1770-1799

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1770

The seizure of Native American lands. Ignoring the British prohibition against settling on Indian lands, back-country Virginians and North Carolinians built four different communities in northeastern Tennessee: on the Watauga River, in North Holston, in Nolichucky and Carter Valley.  The white man’s goal was no longer to have trading privileges but to take possession of land.

These are the beginnings of the race to grab western lands.  One standout is the most ambitious speculators was Richard Henderson of Hillsborough, North Carolina.  He managed to organize a treaty with the Cherokee for the purchase of a vast tract of land (much of Kentucky and Tennessee:  close to 20 million acres), in exchange for six wagons filled with products with a value of 10,000 British pounds.  One Cherokee Chief, Dragging Canoe, opposed the sale of the ancestral lands and established the Chickamauga tribe that harassed the settlements for twenty years. http://sos.tn.gov/sites/default/files/Pgs.%20499-555%20State%20History.pdf 

1772

The Watauga Association. A manifesto of self-government (one of the first constitutions written in North America) for those who had moved to the area outside of the reach of organized government. The aggressiveness of the settlers in the taking Native American lands created indigenous hostility so that the Native Americans sided with the British in the settlement conflict.

1774

Cuba – Census indicated a population of 171,620.

1775

The Transylvania Company, of North Carolina, bought a large tract of land from the Cherokee.  Daniel Boone, who worked for the company, traced a path from Virginia (passing through Cumberland Gap) called “wilderness road” that was transformed into the principal road for the new settlements.

1776

The Beginning of the American Revolution.

The Cherokee offensive was well-coordinated against the settlements of eastern Tennessee (the Battle of Island Flats and the attack of Fort Caswell).  John Sevier, famous for his experience against Native Americans, led the Watauga settlers, resisted the attack and with the help of the militia from Virginia and North Carolina, invaded the Cherokee National, burning their villages.

Siding with the British during the American Revolution was disastrous for the Native Americans because it served the Americans as a pretext for reducing the tribe’s military power and encroach further on their land.   In 1777, commissioners of Virginia and North Carolina negotiated the Long Island Treaty with the Cherokee.

Spain established the Viceroy of the Plate River in the territories of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. The last and shortest duration of a viceroy in America.

1777-78

First six counties of the territory. The territory, before becoming a state, fought to have a political voice and suffered without protection afforded by an organized government. The territory was formed by six counties from the west of North Carolina: Washington, Sullivan, and Green and East Tennessee and from the east; Davidson, Sumner and Tennessee in the Middle district.

After the Revolution, North Carolina did not want the expense of maintaining such distant settlements, as they were fighting with hostile tribesmen and needing roads, forts, and open waterways.

1779

Uprising in the Peruvian Andes lead by Tupac Amaru II (1779-1781)

Jonesboro was founded, the first town founded in Tennessee.

Coronal Shelby defeated the Chickamaugas near what is now Chattanooga.

Henderson, after having acquired his vast property, contracted Robertson and others to investigate the possibility of colonizing it.  At the beginning of this year, approximately 300 white pioneers and blacks traveled to the place known as French Lick what today is known as Nashville.  The men were guided by Robertson, while Donelson lead a fleet with women and children down river by the Tennessee y then up river by the Cumberland. This first group of settlers scattered in the central basin in search of land that could be cultivated.  For fourteen years they resisted violent attacks by the Creek and Chickamauga warriors from the villages on the Tennessee River, but they persevered to become the seeds of future communities. After the disappearance of the indigenous threat, the explorers, hunters, land speculators and traders arrived, but it was the farmers who would finance the new population.

1781

Bolivia – Tupac Katari laid siege to the city of La Paz

1783

The counties of Davidson and Greene were established in April 18th, 1783.

Colombia – Simon Bolivar was born.

Bolivia – Spain contains the revolts and proceeds to execute thousands of indigenous people.

1784

The State of Frankland (later called The State of Franklin in honor of Benjamin Franklin) was established.

The western settlers were not recognized until this year, frustrated by the insensibility of North Carolina, and so they formed a dissident state, the state of Franklin, in the area of Jonesboro.  John Sevier was named the first governor.  Although being recognized officially, the new state started to function like an independent government.  The restlessness of the Tennesseans to achieve independence did not escape the attention of North Carolina that reaffirmed control of the distant counties to the west.  The State of Franklin failed politically and by internal divisions between Tennesseans from the east and in 1788, ceased to exist. One of the events that precipitated the dissolution of the State of Franklin happened in February of this year.  John Sevier, incredibly infuriated by an order of the North Carolina Courts where some of his slaves were seized, stormed the house of Colonel Tipton (official of North Carolina) with 150 of his supporters, Tipton had given refuge to a group of slaves.  Reinforcements from Sullivan County arrived to resolve the situation, but not before gunfight erupted and left two men dead and others injured. This armed confrontation of Sevier against the authority of North Carolina cost Sevier his reputation.

