Conflict in Franklin
A land of three empires
Franklin vs. north carolina Competition between two prominent backcountry areas polarized them as a bitter partisan contest arose. From January 1786-winter 1787, Franklinites fought intensely for their political sovereignty, but events such as William Cocke's failed congressional lobbying efforts, escalation of opposition to statehood, and contrary North Carolinian political legislation threatened it.
In 1775, the General Assembly issued a manifesto condemning the establishment of the State of Franklin. (1) The state of Franklin failed to get approval from the U.S. Congress, North Carolina legislature, or any national public figure in order to affirm their movement for statehood. Three things threatened the community on the home front: the Cherokee Indians, competing state bureaucracies, and tense local factionalism. (2) Further hostilities arose between Franklin and North Carolina as high-level meetings were carried out, but then caused an ability for a secure agreement between the two states to be carried out. Franklinites became increasingly desperate, but even the inevitable downfall of the "state" could not convince its residents to give up on their cause. During the state's final months, a violent clash arose between the communities of the Tennessee Valley, leaving the region in shambles and the state in ruins. (3)
|
Franklin vs. the Cherokee Indians As British presences faded away following the American Revolution, Indians saw no more royal protection from white encroachment and tribes like the Cherokee lost coveted land. The Wataugans completely overlooked Indian sovereignty when forming their new county and later, state.
The Cherokee had been relatively peaceful and were very prepared militarily, and bore no signs of the oft-discussed "socialist utopias" of pre-contact Native Americans. The Wataugans completely overlooked Indian sovereignty when forming their new county and later, state. In addition, the local economy began to focus on land and resources, which gradually cut out the Indian fur trade. The Franklinites were implored by Cherokee chief King Fisher in 1787 to move off of Native American hunting grounds, and their refusal eventually led to the souring of Euroamerican-Indian relations. (4)
A letter from john sevier to the native americans:To the Cherokees and their warriors if they Have Any.
Your murders and savage Barbarities have caused me to come into your Country Expecting you would fight like men, but you are like the Bairs and Wolves. The face of a white man makes you run fast into the woods and hide, u see what we have done and it is nothing to what we shall do in a short time. I pity your women & children for I am sure they must suffer and live like dogs but you are the Cause of it. You will make War, & then is afraid to fight, — our people whiped yours mightily two nights ago Crossing the river and made your people run very fast. (5) Sevier's alarm at the threat of a cherokee attack Sevier wrote a letter to Col. Samuel Wear expressing his alarm after a group of four of his men were found to have wounded an Indian and taken two guns. He wanted to resolve the affair in order to prevent further Cherokee attacks on his land.
"I beg you Sir to...get the guns from the person who has them and let them be returned...And not only so my enemies will rejoice, and has already said my friends would bring on a war -- these men, two of them I well know, to be my friends, and I most earnestly hope they will deliver up the guns. And let there be no more trouble about it." (6) |
(1) Toomey, Michael. North Carolina History Project. (John Locke Foundation)
(2) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin: America's First Secession, New Directions in Southern History (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2009), [Page 118-144]
(3) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin. [72-90]
(4) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin. [91-117]
(5) Charles H. Faulkner, Massacre at Cavett's Station: Frontier Tennessee during the Cherokee Wars (University of Tennessee Press, 2013), [Page 85].
(6) Billie R. McNamara, comp., TnGenWeb Sevier County (Knoxville: TNGenWeb.)
(2) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin: America's First Secession, New Directions in Southern History (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2009), [Page 118-144]
(3) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin. [72-90]
(4) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin. [91-117]
(5) Charles H. Faulkner, Massacre at Cavett's Station: Frontier Tennessee during the Cherokee Wars (University of Tennessee Press, 2013), [Page 85].
(6) Billie R. McNamara, comp., TnGenWeb Sevier County (Knoxville: TNGenWeb.)