CHAPTER XXXVII.. The State of Franklin.

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.

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?