State of Franklin

The State of Franklin was an autonomous, secessionist territory created in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee in the United States not long after the end of the American Revolution. Franklin was never officially admitted into the Union of the United States and lasted only four years.

The fate of Western North Carolina

As the United States Congress was heavily in debt at the close of the Revolutionary War, the state of North Carolina voted, in April 1784, "to give Congress the 29,000,000 acres lying between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi river." This did not please the Watauga settlers who had gained an earnest foothold on the Cumberland River at Fort Nashborough. They feared Congress might in desperation sell the territory to a foreign power such as France or Spain. A few months later the legislature of North Carolina withdrew its gift, and again took charge of its western land because it feared the land would not be used to pay the debts of Congress. These North Carolina law makers also "ordered judges to hold court in the western counties, arranged to enroll a brigade of soldiers, and appointed John Sevier to command it."

Secessionist movement

The spirit of the American Revolution was still very much a part of the frontier worldview, and increasing dissatisfaction with the government of North Carolina led some residents of North Carolina west of the Alleghanies to call for the establishment of a separate state. On August 23, 1784, delegates from the North Carolina counties of Washington, Sullivan, Hawkins (which was then "Spencer County") and Greene (all of which are today counties of Tennessee) convened in the town of Jonesborough and declared the lands independent of North Carolina.

On May 16, 1785, a delegation from these counties submitted a petition for statehood to the United States Congress. Seven states voted to admit the tiny state under the proposed name Frankland; a majority, but not the two-thirds majority required by the Articles of Confederation. In an attempt to curry favor for their cause, leaders changed the name to "Franklin" after Benjamin Franklin, and even initiated a correspondence with the patriot to sway him to support them. He politely refused.

Locally, a constitution that disallowed lawyers, doctors and preachers from election to the legislature was rejected by plebiscite. Thereafter, a constitution modeled on that of North Carolina was adopted with few changes, and the state was called Franklin.

A temporary government was assembled at Greeneville. After a swift election, John Sevier became governor and David Campbell judge of the Superior Court. Greeneville was declared the permanent capital. The first legislature met in December 1785; Landon Carter was the Speaker of the Senate, and Thomas Talbot its clerk. William Gage was Speaker of the House, and Thomas Chapman served as House Clerk.

The legislature made treaties with the Native American tribes in the area, opened courts, incorporated and annexed five new counties (see map above), and fixed taxes and officers' salaries. Barter was the economic system both de facto and de jure, and anything in common use among the people was allowed to be paid to settle debts, including foreign money, corn, tobacco, whiskey, and skins (Sevier himself was paid in deer hides). Citizens were granted a two-year reprieve on paying taxes, but this lack of currency and economic infrastructure slowed development and created confusion.

The year 1786 was the beginning of the end of the small state. Franklin was placed in a precarious position by not being admitted to the United States. Because it shunned North Carolina's claims of sovereignty over it, Franklin did not have the benefit of the either the national army or the North Carolina militia. North Carolina offered to waive all back taxes if Franklin would reunite with its government. When this offer was not accepted, North Carolina moved in troops under the leadership of Col. John Tipton and established its own government in the region. The two rival administrations competed side by side for several months. Loyalties were divided among local residents. The only "battle" between Sevier's supporters and those of Tipton was fought in 1788 at Col. Tipton's farm which has been preserved as the Tipton-Haynes Historic Site in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Sevier, becoming desperate over the Franklin government's inability to function due to economic problems, sought a loan from the Spanish government. The North Carolina government was absolutely opposed to any foreign nation gaining a foothold in Franklin and ordered its officals to arrest Sevier. Sevier's supporters freed him from a local jail but Sevier decided to turn himself in anyway in February 1788. North Carolina was lenient and the only punishment given Sevier was to require him to swear an oath of allegiance to North Carolina.

In late March 1788, the Cherokee, Chickamauga and Chickasaw nations collectively began to attack white American settlements in Franklin with abandon. These Indian attacks led the short-lived state to settle its differences with North Carolina very quickly, so their militia might aid in driving out the Native American attackers.

Transition to Tennessee

As of 1790, the government of the State of Franklin had collapsed entirely and the territory was firmly back under the control of North Carolina. Sevier was elected to the North Carolina legislature to represent the region. Soon thereafter, the state once again ceded the area that would soon become Tennessee to the national government to form the Southwest Territory. John Sevier became Tennessee's first governor, and John Tipton signed the Tennessee Constitution as the representative from Washington County.

Trivia

In the last sessions of Franklin legislature, John Sevier proposed to commission a Franklin state flag, but it was never designed. The purported "flag of The State of Franklin" that is available on the internet is clearly a hoax, borrowing heavily from the current flag of Tennessee, which was designed at the turn of the 20th century by Leroy Reeves.
There is a bank based in Johnson City, Tennessee called "State of Franklin Savings Bank."
One of the main thoroughfares in Johnson City, Tennessee is named State of Franklin Road, which runs directly next to East Tennessee State University. The street is mentioned by name in the song "Good To Be Home" by The Everybodyfields, a Johnson City-based music group.
A club of amateur beer brewers in the Tri-Cities area calls itself "The State of Franklin Homebrewers."
In Tennessee today, there is a Franklin County and a city called Franklin. Neither of them is in the territory once called the State of Franklin.
The original state capitol of Franklin disappeared while being moved from the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. Only the key still remains.
Franklin had three different capitals in its short existence: Johnson City, Greeneville, and Seymour.

Sources

Williams, Samuel Cole and Carl S. Driver History of the Lost State of Franklin (Johnson City, TN: Overmountain, 1994).
Gerson, Noel B. Franklin: America's "Lost State", (New York: Crowell-Collier, 1968).
A History of Hawkins County, Tennessee
The Tipton-Haynes historic site
Educational article on Franklin
History of Western North Carolina
Johnson's Depot: The History of Johnson City, Tennessee
NPR Interview with Michael Toomey of the East Tennessee Historical Society
John Baez's Essay on Franklin