As in the preceding year, a special
fall session of the General Assembly was
called by Governor Sevier in 1786. The
month of October was chosen for it. The
officers of the senate were, Gilbert
Christian, speaker, and Joseph Conway,
clerk; and of the house of commons,
Henry Conway, speaker, and Isaac Taylor,
clerk.
One of the principal matters for
consideration was a plan for a campaign
against the Creek Indians. Under the
governor's advice and guidance,
provision was promptly made to raise in
the State a force of mounted riflemen,
composed of a draft of one-fourth of the
militia from every county, and the
light-horse regiment of the State,
provisioned for twenty days.
Preparations for the expedition were
halted on the receipt of a communication
from Governor Telfair, under date of
November 28, 1786, stating that
commissioners appointed to treat with
the Creek nation had concluded peace, on
account of which preparations for
hostile operation were suspended. One
object of Sevier in projecting this
campaign was thus temporarily
frustrated—that of diverting the
attention of the men of the region from
civil feud by concentrating it on and
attaching them to a movement of a kind
that never failed to enlist the
enthusiastic support of the fighting
frontiersmen. Peace for the infant
Commonwealth was sought in hostile
action in another direction.
Two commissioners, William Cocke and
Judge David Campbell, were appointed to
attend the approaching session of the
North Carolina Assembly to negotiate for
a separation. Each of them was well
suited for the purpose of his mission.
The former was identified with the new
settlements by an early participation in
the privation, enterprise and danger of
the pioneer life. More recently, he had
taken an active part in founding the new
State—had been appointed its delegate to
Congress; commanded a brigade of its
militia and held other positions
implying confidence in his talents and
address. His colleague had also a minute
acquaintance with every question
relating to either of the parties, held
the highest judicial station in the
government from which he was accredited,
and by his private worth, was entitled
to the respect of the one to which he
was sent.1
The commissioners were to confront
members of the Carolina Assembly who had
been chosen by the old-state faction
from the region, and two of these
members, Stuart and White, were
themselves to confront contestants for
their seats in two Franklinites, Landon
Carter and Thomas Chapman. The mission
was, indeed, a difficult one. The
governor of Franklin sent an argument
and appeal to Governor Caswell in
support of its object, in which he
uttered words of caution. "It may
occasion much confusion should your
Assembly listen too much to prejudiced
persons"—the reference being to Tipton
in the Senate and his associates in the
Assembly. The communication embodied a
candid statement of Franklin's claims
and attitude, and was so shaped as to
put to test the willingness of Carolina
to yield assent to a separation on any
reasonable terms.2
Judge Campbell was unable, because of
ill health, to make the long trip to
Fayetteville, where the North Carolina
Assembly convened; and he likewise
stated his State's case in a written
argument addressed to Governor Caswell,
but to be laid before the Assembly:
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STATE OF
FRANKLIN,
Caswell County, Nov. 30th, 1786. |
May it please your Excellency—
I have hesitated to address your
Excellency on so delicate a subject as
the present. I shall only state a few
facts, and leave your Excellency to draw
the conclusion.
Is not the continent of America one day
to become one consolidated government of
the United States? Is not your state,
when connected with this part of the
country, too extensive? Are we not,
then, one day to be a separate people?
Do you receive any advantage from us as
now situated? or do you ever expect to
receive any? I believe you do not.
Suffer us, then, to pursue our own
happiness in a way most agreeable to our
situation and circumstances. The plans
laid for a regular and systematic
government in this country, are greatly
frustrated by the opposition from your
country. Can a people so nearly
connected as yours are with ours,
delight in our misfortunes? The rapid
settlements that are making, and have
been made out of the bounds prescribed
both by your state and ours, is a matter
worthy your consideration; our divisions
are favourable to those who have a mind
to transgress our laws. If you were to
urge us, and it were possible we should
revert back to you, in what a labyrinth
of difficulties would we be involved?
Witness the many lawsuits, which have
been decided under the sanction of the
laws of Franklin, the retrial of which
would involve many persons in certain
ruin.
If we set out wrong, or were too hasty
in our separation, this country is not
altogether to blame; your state pointed
out the line of conduct, which we
adopted; we really thought you in
earnest when you ceded us to Congress.
