britain had been monitoring the situation and responded to the
backwoodsmen by beginning a campaign to arm elements of the
Cherokee and Creek Nations. The warriors armed by the British
began an all out war against the backwoods colonies – forcing
North Carolina to abandon the idea of helping them and focus
on tightening their perimeters at the Appalachian mountains.
In 1777, a group of Wataugans unsuccessfully tried to purchase
20 million acres of land from the Cherokee in the Cumberland
Mountains. Their failure, however, led to them returning and
telling Wataugan leader James Robertson and Colonel James Donelson
about their efforts. Robertson and Donelson came up with a plan
to move their families to the new location and begin a new settlement.
In the fall of 1779, two separate expeditions left Fort Patrick
Henry near present-day Kingsport and began their westward trek.
Robertson led a party by land towards the Cumberlands and Donelson
on his boat "Alexander" started down the river in
December of that year with more than 30 other boats in tow.
Robertson made it first and began building a group of log cabins
on a cedar bluff near a part of the river known as the Big Salt
Lick. The Wataugan had also brought a herd of horses and cattle
overland to help seed new farms in the region. When they arrived
during the Winter of 1780, the Tennessee River was frozen and
the party crossed over the ice with the animals to begin their
settlement on the other side of the river.
Donelson arrived in the spring of that year and wasn’t
too thrilled by what he found. He wrote in his diary:
"Though our prospects at present are dreary, we have found
a few log cabins which have been built on a cedar bluff above
the Lick by Captain Robertson and his Company."
The cabins on the bluff were the beginnings of the City of Nashville
and, after the Donelson Party settled in their new home, attention
was turned to forming a new government. Like the Wataugan situation,
the Cumberland settlers knew they were part of North Carolina,
but too far removed to expect any help or assistance. On May
1, 1780, a meeting was formally called to order at Fort Nashboro.
Two hundred and fifty-six men signed a document known as "The
Cumberland Compact" with only one man having to "make
his mark" – a sign that only one of the new settlers
could not read and write. While the beginnings seemed romantic
enough, the next three years would be spent in brutal combat
with Native American tribes. On more than one occasion, men
wanted to pull out and return to the Washington District, but
Robertson and Donelson kept pushing for the settlers to stay
and those who survived began building a flourishing settlement.
When the Revolutionary War ended in 1782, immigration to the
region became a daily occurrence as veterans of the Continental
Army took payment for their service in the form of real estate
in the unsettled regions.
Although the Washington District had promised to burden itself
with debt owed by North Carolina on the Revolution, the state
didn’t take in enough in taxes to pay for the region and
decided to relinquish its claims on the western territory. The
settlements in the region were incensed by the move on North
Carolina’s part. Among the angry settlers who felt slighted,
was General John Sevier, who had served valiantly in the war
as a North Carolina citizen. He and the Wataugans withdrew into
their chambers in Jonesborough and decided it was time to assert
their claim on the land they had tamed.
The result was the formation of the State of Franklin –
named in honor of America’s greatest celebrity of the day
Benjamin Franklin. It was also an effort to get Franklin to
support their claims for statehood.
The Jonesborough delegation dispatched General William Cocke
to Congress to seek recognition for the new state. Although
he was turned away by the Congress, the Franklinites decided
upon Greeneville as a capitol and, like their predecessors before
them, adopted a Constitution and established laws governing
the territory.
When the governor of North Carolina was informed of what Sevier
and the others had done, he declared the act illegal and reclaimed
the territory. Gen. John Sevier and the State of Franklin survived
for four years, but a division had risen in that time that opposed
Sevier and wanted to continue being a part of North Carolina.
Under the leadership of John Tipton, the "North Carolina
loyalists" and Sevier would fight back and forth raiding
each others courthouses and burning land transaction deeds and
declaring each other’s rulings null and void. The Continental
Congress quickly adopted a "hands-off" policy that
allowed the settlers to decide their own fate and eventually
the region fell back to North Carolina control.
While the battle was raging over Franklin’s claims, a group
of settlers outside the district at the Holston and French Broad
Rivers formed another association named the Government South
of the Holston and French Broad Rivers. North Carolina’s
reasserting of their claims on Franklin excluded this new government
and called the settlers "intruders on the Indian Lands".
James White and the others didn’t seem to care what North
Carolina thought and adopted their Constitution and laws.
Sevier was the ultimate political survivor and, after escaping
from a kangaroo court trying to convict him of sedition, he
once again became a leading figure in the region. Sevier served
in the North Carolina Assembly as a representative of the Washington
District.
While the "Lost State of Franklin" became a part of
American folklore, it also showed up Congress as being inept
at matters beyond the boundaries of the original colonies. With
westward migration becoming more and more attractive to many
settlers trying to get away from the reinforcement of colonial
laws, Congress began to see they were going to have to deal
with statehood problems in the future.
In 1789, the ever changing minds of North Carolina’s assembly
again ceded the land to the Federal Government. By this time,
North Carolina felt it had used the western territory to its
full advantage by paying Revolutionary debts to former soldiers
with huge tracts of lands.
The Federal Government took over immediately and, in 1790, formed
the "Territory South of the Ohio River". Along with
a narrow strip ceded by South Carolina, the United States Government
drew the boundaries of the territory and appointed William Blount
as its Governor. Blount made his headquarters at Rocky Mount
near Kingsport before moving South to the site of Knoxville.
