August 23 - The State of Franklin Established (Wait! "The State of Franklin???)

Posted on August 23, 2021

This is an update of my post published August 23, 2010:

Did you know that part of the land that now makes up Tennessee was once the state of Franklin?

The pioneers who had settled this land, which originally belonged to North Carolina but had been given to Congress and then taken back again, became upset with the government of North Carolina and decided to set up their own independent state. On this date in 1784, representatives of four North Carolina counties declared their lands independent of North Carolina.

This historic building served as the Capitol of the State
of Franklin during the four years of its existence.

Note, however, that as far as North Carolina was concerned,
and as far as the Continental Congress was concerned, the
State of Franklin didn’t exist for four years, because it didn’t
exist AT ALL!

The first proposed name for the 14th state was Frankland, but when the Continental Congress wouldn’t admit the tiny state to the union, leaders changed the name to Franklin. They were hoping that fans of Benjamin Franklin would look on their state with favor. However, Congress never did admit the state to the union, and after four years, Franklin folded. The counties went scuttling back to North Carolina, wanting protection from the state militia.

Like I said, the counties became part of Tennessee in 1796.

There are still a few remnants of the State of Franklin: there is a State of Franklin Bank and a State of Franklin Road in modern-day Tennessee.

Did you know…?

In 1854, the California State Assembly passed a plan to cut the state into three parts, Colorado (the name wasn’t in use as a state name then), Shasta, and California. (Actually, there have been more than 200 attempts to break up California, including small chunks of CA trying to break away from the large state.

The State of Jefferson, created from Northern California and Southern Oregon, was ceremonially declared in 1941.

The two X’s on the flag of the State of Jefferson
represent the doubt-cross, the sense of abandonment
felt by two different regions: Northern California and
Southern Oregon.

In 1969, some people ran for city government in New York City under the platform that NYC should secede from New York State and become the 51^st state!

There are a few groups today that want to secede from the United States. The Alaskan Independence Party, famous because Sarah Palin’s husband Todd was a registered member for seven years, wants Alaska to become an independent nation, and there have been petitions for California’s secession on the internet.