THE STATE OF FRANKLIN.
A. D. 1784 T0 1787.
1. During the years that followed upon the close of the
Revolution the people of North Carolina were busied with the
restoration of their ravaged fields and the development of the
new system of self-rule inaugurated by the Convention of Halifax
in 1776. There were many good and wise men in America who had no
confidence in the perpetuity or effectiveness of a polity which
rested upon the wisdom and virtue of the masses for its
enforcement.
2. Samuel Johnston and the leading lawyers of that day were full
of apprehension as to the result, where the protection of life,
liberty and property rested upon the ballots of men who were, as
a general thing, poor and unlettered. The Halifax Constitution
sought to provide for the education of the people, and had
recommended the establishment of a university, but no steps had
been taken by the Legislature to carry out this wise and
beneficent ordinance.
3. The Rev. Drs. David Caldwell and Samuel E. McCorkle were
conducting schools on their own responsibility in Guilford and
Mecklenburg, in which many young men were receiving sound and
useful preparation for life; and there were similar academies in
Wilmington, New Bern, Edenton and Charlotte; but as a general
thing, education was almost entirely neglected.
4. Under the terms of the "Articles of Confederation" the General
Congress continued to assemble, but its sessions resulted in
little good to America. The government was continually
embarrassed by the public debt contracted in the Revolution. It
could only pay such liabilities by calling upon the several
States for their proportions. These were regulated by the value
of the real estate.
5. North Carolina, thus witnessing the helplessness of the
general government to meet its pecuniary liabilities, was moved
to the noble resolution of ceding the great body of land then
belonging to the State west of the Allegheny Mountains. This
princely domain, now constituting the great State of Tennessee,
was at that period only settled in part by white people, and many
millions of acres of fertile lands could be sold to settlers.
6. Such a resource would have brought a great fund to the State
for education and other useful purposes; but with unexampled
devotion to the general good, it was determined by the
Legislature of 1784 that the Governor should tender to the
Federal government, as a free gift, all the lands not already
granted to soldiers and actual settlers.
1785.
7. To an embarrassed government, unable to meet its most solemn
engagements, such a boon, it seems, would have been gladly
received; but so great was the selfishness of certain States
which were then struggling to secure for themselves such bodies
of western lands, that the intended bounty of North Carolina
proved a failure. The General Congress having failed to accept
the offer, the act authorizing the cession was repealed.
8. The story of this patriotic munificence on the part of North
Carolina ends not here. When it became known among the western
settlers that their country had thus been offered to the general
government much excitement followed. Colonel John Sevier, of
King's Mountain fame, was a leader among the people of the
territory in question. He had been a gallant soldier in the
Revolution, and was trusted and beloved by his neighbors. He
persuaded them that North Carolina, in thus offering to surrender
her claims to their allegiance, had forfeited all right to
further control their destinies.
9. He procured the support of many others, who elected members to
a convention. This body met at Greenville, in November, 1785,
and framed a government of a State which they called "Franklin,"
in honor of the illustrious statesman, Benjamin Franklin.
Colonel Sevier was elected Governor, and judges and other
officers were also chosen.
10. Richard Caswell had again been made Governor of North
Carolina, when it became known that such things were being done
in the West. He issued a proclamation forbidding the whole
movement and denouncing it as revolutionary and unlawful. He was
supported by a party there headed by Colonel John Tipton.
1787.
11. It often seemed that bloody civil war would ensue between the
men who sided respectively with Sevier and Tipton, but happily
there was little bloodshed amid so much brawling. There were
many arrests and complaints, until finally, in October, 1788,
Colonel Sevier was captured by the forces of Tipton, and brought
to jail at Morganton, in Burke county. He was allowed to escape,
and, in memory of his services as a soldier, his offences were
forgiven. That there were no more serious results was greatly
due to the influence of Richard Caswell. Sevier was afterwards
in the Senate of North Carolina, and, after Tennessee became a
State, received all the honors a grateful people could confer.
[NOTE--There was no money in circulation in the "State of
Franklin," and the following curious statement, taken from the
old records, shows how payment was to be made to the public
officers: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
Franklin, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same,
that the salaries of the officers of this commonwealth shall be
as follows: His Excellency, the Governor, per annum, one thousand
deer skins; His Honor, the Chief-Justice, five hundred deer
skins, or five hundred raccoon skins; the Treasurer of the State,
four hundred and fifty raccoon skins; Clerk of the House of
Commons, two hundred raccoon skins; members of Assembly, per
diem, three raccoon skins."]
12. It was thus that the abortive State of Franklin arose and
disappeared. The State of Vermont originated in the same way;
and it is fortunate that such precedents have long since ceased
in America. There is some limit to the doctrine of the people's
right to self-government, just as liberty is not to be found in
mere license.
QUESTIONS.
1. What matters occupied the attention of the people in North
Carolina after the Revolution? How were some men disposed to
view the new plan of government?
2. What was the opinion of Samuel Johnston? What had been
provided for in the Halifax Constitution?
3. What private schools were in operation, and where were they?
4. How was the General Congress greatly embarrassed?
5. To what extent did North Carolina sympathize with the general
government? What is the present name of that great territory?
6. What was done by the Legislature of 1784?
7. Why was this a very valuable and timely gift to the
government? How did the offer succeed?
8. What excitement was created in the west by this donation? Who
was the leader of the people? What was Colonel Sevier's opinion
of the matter?
9. What was done in 1785? What name was given to the new State,
and why?
10. What proclamation was issued by Governor Caswell? Who was
the western leader of Governor Caswell's cause?
11. How did the whole matter end? What position did Colonel
Sevier afterwards occupy?
12. What other State in the Union originated in this way?