What was the state of Franklin?

Answer 1

The State of Franklin was an United States territory temporarily created shortly after the American Revolutionary war. It was created from land that came from North Carolina that they intended to cede to the federal government. The territory later became the eastern part of the state of Tennessee. It was created during the time that the US was operating under the Articles of Confederation. A government was formed by residents of the area that wanted to be independent of North Carolina - in keeping with the Independence sentiment that had helped fuel the Revolutionary War. They made Greeneville their capitol. They applied for statehood but couldn't get the required 2/3 majority in congress to be admitted as a state. Originally the name was supposed to be Frankland, and when they couldn't get the necessary votes, they changed it to Franklin (alluding to the well regarded Benjamin Franklin) to try to garner a few more votes. They tried to get Ben Franklin to endorse their cause, but he declined. North Carolina withdrew their offer to cede the region to the federal government and tried to reestablish their sovereignty over the area. NC even sent troops to the area and set up a competing government for a time. The "state" of Franklin never was on a very sound financial footing and eventually their elected Governor sought a loan from Spain and even started negotiating to be placed under Spanish rule. North Carolina had the governor of Franklin arrested but only required him to swear an oath of allegiance to North Carolina as a condition for release. Eventually the local Native Americans began attacking a lot of the "white" settlements and since Franklin had no funds to create and maintain an effective army or militia to deal with the attacks they turned to North Carolina for help. North Carolina took the area back and Franklin ceased to exist. A few years later North Carolina again ceded the area to the federal government as part of the Southwest Territory. When Tennessee was admitted to the Union as a state, it included all of what had once been Franklin.

The state of Franklin was never officially admitted into the United States and existed for only four years.