Living in Franklin
What was it like?
The Frontier Economy The economy on the East Tennessee frontier, where Franklin was located, was an intricate system based upon semi-subsistence agriculture, early rural market capitalism, and expansive land speculation. The four most fundamental roots of this system were: population growth, the abundance of natural resources and land, geography, and the stressed economic climate in post-Revolutionary War America. (1) The economy's two-sided nature – a "household economy" and a commercial marketplace – caused it to integrate into the world capitalist market system, which was ironic given that many settlers had moved to the area to escape the capitalist industrial age. (2) Early traces of capitalism were found in land speculation, dense concentrations of wealth, slave labor, and trading of natural resources. Many settlers had had a desire in mind for a purely subsistence-based economy in the southern mountainous region, but found that it was ultimately an over-romanticized ideal. (3)
Building communities The earliest business ventures in the valley centered around mercantile sales and inn-keeping, shown by a network of inns, taverns, and diverse shops that served Franklin's population. These businesses were often the center of community life throughout the region. The first town, Jonesboro, developed a series of inns, a blacksmith shop, and a tavern that turned it into the "economic, political, and legal center of the region." (4) Many of the towns that now exist in Tennessee owe their early success to the creation of inns, which turned remote locations into vital stagecoach stops at the time. The inns often doubled as distilleries, turning the sale of whiskey into an integral source of revenue in the region as inn-keepers were able to capitalize on the stress and hardships of mountain travel to sell alcohol. These early inns and taverns were significant factors in the growth of Franklin, and they even became important meeting places over time, for example, the first Senate meeting of the State of Franklin was held "in one of the rooms of the [Greenville] town tavern." (5)(6)
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Franklinite Currency (7)
The family Farm Many family farms in Franklin operated as individual units, and could more or less support themselves. Corn was one of the most commonly grown crops, next to cotton or tobacco. These crops supported the use of slaves, and it was estimated that 10% of Franklin residents owned and used slaves on their property. (8) Slaves were considered property, and were often bequeathed to heirs when slaveholders died. Frontiersmen tended to prefer owning female and child slaves, because the tax rates were lower for them. Residents also kept cattle, some for milk and some for local and regional markets. Furthermore, cattle drives from the region through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia became more and more common. In this way, the seemingly isolated Franklinite region was linked to far-reaching markets outside of East Tennessee. (9)
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(1) 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 21]
(2) Daniel Vickers, "Competency and Competition: Economic Culture in Early America," William and Mary Quarterly, no. 47 (January 1990): [Page 3-29].
(3) Robert D. Mitchell, Commercialism and Frontier: Perspectives on the Early Shenandoah Valley (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1977).
(4) David C. Hsuing, Two Worlds in the Tennessee Mountains: Exploring the Origins of the Appalachian Stereotypes (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997), [Page 79].
(5) Francis Asbury, The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, ed. Elmer T. Clark (London and Nashville: Epworth Press and Abingdon Press, 1958), [Page 568-569].
(6) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin [Page 23]
(7) State of Franklin, Tennessee 4 Me, accessed February 8, 2016, http://www.tn4me.org/article.cfm/a_id/265/minor_id/82/major_id/26/era_id/3.
(8) Edward Michael McCormack, Slavery on the Tennessee Frontier (Nashville, TN: Tennessee American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1977), [Pages 2-6, 11-15].
(9) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin [Pages 25-27]
(2) Daniel Vickers, "Competency and Competition: Economic Culture in Early America," William and Mary Quarterly, no. 47 (January 1990): [Page 3-29].
(3) Robert D. Mitchell, Commercialism and Frontier: Perspectives on the Early Shenandoah Valley (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1977).
(4) David C. Hsuing, Two Worlds in the Tennessee Mountains: Exploring the Origins of the Appalachian Stereotypes (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997), [Page 79].
(5) Francis Asbury, The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, ed. Elmer T. Clark (London and Nashville: Epworth Press and Abingdon Press, 1958), [Page 568-569].
(6) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin [Page 23]
(7) State of Franklin, Tennessee 4 Me, accessed February 8, 2016, http://www.tn4me.org/article.cfm/a_id/265/minor_id/82/major_id/26/era_id/3.
(8) Edward Michael McCormack, Slavery on the Tennessee Frontier (Nashville, TN: Tennessee American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1977), [Pages 2-6, 11-15].
(9) Kevin T. Barksdale, The Lost State of Franklin [Pages 25-27]