In 1793, with proof that 5,000 male inhabitants had moved to
the territory, Blount formed a legislature that begin the drive
for statehood. Three years later on June 1, 1796, President
George Washington signed the statehood proclamation for the
state – making the region the first American territory
to become a state.
After six tries at statehood, the name decided on for the seventh
attempt wasn’t Franklin, Watauga, or Cumberland. It came
from Timberlake’s 1763 map of the region. In fact, the
easternmost boundary of the region was decided to be the British
Proclamation Line established in the same year – one that
separated the North Carolina colony from the new state of Tennessee.
Tennessee still remains the only state to have been governed
and known under seven different names and forms of government.
The name "Tennessee" has through the years been a
topic of much debate. The majority of people have credited it
to the Cherokee and say it came from a village by the name of
Tanasi on the Little Tennessee River. Some have stated it was
a Cherokee word meaning "big spoon" in reference to
the Tennessee River.
Cherokee historians, however, say the word as it is written
is not of Cherokee origin. They also point out that many villages
throughout the Cherokee Nation were called Ta-na-si and pronounced
do not sound like the word we use today.
As with De Soto’s misconception of the Apalachee tribe
being "Aztec-like" rulers that earned them the honor
of having the Appalachian Mountains named after them, Cherokee
scholars say the word Tennessee is most likely a corruption
of another Cherokee term. A State historical marker, however,
sits on the bank Tellico Lake in Monroe County and points towards
a village’s location underwater. It claims the Cherokee
village to be the one where the state got its name. Through
the years, that has become the accepted story. In any event,
its first use is documented in the maps drawn by British Lieutenant
Henry Timberlake. The British Proclamation line of 1763 is still
the state boundary used today.
The Robertson and Donelson family settlement in Nashboro and
the City they founded was eventually chosen as the State capitol.
A historical fort was built on the Tennessee River in Nashville
to honor those early settlers and today Fort Nashboro is one
of the city’s most visited tourist attractions.
Across the state, Cherokee Chief John Ross would later found
the City of Chattanooga and a new face would appear in Tennessee
named Andrew Jackson who would help establish the Tennessee
City of Memphis, which grew out of a French settlement established
to trade with the Natives on the Mississippi River.
Tennessee’s southern boundary was, for a long time, located
not far below Nashville. The land beyond it was held by the
Chickasaw Nation. Following the War Between the States, the
Chickasaw Tribal Council was given two options. They could adopt
the slaves they held into their tribe and keep their land or
grant them their freedom and relocate to the Oklahoma Indian
territory. With Reconstruction promising to wreak havoc on the
region, the Chickasaw sold their land interests and moved west.
The southern boundary of Tennessee then moved to its current
position.
While many of the documents mentioned in this story are on display
in various locations and the Tennessee State Museum, including
the statehood Proclamation signed by President George Washington,
many colonial documents were lost through the years. One single
act, however, is credited with destroying a majority of them.
Dr. J.G.M. Ramsey in the mid 19th Century had spent most of
his life collecting the diaries, records, and other documents
of Tennessee’s early history. Ramsey had been the leader
of establishing the East Tennessee Historical Society –
the first such institution in the state and later recognized
one of the first in North America. The East Tennessean had amassed
most of the original colonial documents at his home on the Tennessee
River.
When Knoxville was captured by the Union Army in 1863, J.G.M.
Ramsey, who was a Confederate supporter and an enemy of "Parson"
Brownlow, had his home sought out by Union troops. Ramsey had
got word that he and his family would be on the Union’s
"Most Wanted" list and had fled to North Carolina
for refuge.
The residence on the Tennessee River was put to the torch with
most of Tennessee’s early colonial records still inside.
The loss was incredible to state and American historians and
the value of the documents considered priceless.
John Robertson and John Sevier would go on to become recognized
as Tennessee’s founding fathers. Sevier’s service
to America was never really recognized in Tennessee, but in
Washington, D.C. a statue of Sevier stands in the capitol attesting
to his influence in the American frontier. His efforts and those
of Robertson in forming the Watauga Association were later written
about by President Theodore Roosevelt in his book "The
Winning of the West" where he stated:
"They were the first free men to establish a fresh and
independent government on the North American continent."
Roosevelt went on to document the exploits of the early Tennesseans
at the Revolutionary Battle of King’s Mountain and is credited
with being the first to reestablish the state of Tennessee its
proper place in the annals of early American history. His book
led to a renewed interest in the state’s colonial history.
Sevier’s battles for statehood and the unsuccessful attempt
in forming the State of Franklin had a profound affect on the
Continental Congress. The controversy and ensuing battle led
to Congress forming laws and policies that would ensure future
territories would have the opportunity of joining the United
States and he is credited with opening the eyes of American
government to the possibility of national growth. The capitol
of Franklin in Greeneville is now recognized with a state marker
and the cabin where the State of Franklin started is preserved
as a historic site in the City.
Although Tennessee is considered by many historians to be the
true 14th state of America, the honor fell to Vermont, whose
proclamation date was 1791. Kentucky officially became the 15th
state a year later and Tennessee took its place as the 16th
State.
Kentucky’s first Governor was Issac Shelby who, like Tennessee’s
first Governor John Sevier, had helped found the Wataugan Association
and fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain. The only justice
for early Tennesseans in the statehood race was the fact that
all three of the states didn’t show up on the American
flag until early in the 19th Century.
