Born on a mountaintop in the state of Franklin? Yes, Davy Crockett was born on Aug. 17, 1786 near Limestone, Greene County in the proposed state of Franklin. Now a part of Tennessee, the territory was once the Free Republic of Franklin from 1784 to 1789.
After the expense of the Revolutionary War, North Carolina offered to cede some of their western territories to Congress to help settle its debts. North Carolina’s legislature voted to give Congress 29,000,000 acres lying between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi River.
At that time, the frontier was just over the Alleghenies. People traded in Spanish and Portuguese gold coins, British pounds and shillings, and a plethora of currencies issued by the various states. Treaties needed to be negotiated with Native Americans and foreign governments (such as the French at the Mississippi).
According to historian Jason Farr, residents of the territory wanted “stability so they could secure land claims and gain commercial access to the Mississippi.” If nature abhors a vacuum, then settlers who cleared land and fought for it did more so.
In spring 1784, the residents organized the ceded lands into what was meant to be America’s 14th state and named it after Benjamin Franklin.
Governing Franklin
The idea for a new western state was originally floated by Col. John Sevier (for whom Sevierville, Tennessee, is named) and Arthur Campbell of Washington County, Virginia.
John Sevier was born in Augusta County, Virginia, on Sept. 23, 1745. He settled in the Tennessee Valley in the 1770s. Sevier was a military hero, having fought to defend Fort Watauga from the Cherokee. He became a member of the Washington District’s Committee of Safety. The Washington District consisted of all the lands of North Carolina that now make up present-day Tennessee. The Committees of Safety were a shadow government formed by the revolutionaries in various regions.
Cession and Secession
When North Carolina ceded the western territories, they did so with the stipulation that Congress would accept responsibility for the region within two years. Congress was reluctant to do so, leaving the settlers in limbo.Mere months after its cession bill, in October 1784, North Carolina rescinded the cession for a couple of reasons. First, it became clear that the cession of these territories could not be applied to their part of the war debt. Secondly, there was concern that these lands might fall into the hands of a foreign power.
Battle of Franklin
The Battle of Franklin began in February 1788, when John Tipton had some of Sevier’s slaves seized for back taxes that North Carolina claimed he owed. Sevier led over 100 of his militia to Tipton’s farm, where there was a standoff and a brief exchange of gunfire. Two days later, loyalist reinforcements arrived from Sullivan County and drove off the Franklinites. Sevier’s popularity declined after that. North Carolina Gov. Samuel Johnston put out a warrant for his arrest.
Sevier was arrested and taken to Morganton, North Carolina, to stand trial for treason. This might well have been the end of the story, but the sheriff of the county, William Morrison, happened to be an old war buddy. He’d fought with him at King’s Mountain in the Revolution. Morrison had John Sevier released before the trial was to be held. In February 1789, Sevier took the oath of allegiance to North Carolina and was pardoned by Gov. Alexander Martin.
John Sevier was then elected to the North Carolina State Senate. In November 1789, he was a delegate to the Fayetteville Convention and worked to secure North Carolina’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Then he worked to craft another cession act for the western region. This time there was little opposition, and Congress created the Southwest Territory in 1790. Sevier was appointed brigadier general of the territorial militia. In 1796, when the State of Tennessee was formed from the Southwest Territory, the citizens elected John Sevier as their first governor.
