Statue II
April 2, 1790
CHAP. VI.--
An Act to accept a cession
of the claims of the state of North Carolina
to a certain district of Western territory.
A deed of cession having been executed, and in the Senate
offered for acceptance to the United States, of the claims
of the state of North Carolina, to a district of territory
therein described; which deed is in the words following, viz.
To all who shall see these Presents
We the underwritten Samuel Johnston and Benjamin Hawkins,
Senators in the Congress of the United States of America,
duly and constitutionally chosen by the legislature of the
State of North Carolina, send greeting.
Whereas the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, on
The
__ day of December, in
the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, passed an act, entituled An
act for the purpose of ceding to the United States of America, certain
western lands therein described, in the words following, to wit :
Whereas the United States in Congress assembled, have repeatedly and
earnestly recommended to the respective states in the Union, claiming
or owning vacant western territory, to make cessions of part of the
same, as a further means, as well of hastening the extinguishment of
the debts, as of establishing the harmony of the United States; and
the inhabitants of the said western territory being also desirous
that such cession should be made, in order to obtain a more ample
protection than they have heretofore received: now this state,
being ever desirous of doing ample justice to the public creditors,
as well as the establishing the harmony of the United States, and
complying with the reasonable desires of her citizens;
Be it
enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina,
and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That
the Senators of this state in the Congress of the United States,
or one of the Senators and any two of the Representatives of this
state in the Congress of the United States, are hereby authorized,
empowered and required to execute a deed or deeds on the part and
behalf of this state, conveying to the United States of America,
all right, title and claim which this state has to the sovereignty
and territory of the lands situated within the chartered limits of
this state, west of a line beginning on the extreme height of the
Stone Mountain, at the place where the Virginia line intersects it;
running thence along the extreme height of the said mountain, to
the place where Watauga river breaks through it; thence a direct
course to the top of the Yellow Mountain, where Brights road
crosses the same; thence along the ridge of said mountain, between the
waters of Doe river and the waters of Rock Creek, to the place where
the road crosses the Iron Mountain; from thence along the extreme
height of said mountain, to where Nolichucky river runs through
the same; thence to the top of the Bald Mountain; thence along
the extreme height of the said mountain, to the Painted Rock,
on French Broad river; thence along the highest ridge of the
said mountain, to the place where it is called the Great Iron or
Smoky Mountain: thence along the extreme height of the said
mountain, to the place where it is called Unicoy or Unaka Mountain,
between the Indian towns of Cowee and Old Chota; thence along the
main ridge of the said mountain, to the southern boundary of the
said state, upon the following express conditions, and subject
thereto-that is to say:
First, That neither the lands nor
inhabitants westward of the said mountain shall be estimated after
the cession made by virtue of this act shall be accepted, in the
ascertaining the proportion of this state with the United States,
in the common expense occasioned by the late war.
Secondly,
That the lands laid of, or directed to be laid off by any act or
acts of the General Assembly of this state, for the officers and
soldiers thereof, their heirs and assigns respectively, shall be
and enure to the use and benefit of the said officers, their heirs
and assigns respectively; and if the bounds of the said lands
already prescribed for the officers and soldiers of the continental
line of this state, shall not contain a sufficient quantity of lands
fit for cultivation, to make good the several provisions intended by
law, that such officer or soldier, or his assignee, who shall fall
short of his allotment or proportion, after all the lands fit for
cultivation within the said bounds are appropriated, be permitted
to take his quota, or such part thereof as may be- deficient, in
any other part of the said territory intended to be ceded by virtue
of this act, not already appropriated. And where entries have been
made agreeable to law, and titles under them not perfected by grant
or otherwise, then, and in that case, the governor for the time
being shall, and he is hereby required to perfect, from time to
time, such titles, in such manner as if this act had never been
passed. And that all entries made by, or grants made to all and
every person or persons whatsoever, agreeable to law, and within
the limits hereby intended to be ceded to the United States, shall
have the same force and effect as if such cession had not been made;
and that all and every right of occupancy and pre-emption, and every
other right reserved by any act or acts to persons settled on, and
occupying lands within the limits of the lands hereby intended to be
ceded as aforesaid, shall continue to be in full force, in the same
manner as if the cession had not been made, and as conditions upon
which the said lands are ceded to the United States. And further,
it shall, be understood, that if any person or persons shall have,
by virtue of the act, entituled An act for opening the
land-office for the redemption of specie and other certificates,
and discharging the arrears due to the army, passed in the
year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, made his or their
entry in the office usually called John Armstrongs office,
and located the same to any spot or piece of ground, on which any
other person or persons shall have previously located any entry or
entries, that then, and in that case, the person or persons having
made such entry or entries, or their assignee or assignees, shall
have leave, and be at full liberty to remove the location of such
entry or entries, to any lands on which no entry has been specially
located, or on any vacant lands included within the limits of the
lands hereby intended to be ceded:
Provided, That nothing herein
contained shall extend or be construed to extend to the making good
any entry or entries, or any grant or grants heretofore declared void,
by any act or acts of the General Assembly of this state.
