TENNESSEE
509
TENNESSEE
down the Mississippi, claiming the territory for
Trance, and named it Louisiana. He stopped at
Cliickasaw Bhiffs and constructed a cabin and fort
wliieh ho named "Prud 'homme", made a treaty
wilh till' Indians, and established trading -posts.
Other I'rcnch trading-posts were soon thereafter
cst;ilili>licd among the Indians. Among these was
till' post of M. Charleville, the French trader who
iMiiit the first store at Salt Lick on the Cumberland,
where Nashville now stands. The English, in the
meantime, were colonizing the country from the
Atlantic seaboard westward, and in 1756 completed
I heir first structure in Tennessee, when the first Eng-
lish settlements were made within its limits.
In 1772 the Watauga settlement established a free and independent Government with the first written ( 'oust it uf ion adopted in America. This Government ei'iitinued until the beginning of the Revolution in 177.">, ])re,serving its independence of all other Govern- ments, including that of North Carohna, its mother C'llony, until the beginning of the conflict with Great Hiitain, when the ^^'atauga and Nf>llachucky settle- ments of Tennessee formed themselves into the Washington District. In 1776 these settlements were annexed to the State of North Carolina and became Washington County. In 1779 a band of adventurous spirits from Watauga, led by James Robertson, known as "The Father of Tennessee", reached the present site of Nashville. The settle- ment was then called Nashboro. Captain Demon- breun, a Frenchman, had, however, established a post at the same place in 1775. In 1780 another band of colonists reached Nashville by way of the Cumber- land and Tennessee Rivers, and in the same j'ear a public meeting or convention was held in Nashville, which adopted articles of agreement for the common defense and general welfare, the control of this Gov- ernment being vested in a court or government of notables, consisting of ten. This settlement was en- gaged in almost constant warfare with the Indians. In 1780 an army of Tennessee colonists was organized for service against the British. These colonists, having been isolated from the colony of North Caro- lina by the mountains, were up to this year so con- stantly engaged in resisting the attacks of the Indians, it was impossible to render much, if any, assistance directly against the British. However, after the defeat of the Revolutionary army by General Clinton in North Carolina, an army of Tennessee colonists, led by Colonel Isaac Shelby and Colonel John Sevier, advanced into North Carolina and after several successful engagements with detachments of the British army met and annihilated on King's Mountain an army of British veterans under command of the distinguished British officer. Colonel Ferguson. The skill and gallantry of the officers and the valour of the men of Tennessee in this battle mark it as one of the glorious events of the state's history.
In 1785 the territory including the State of Ten- nessee was ceded by North Carolina to the United States. Some dis.satisfaction having arisen between the colonists of Tennessee and the Government of North Carolina, in August, 1784, a convention com- posed of delegates from several of the counties peti- tioned Congress to accept the cession of North Caro- lina and permit the inhabitants of the territory to form a government to be admitted into the Union as a state. In September of the same year a convention was held at Jonesboro, but adjourned without taking any decisive action. Another convention was held in the same place in November, 1785, and a pro- visional Constitution was put into operation. The new state was called "Frankland, the Land of the Free". The name was soon after changed or recog- nized a.s "Franklin", when or by whom cannot be accurately determined. North Carolina continued to legislate and execute her laws within the jurisdic-
tion of Franklin, and a compromise was ineffectually
attemi)ted. Pending these negotiations and the
operations of the contending Governments, control of
the State of Franklin was generally recognized, peace
was maintained among the colonists under the laws
of Franklin, and a continuous Indian w-arfare carried
on. The cession of North Carolina was attempted by
Congress, 2 April, 1790, and the country was governed
as a territory for six years, during which the Indian
wars were constant and bloody. In 1813 news
reached Nashville of the outbreak of the Indians in
Alabama and several massacres by them of the whites,
particularly the settlement at Fort Mimms near
Mobile. A public meeting was held, resulting in a
request to General Andrew Jackson to take command
of an army of volunteers called by the Legislature
of the State of Tennessee and enrolled in service
after a few days. Although Jackson was then con-
valescing from wounds he had received in a fray with
the Bentons, within nine days he took command of
the volunteer army and proceeded against the In-
dians. After several encounters they were signally
defeated and their power utterly and permanently
broken at Enotachopco and Tohopeka on 24 and 27
January, 1813. It was the creation of this army
under Jackson that gave Tennessee the name of
"The Volunteer State".
On 8 Jan., 1815, Jackson with an army consisting largely of Tennesseeans fought the battle of New Orleans. The main attack of the British, who were commanded by Sir Edward Packingham, one of the ablest of Wellington's lieutenants and composed of veterans seasoned by the Napoleonic wars, was de- feated by the Tennessee riflemen under Generals Carroll and Coffee. With the adoption of the Con- stitution of 1834 Tennessee entered upon a new epoch in her history and then became an important factor in national politics. Jackson was elected president in 1828 and re-elected in 1832. James K. Polk was elected president in 1844. Tennesseeans figured prominently in the Mexican War of 1847, 30,000 volunteers tendering their services upon the call of Governor Brown. On 9 Feb., 1861, an election was held upon the question of holding a convention to determine whether or not Tennessee should secede from the Union of States. The State refused to secede by a vote of 24,794 favouring secession to 88,803 in favour of the LTnion. After the proclamation of President Lincoln on 15 April calling for 75,000 troops, a series of proclamations were issued declaring the ports of the seceded states in a state of blockade and all vessels acting under the seceded states guilty of piracy. This announcement of the purpose of the Federal Government to resort to coercion produced a revolution of sentiment in Tennessee. The Legis- lature, convened in extra session 25 April, passed an ordinance of secession and submitted it to popular vote in an election to be held 8 June, 1861. The ordinance was ratified by a vote of 104,913 in its favour to 47,238 against it.
Meantime an intense Union sentiment developed extensively in east Tennessee. The leading states- men of that section, Andrew Johnson, afterwards President of the United States, Wm. G. Brownlow, Thomas A. R. Nelson, and Horace Majmard, espoused the cause of the llnion. A convention was held on 17 June, 1861, at Greenville, to consider the forma- tion of a new state compo.sed of east Tennessee and such adjoining counties of middle Tenne.s.see as might vote to be included. The new state was never formed, but inanv east Tennesseeans joined the Federal army. Many of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War were fought within the borders of Tenne.s.see: Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Murfreesboro or Stone's River, Nashville, Franklin; the battle of Chicka- mauga was fought largely on the Georgia border and for the possession of Tennessee. On 15 Feb., 1862,