If you then thought we ought to be
separate, or if you now think we ever
ought to be, permit us to complete the
work that is more than half done; suffer
us to give energy to our laws and force
to our councils, by saying we are a
separate and independent people, and we
will yet be happy. I suppose it will
astonish your Excellency to hear that
there are many families settled within
nine miles of the Cherokee nation. What
will be the consequence of those
emigrations? Our laws and government
must include these people or they will
become dangerous; it is vain to say they
must be restrained. Have not all
Americans extended their back
settlements in opposition to laws and
proclamations? The Indians are now
become more pusillanimous, and
consequently will be more and more
encroached upon; they must, they will be
circumscribed. Some of your politicians
think we have not men of abilities to
conduct the reins of government; this
may in some measure be true, but all new
states must have a beginning, and we are
daily increasing in men both of
political and law knowledge. It was not
from a love of novelty, or the desire of
title, I believe, that our leaders were
induced to engage in the present
revolution, but from pure necessity. We
were getting into confusion, and you
know any government is better than
anarchy. Matters will be differently
represented to you, but you may rely on
it, a great majority of the people are
anxious for a separation. Nature has
separated us; do not oppose her in her
work; by acquiescing you will bless us,
and do yourself no injury; you bless us
by uniting the disaffected, and do
yourself no injury, because you lose
nothing but people who are a clog in
your government, and whom you cannot do
equal justice by reason of their
detached situation.
I was appointed to wait on your General
Assembly, to urge a ratification of our
independence, but the misfortune of
losing one of my eyes, and some other
occurrences, prevented me. You will
therefore, pardon me for the liberties I
have taken, whilst endeavouring to serve
a people whose situation is truly
critical.
On the opening day of the session a
number of petitions from the
trans-Alleghany counties were presented
and referred to a select committee
appointed to report on the western
situation, Elisha Battle, of the senate,
being its chairman.
At this juncture appeared Cocke who
asked leave to be heard, at the bar of
the house of commons, by both branches
of the Assembly. The scene was an
impressive one. Cocke was himself of an
imposing presence, tall, swarthy,
black-haired, black-eyed; and bold and
eloquent in utterance. To some of his
hearers he had been comrade in arms on
battlefields of the Revolution, the
principles of which he now urged in
behalf of Franklin. Fortunately, John
Haywood, the historian, as secretary of
the senate of Carolina, was present
lending an ear peculiarly attentive
because upon himself had been bestowed
an appointment to serve as chief judge
in one of the districts of the Western
Country. He thus graphically outlines
Cocke's address:
In a speech of some hours, he
pathetically depicted the miseries of
his distressed countrymen; he traced the
motives of their separation to the
difficult and perilous condition in
which they had been placed by the
Cession act of 1784; he stated that the
savages in their neighbourhood often
committed upon the defenceless
inhabitants the most shocking
barbarities; and that they were without
the means of raising or subsisting
troops for their protection; without
authority to levy men; without the power
to lay taxes for the support of internal
government; and without the hope that
any of their necessary expenditures
would be defrayed by the State of
North-Carolina, which had then become no
more interested in their safety than any
other of the United States. The
sovereignty retained being precarious
and nominal, as it depended on the
acceptance of the cession by Congress,
so it was anticipated would be the
concern of North-Carolina for the ceded
territory. With these considerations
full in view, what were the people of
the ceded territory to do, to avoid the
blow of the uplifted tomahawk? How were
the women and children to be rescued
from the impending destruction ? Would
Congress come to their aid? Alas!
Congress had not yet accepted of them,
and possibly, never would. And if
accepted, Congress was to deliberate on
the quantum of defence which might be
afforded to them. The distant states
would wish to know what profits they
could respectively draw from the ceded
country, and how much land would remain,
after satisfying the claims upon it. The
contributions from the several states
were to be spontaneous. They might be
too limited to do any good, too tardy
for practical purposes. They might be
unwilling to burthen themselves for the
salvation of a people not connected with
them by any endearing ties. The powers
of Congress were too feeble to enforce
contributions. Whatever aids should be
resolved on, might not reach the objects
of their bounty, till all was lost.
Would common prudence justify a reliance
upon such prospects? Could the lives of
themselves and their families be staked
upon them? Immediate and pressing
necessity called for the power to
concentrate the scanty means they
possessed of saving themselves from
destruction. A cruel and insidious foe
was at their doors. Delay was but
another name for death. They might
supinely wait for events, but the first
of them would be the yell of the savage
through all their settlements. It was
the well-known disposition of the
savages to take every advantage of an
unpreparedness to receive them, and of a
sudden to raise the shrieking cry of
exultation over the fallen inhabitants.