Thirdly,
That all the lands intended to be ceded by virtue of this act to the
United States of America, and not appropriated as before mentioned, shall
be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of the United States
of America, North Carolina inclusive, according to their respective and usual
proportion in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully
disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatever.
Fourthly, That the territory so ceded, shall be laid out and formed
into a state or states, containing a suitable extent of territory, the
inhabitants of which shall enjoy all the privileges, benefits and advantages
set forth in the ordinance of the late Congress, for the government of the
western territory of the United States, that is to say; whenever the Congress
of the United States shall cause to be officially transmitted to the executive
authority of this state, an authenticated copy of the act to be passed by the
Congress of the United States, accepting the cession of territory made by
virtue of this act, under the express conditions hereby specified; the said
Congress shall at the same time assume the government of the said ceded
territory, which they shall execute in a manner similar to that which they
support in the territory west of the Ohio; shall protect the inhabitants against
enemies, and shall never bar or deprive them of any privileges which the people
in the territory west of the Ohio enjoy:
Provided always, That no regulations
made or to be made by Congress, shall tend to emancipate slaves.
Fifthly,
That the inhabitants of the said ceded territory shall be liable to pay such sums
of money, as may, from taking their census, be their just proportion of the debt
of the United States, and the arrears of the requisitions of Congress on this
state.
Sixthly, That all persons indebted to this state, residing
in the territory
intended to be ceded by virtue of this act, shall be held and deemed liable to pay
such debt or debts in the same manner, and under the same penalty or penalties as
if this act had never been passed.
Seventhly, That if the Congress of the
United States do not accept the cession hereby intended to be made, in due form,
and give official notice thereof to the executive of this state, within eighteen
months from the passing of this act, then this act shall be of no force or effect
whatsoever.
Eighthly, That the- laws in force and use in the State of North
Carolina, at the time of passing this act, shall be, and continue in full force
within the territory hereby ceded, until the same shall be repealed, or otherwise
altered by the legislative authority of the said territory.
Ninthly, That
the lands of non-resident proprietors within the said ceded territory, shall not
be taxed higher than the lands of residents.
Tenthly, That this act shall
not prevent the people now residing south of French Broad, between the rivers
Tennessee and Big Pigeon, from entering their pre-emptions in that tract, should
an office be opened for that purpose, under an act of the present General Assembly.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the sovereignty and
jurisdiction of this state, in and over the territory aforesaid, and all and every
the inhabitants thereof, shall be and remain the same in all respects, until the
Congress of the United States shall accept the cession to be made by virtue of this
act, as if this act had never passed.
Read three times, and ratified in General Assembly, the
__
the day of December, A. D. 1789.
Chas. Johnson, Sp. Sen.
S. Cabarrus, Sp. H. C.
Now therefore know ye, That we, Samuel Johnston and Benjamin Hawkins, senators
aforesaid, by virtue of the power and authority committed to as by the said act,
and in the name, and for and on behalf of the said state, do, by these presents,
convey, assign, transfer, and set over unto the United States of America, for the
benefit of the said states, North Carolina inclusive, all right, title, and claim
which the said state bath to the sovereignty and territory-of the lands situated
within the chartered limits of the said state, as bounded and described in the
above recited act of the General Assembly, to and for the uses and purposes, and
on the conditions mentioned in the said act.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, and affixed our seals,
in the senate-chamber, at New York, this twenty-fifth day of February, in the year
of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and in the fourteenth year of
the independence of the United States of America.
Sam. Johnson. (L.S.)
Benjamin Hawkins. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered
in the presence of
SAM. A. OTIS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the said deed be, and the
same is hereby accepted.
Approved, April 2, 1790.