Franklin: America's Lost State Created by Appalachian Mountain Men

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Subject to availability, see homedepot.com slash delivery for details. And we return to our American stories. While we have 50 states today, it might surprise some of you listening that some didn't make the cut from Deseret to Superior to Lincoln. And the subject of our next story, Franklin. Here to tell the story of the lost state of Franklin is J.D. Phillips, the man behind the popular YouTube channel, The Appalachian Storyteller.

Take it away, J.D. Our story begins in 1784. A new country, the United States is born from the ashes of the Revolutionary War.

It was a time of great opportunity as all land east of the Mississippi River was ceded by Great Britain to this new nation. But the reality was that nearly all of the people living in these 13 states actually lived on the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains. There were only a few routes over them and all those trails were controlled by the Native Americans. There were few white men who had successfully breached the mountain barrier and had set up forts in small villages on the western slopes.

They were a hardy breed of men known as the overmountain men. They had learned much from the natives about surviving in the wilderness and fighting tactics. North Carolina was facing several problems. It claimed so much land that it was impossible to practically govern it all.

News from its coastal capital took months to reach the people living on the western side of the Appalachians. And at the same time, North Carolina couldn't afford to send any military aid to help these mountain men fight the natives who were defending their homeland. With that in mind, politicians set out giving huge land grants to soldiers who had fought in the revolution, helping to eventually fill the territory with loyalists and men willing to fight the government's battle for them to claim this new land. Yet, to their surprise, many of the soldiers were tired of fighting wars. And furthermore, North Carolina politicians had another problem.

They were flat broke. The war had left them penniless, so they created the Land Grab Act, opening up the vast area that would eventually become Tennessee to any person who was willing to pay $10 for 100 acres. And they sold nearly 4 million acres of this land in a mere 8 months. But wouldn't you know it, over 3 million of those acres were now owned by politicians and their business friends.

And many times without any actual proof of payment. Finally, by April of 1884, under pressure from Congress to pay off its debts, North Carolina ceded 29 million acres, all of its land that laid between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains back to the federal government. However, once the U.S. government realized that they were now responsible for all the costs to fight those Cherokee Indians, they soon changed their mind. Suddenly, the Overmountain Men, living on the western slopes of the Appalachians, were without state or country. Yet, these were no ordinary men. They were Appalachian. And soon, the entire course of American history would be altered as these men in this area set out to become the 14th state in the United States. By August of 1884, nearly 100 Overmountain Men met in what is now Jonesboro, Tennessee and discussed the dire circumstances.

They found themselves without any official status, protection, or judicial accommodations. John Severe was one of the men who attended this meeting. His leadership had proved vital during the Battle of Kings Mountain just a few years earlier. He was very well respected by his peers. The custom in those days was to name a town or a county after a prominent politician. And during this era, no man was more respected than Benjamin Franklin.

Thus, the new territory, comprising of modern-day East Tennessee, would be known as the State of Franklin. Severe was named the first governor, and they quickly set up officers and a militia to protect the area, and even adopted a state constitution that reflected Appalachian values. It called for religious freedom. It allowed any man the right to vote, even if he didn't own property.

And it forbade all lawyers, preachers, or doctors from holding political office. When word of this new state got back to the other side of the mountains, to North Carolina, they conveniently forgot that they had willingly abandoned both the people and the land. After all, the last thing those politicians wanted was all that land that they now personally owned, through the fraudulent land grab, to be owned by another state. So, in an about-face, they officially changed their minds and reasserted that the land was once again part of North Carolina. They even continued to demand payment of taxes from the mountain folks.

But those Appalachians just simply refused to pay and never sent a dime to them. Soon, word began to spread about this new state, with laws made to support and defend individual liberty. And, by now, folks all around the South were already tiring of the control and restrictions and taxes of this new American government.

In their minds, this new master was much like the old master. So, in a massive migration, nearly 15,000 families moved to the state of Franklin. All of the sudden, this state, founded by Appalachian mountain men, had grown to eight counties, and they had even created their own currency. And their leader, John Severe, proved to be equally skilled in both war and negotiations. Under his leadership, the state of Franklin fought several large battles with Cherokees. By June of 1785, Severe met with Cherokee leaders and negotiated the Treaty of Dumplin Creek, opening up those lands to even more white settlers. Heck, even the state capital of Franklin was built on this new land, in what is modern-day Greenville, Tennessee. Now, you better believe that a state as radical as Franklin put the United States government on notice.

With these mountain folks self-governing themselves and negotiating peace treaties with Native Americans, no, they certainly had to be stopped. The first blow came in mid-1785, when the official petition for Franklin to become the 14th state of the United States of America was officially voted on. Each of the 13 states had one vote, and a total of nine votes was needed to admit Franklin into the Union. Franklin only received seven, with North Carolina pressuring its neighboring states to vote against Franklin. The state of Franklin was denied entry into the United States, but that Appalachian spirit was alive and well.

The Mountaineers carried in their own right, much like an independent nation. So, the United States began engaging in a series of calculated moves to undermine Franklin's relationship with the Natives. In November of 1785, the United States negotiated the Treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokees, which completely reversed the treaty that John Sevier and the state of Franklin had in place.

This treaty returned all the land along the French Broad River back to the Cherokees. This meant that the state of Franklin's capital was now sitting squarely on Native American property. Over the next couple of years, all outside governments refused to recognize any official court orders from Franklin, making it impossible for folks to buy or sell property or complete any legal paperwork. And, by 1787, internal strife was rampant, and many Franklinites began lobbying for a return to statehood with North Carolina. Seeing this, North Carolina agreed to forgive any unpaid back taxes for those who would stop paying taxes to the state of Franklin. And, in the ultimate move to show power, North Carolina placed their own tax collector in the state of Franklin, a man named John Tipton, who was a bitter rival of John Sevier's. Tipton immediately ordered a sheriff to seize Sevier's personal property as payment to North Carolina for unpaid taxes. Yet, Sevier responded by showing up on Tipton's doorstep with a 145-man militia, and a two-day siege of Tipton's home ensued. North Carolina had had enough of John Sevier, and finally they arrested him for treason, and they were set to try him in Morganton, North Carolina. However, a heavily armed group of John Sevier's supporters showed up at the jailhouse steps, and that sheriff just so happened to fight alongside John Sevier in the Battle of Kings Mountain.

And he wisely looked away as Sevier mounted his horse and was free again. Despite all his efforts, the state of Franklin had collapsed and was now part of North Carolina again. Now, the irony of this story is that a year later, in 1789, John Sevier would receive a full pardon for pledging allegiance to the state of Franklin. And what did North Carolina do?

Well, they promptly surrendered all of its land from the Mississippi River to the Appalachians to the federal government again as payment for its debt from the Revolutionary War. This same land would become the 16th state, and who was the first governor of this new state, called Tennessee? You guessed it, John Sevier. And a special thanks to J.D. Phillips, the man behind the popular YouTube channel, The Appalachian Storyteller, and a terrific story about how states came to be and didn't.

The story of the last state built by Appalachian mountain men, here on Our American Stories. With Amex Gold, you can get up to $84 back annually at Dunkin' locations, so your morning pick-me-up tastes even better. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Enrollment required. Terms apply.

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