The hearts of the people of
North-Carolina should not be hardened
against their brethren, who have stood
by their sides in perilous times, and
never heard their cry of distress when
they did not instantly rise and march to
their aid. Those brethren have bled in
profusion to save you from bondage, and
from the sanguinary hands of a
relentless enemy, whose mildest laws for
the punishment of rebellion, is
beheading and quartering. When driven in
the late war, by the presence of that
enemy, from your homes, we gave to many
of you a sanctified asylum in the bosom
of our country, and gladly performed the
rites of hospitality to a people we
loved so dearly. Every hand was ready to
be raised for the least unhallowed
violation of the sanctuary in which they
reposed.
The act for our dismissal was, indeed,
recalled in the winter of 1784; what
then was our condition? More pennyless,
defenceless and unprepared, if possible,
than before, and under the same
necessity as ever, to meet and consult
together for our common safety. The
resources of the country all locked up,
where is the record that shew any money
or supplies sent to us?—a single soldier
ordered to be stationed on the
frontiers, or any plan formed for
mitigating the horrors of our exposed
situation ? On the contrary, the savages
are irritated by the stoppage of those
goods on their passage, which were
promised as a compensation for the lands
which had been taken from them. If
North-Carolina must yet hold us in
subjection, it should at least be
understood to what a state of
distraction, suffering and poverty, her
varying conduct has reduced us, and the
liberal hand of generosity should be
widely opened for relief, from the
pressure of their present circumstances;
all animosity should be laid aside and
buried in deep oblivion, and our errors
should be considered as the offspring of
greater errors committed by yourselves.
It belongs to a magnanimous people to
weep over the failings of their
unfortunate children, especially if
prompted by the inconsiderate behaviour
of the parent. Far should it be from
their hearts to harbour the unnatural
purpose of adding still more affliction
to those who have suffered but too much
already. It belongs to a magnanimous
people to give an industrious attention
to circumstances, in order to form a
just judgment upon a subject so much
deserving of their serious meditation,
and when once carefully formed, to
employ, with sedulous anxiety, the best
efforts of their purest wisdom, in
choosing a course to pursue, suitable to
the dignity of their own character,
consistent with their own honour, and
the best calculated to allay that storm
of distraction in which their hapless
children have been so unexpectedly
involved. If the mother shall judge the
expense of adhesion too heavy to be
borne, let us remain as we are, and
support ourselves by our own exertions;
if otherwise, let the means for the
continuance of our connexion be supplied
with the degree of liberality which will
demonstrate seriousness on the one hand,
and secure affection on the other.
North Carolina's legislative leaders
were not yet willing to turn loose the
State's western domain, whatever may
have been their sentiments respecting
the claims of the over-mountain people.
It was their firm determination that
separation should not be granted but
that North Carolina's sovereignty should
yet be more distinctly asserted. The
select committee, through its chairman,
"impressed with a sense of the suffering
of those people," suggested "the
necessity of extending to them the
benefits of government and protection,
and that they be assured they will be
neither neglected nor discarded by their
brethren on this side of the mountains."
The committee was of the opinion that
the numbers and wealth of the western
counties would not enable them to
support a separate government. "Whenever
the wealth and numbers of the citizens
on the western waters so increase as to
make same necessary, we are free to say
a separation may take place upon
friendly and reciprocal terms and under
certain compacts and stipulations." The
"compacts and stipulations" remained for
future definition; but what was in mind
to be imposed, the event showed.
General Griffith Rutherford,3
evidently after consulting with Cocke,
four days later introduced a bill to
conciliate the inhabitants of the
western counties that would have proved
acceptable to the supporters of Franklin
and brought peace to her borders. It met
with short shrift. On its first reading
it was rejected.
Tipton, in the senate, sought to punish
the town of Jonesborough for the
attitude of its citizens in the August
election by introducing a bill to remove
the seat of justice of Washington
county. After being amended so as to
name commissioners (Benjamin Ward,
Robert White, Edward Williams, William
Moore, John Hammer, Robert Love and
William Priestly) merely to select a
site, the bill passed. The commissioners
later selected Jonesborough, the old
county seat, and Tipton's real intention
was defeated. The act provided, however,
that in the meantime the courts should
be held in Tipton's neighborhood at the
home of William Davis, near the present
Johnson City.4
Other enactments toward the close of the
session followed the recommendations of
the committee. Separation was denied;
tender of oblivion and pardon was
offered for the offenses of all persons
engaged in the Franklin movement; taxes
for the years 1784 and 1785 were
remitted to the inhabitants of the
counties that had adhered to the new
State; civil and military officers were
provided for in order to the restoration
of statal functioning there; a new
county was carved out of the territory
of Sullivan county and named in honor of
Benjamin Hawkins; and an extension of
two years was made for the completing of
surveys of lands west of the Cumberland
mountains, and for the perfecting of
military grants in that region.
