Yet, poor as was the hold that these people now retained upon the country that bore them, they were not lacking in active loyalty. When they heard of the first battles of the Revolution, the first thought of the men of the “Washington District” was how they might best prove of service in the conflict that was to ensue. So much might be expected, for the name of Washington District was given by reason of Sevier’s friendship with Washington, later to be the first president of the States; and the District had sent from its scanty numbers fifty riflemen, under Captain Evan Shelby, who took part on the Indian battlefield of Point Pleasant, in Virginia, in the fall of 1774.
These men of Washington District were always in the front when the fighting began, and had it seemed practicable to their leaders, they had liked nothing better than to join their forces always with those of the state of North Carolina. There was not one coward in the one hundred and thirteen men that signed Sevier’s petition to the legislature of North Carolina. Yet no formal annexation was made by North Carolina, though John Sevier, Charles Robertson, John Carter and John Hall were seated as delegates in the North Carolina legislature.
At this time North Carolina’s state constitution was formed (November, 1776), fixing the western boundary of the state as that named by King Charles, which reached to “the South Seas.” No one knew what so indefinite a description might mean, but John Sevier was wise enough to know that so far from getting the benefit of a stable government and the protection of the laws, his companions west of the Appalachians would be in a land practically without law save of their own making. Therefore, having in view all the time this possibility of a breaking away of a considerable body of West-American population by its own sheer weight, he succeeded in passing a resolution in the North Carolina legislature, stating that the above mentioned limits should not operate as a bar to the “later establishment of one or more governments west of North Carolina, by consent of the legislature of that state.” We might call Sevier another of those great prophets of the West, a prophet who possessed not only personal courage and daring of his own, but a calm and sober intellect that foresaw the growing up in the West of not only one but many governments; albeit not his nor any other mind might at that time see those changes that were to unite all these component parts into one effective whole.
There may be interest in tracing from its inception the growth of this little Western republic. We shall find its history lovingly written, and as though to hand, by an inhabitant of the state of Tennessee who has given care in research along those lines.[[10]] “This lovely mountain section of the old Watauga settlements,” writes he, “being the cradle of Tennessee and in some respects also, of the vast valley of the Mississippi, is rich in historical interest. Here in the month of May, 1772, there was formulated by Sevier, Robertson and others the first written compact of civil government on American soil. It was then they drew up the celebrated Watauga Articles of Association, and set up a government west of the long line of the Blue Ridge and apart from colonial influence.
“These articles set on foot all the machinery of the new state, the future Tennessee; they established courts to be presided over by five commissioners, who had entire control in matters affecting the common good; they provided a government, paternal but simple and moderate, albeit summary and firm. This form of government proved satisfactory and sufficient for a number of years, Sevier and Robertson continuing leading spirits. At this time they probably believed themselves to be on Virginia territory, for there was great question as to the location of the northern boundary line of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, thence west to the South Seas—the vague demarcations of Charles II which were accepted in the legislature of North Carolina.
“It was in 1776 that Sevier drew up his able petition to North Carolina asking to be annexed thereto. Of the one hundred and thirteen signers, all but two wrote their own names, which speaks not so badly for these hardy frontiersmen. Their request was granted, and about April, 1777, Watauga became a part of North Carolina. It still continued to be known as the Washington District, largely on account of geographical situation. At that time it embraced practically all of the present Tennessee.
“To show the rapid progress of civilization in that remote region, it may be stated that in 1778 or 1779 Reverend Samuel Doan, a young graduate of Princeton, came into the Watauga country, organized Salem Presbyterian church, and in 1780 erected a log cabin school-building, the first literary institution in Tennessee, if not the first one in the Mississippi valley, as has been frequently asserted. In the year 1783 this institution was chartered by North Carolina as Martin Academy, and is known now as Washington College.
“The events leading to the formation of the state of Franklin grew out of the effort of the state of North Carolina to pay her share of the thirty-eight millions of the Revolutionary War debt. Congress proposed to sell all the vacant lands in the several states, against the pro rata indebtedness of such states. Therefore, in June, 1784, the (North Carolina) legislature passed an act giving all of Washington District to the United States. This gift was conditioned upon an acceptance within two years, otherwise the act was to be null and void.”
This transfer of the sturdy population of the district brought up questions somewhat in advance of those we argue to-day regarding government without the consent of the governed, and the transfer of territory without the consent of the inhabitants. At first the frontiersmen seemed not to object to the change, but reflection showed them that the act failed to give them any sort of civil or military government during the two years Congress might elect to employ before accepting the gift.
This contingency justly alarmed the population of Washington District. They found themselves inhabitants of a No-Man’s-Land, an outlaw’s land, living neither under a government of their own establishing, nor any other whatsoever. In these unusual and perplexing circumstances it was no wonder that the people of the District called a convention. This meeting was held at Jonesboro, August, 1784, John Sevier himself presiding. Witness now the wisdom of his proviso in the session of the North Carolina legislature, which, in short, contemplated precisely the act that was now taken. It was resolved to set up another government, and these hardy citizens, so capable of self-government, greeted with applause the establishment of a free and independent state. The convention adjourned to meet again in November, to ratify the constitution and further to complete the organization of the state government.