This grasping for a firmer hold of the
western lands was coincident with the
communication of a renewed appeal made
by Congress (August 9, 1786) on North
Carolina for a cession of those lands.
The State was "once more solicited to
consider with candor and liberality the
expectations of sister States, and the
earnest and repeated applications made
by Congress on this subject."5
The appeals of Congress and of Franklin
were alike unheeded.
A strong side-light is thrown upon the
attitude and action of the North
Carolina Assembly by a letter to General
James Robertson from one of the most
experienced, influential and astute
leaders in the legislature of Carolina,
General Thomas Person, written after the
adjournment of the session. Requesting
that surveys of western land for himself
be speeded, Person wrote further: "I
fully intend to be with you in the next
Assembly; we will do the best we can to
open the land office once more and grant
out all the western country; and leave
Congress no further hopes of obtaining
it from us to whom it justly belongs,
that is to say, the State. .. I am clear
you must soon be a separate State, for
which you have my hearty concurrence as
soon as you can act for yourselves."6
Person had been and continued to be an
opponent of all cession or separation
measures. He along with others of his
type was, indeed, favorable to a
separate State when the western people
could act for themselves—in the sense of
"doing for themselves," without a public
domain worthy of the name to attract
settlers or to aid in the establishment
of an educational system.
Major Elholm in September, 1786,
expressed the view that "Cumberland was
at this time in contemplation to join in
government with the Franks." At least,
discontent with Carolina's failure to
adopt protective measures against the
Indians was manifest in that quarter, to
stay which the Assembly of that year
deemed it good policy to make a
provision for the raising of a military
force of three companies for the
protection of the inhabitants of that
region. The force was, preliminarily, to
open a road ten feet wide, at least,
from the Franklin settlements to those
on the Cumberland. Each man embodied in
the troop was to receive for each year's
service four hundred acres of land, to
be allotted out of those lying west of
the Cumberland mountains; and the
Westerners were thought to be able to
act for themselves to the extent of
paying the expenses of raising and
equipping the troops by way of taxes
imposed by the act, "on all lands lying
west of the Appalachian mountains."7
Joseph Martin, though not a member of
the North Carolina Assembly, went to
Fayetteville to lay before that body
"the proceedings of the pretended State
of Franklin; and their encroachment on
the Indian lands"; and lent his aid to
the defeat of Cocke's mission.8
The separation movement was by no means
confined to the State of Franklin. It
was in this year rife in Vermont and yet
farther east. A convention was held at
Portland to effect a separation of the
district of Maine from the State of
Massachusetts. In Kentucky the movement
for a separate government, begun at
Danville in December, 1784, renewed in
January and May, 1785, was carried to
the point of "confirming a decree of
separation from Virginia," in August,
1785. An immediate erection of the
district into a new State was asked of
the Virginia legislature, which body, in
January,
1786, stipulated that a new convention
should be held in the district in
September, 1786; and that, if it
declared for independence, a separate
State should come into being after
September 1, 1786; provided, however
that Congress, before June 1, 1787,
should consent, and agree to its
admission into the Union.9 Kentucky was,
during the year 1786, in turmoil,
produced by this action of Virginia,
deemed as it was by many of the leaders
of the district to be purposely and
needlessly dilatory. The two movements,
in Franklin and Kentucky had some phases
in common. Each tended to bolster the
other.
___________
1 Ramsey, 347
2 This letter was carried by
Cocke, who reached Fayetteville November
16, 1786
3 N. C. State Records, XVIII,
112. General Rutherford later removed to
the Western Country where he was honored
with membership in and the presidency of
the Legislative Council of Territory
South of the Ohio, and by having one of
Tennessee's richest counties given his
name.
4 N. C. State Records,XVIII,
91; Acts 1776, ch. 79, and N. C. State
Records, XXIV, 850. Had Tipton's design
been carried through the chances are
that Johnson City, at this day a
thriving city of 25,000 population,
would today be the site of Washington
county, and that Carter county would
never have been created, at least with
her present territorial limits.
5 Journal of Continental
Congress ( W . and G. ed.), IV, 680.
6 American Historical Mag.,
I, 78.
7 N. C. State Records, XXIV
,786.
8 Virginia Calendar State
Papers, IV, 183. |