This story shows how far the leaders of eastern Tennessee settlements were willing to go to achieve independence.  The fame of Sevier, for his great military feats and his courageous attempt to achieve independence, were known abroad.  One of the most interested observers in the State of Franklin was Don Diego de Gardoqui who had come to America in 1785, commissioned by Spain as a diplomat in the United States and with the American Congress.  (Spain then controlled, from Louisiana, the waterways of the Mississippi and the land to the west of the river).  Soon Gardoqui discovered violent resentment from the frontiersmen caused by the a proposition of the American Republic to transfer the rights of the free navigation of the Mississippi for 25 years in exchange for reciprocal advantages abroad offered by Spain.

The traders of Cumberland and across the region were unhappy and worried, they were equally concerned with their dissatisfaction with the central government that allowed absolute control of trade and with the resentment against the Spanish domination.  When Gardoqui found out of the armed uprising of Sevier against North Carolina’s authority, he dispatched an emissary to sound the leading men of the communities of Franklin and Cumberland looking for the possibility of an alliance.  The secret emissary was Dr. James White who had been appointment by the U.S. Government as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the south.  White passed information to don Esteban Miro, Governor of Louisiana, that the leaders of “Frankland” and “Cumberland” had accepted enthusiastically the proposals by Gardoqui: pledge loyalty to Spain and renounce loyalty to other sovereignty or power.  Satisfied with the secret communication that was received, Gardoqui informed his government that the settlers, addressed diplomatically, would be part of Spain in the action.

Renewed attacks by the Native Americans in various counties and on the path to Kentucky, gave an opportunity for Sevier to recuperate his lost popularity with a great victory over the Native Americans in his village of Hiwassee. It was a common suspicion that the indigenous violence was incited by the Spanish (One Alexander Mcgillivray, mestizo, that acted as a representative for the Creek Indians put his tribes under the protection of the Spanish in 1784).  In response to letters by Gardoqui requesting the application of pressure to prevent barbaric acts, Sevier and Robertson read between the lines evoked reaffirmations of the secret Spanish proposals.

With new inspiration, Sevier responded to the propositions of Dr. White.

A series of events truly cloak and dagger theater, have concluded when North Carolina relinquishes the southwest territory to the Federal Government, eliminating all possibilities of materializing the intentions of Spanish domination.

1788

The State of Franklin ceases to exist.

1789

North Carolina ratified a new Constitution of the United States.

George Washington was named to political prominence and landowner William Blount as territorial governor.

North Carolina, relinquished the western lands, the future Tennessee, to the federal government. North Carolina had used these lands to compensate revolutionary soldiers and the in the Acceptance of Cession (1789), it reserved the right to continue transferring land to its’ veterans in the territory of Tennessee. William Blount was named the only governor of the Territory of the United States south of the Ohio River. This territory was divided in three districts:  two for eastern Tennessee and the district around Cumberland.  Each one with its own court, military and administration.

In spite of the prohibition of the federal government to occupy native lands, it produced a rise in land speculation and a race to amass and claim rights to large pieces of land to the west of North Carolina.  The first political leaders of Tennessee-Blount, Sevier, Henderson and Andrew Jackson-were dedicated to land speculation.

1790

Venezuela – José Antonio Paéz (1790-1873), caudillo, was born.

1792

Argentina – Juan Manuel de Rosas, el caudillo, was born in Rio de la Plata (1792-1877).

Brazil – Joaquín José da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, was executed on April 21^st, in Rio de Janeiro.

The Indian Ravages. The continued illegal occupation of Native American lands by the settlers resulted in the Indian War of 1792.  Cherokee and Creek warriors launched violent and repeated attacks on the Cumberland villages.

The counties of Jefferson and Knox were established on June 11, 1792.

1793

Mexico – Antonio López de Santa Anna (1793-1876), caudillo, was born.

1794

James Robertson, a leader in the Cumberland military, invaded the land of the Chickamauga (Nickajack expedition), burned the villages and eliminated the threat in this region.  Other tribes ended the attacks based on the warning of the same consequences as the Cherokee and the Creek.

The county of Sevier was established on September 10th, 1794.

1795

Territorial census: Governor Blount organized a constitutional convention in Knoxville.  Delegates from all counties prepared a State Constitution and Declaration of Democratic rights with the intent of proposing the application before the Congress to be admitted to the Union.

In the region of Memphis: During the summer of 1795, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, Manual Gayoso de Lemos, acquired Chickasaw Indian lands.  On Chickasaw hill, to the south of Wolf River, he constructed Fort San Fernando of the Barrancas, giving Spain control of the waterways of the Mississippi river until 1797 when it was abandoned according to the Treaty of Pinckney.  The Spanish dismantled the fort, removing the iron.  The ruins passed unnoticed when the city of Memphis was designed twenty years later.

1796

Tennessee became the 16th State of the Union.  Blount and William Cocke were named senators and Andrew Jackson was named representative.

The metallurgical industry of Tennessee was founded with the Smelting of Cumberland of James Robertson.

The counties of Montgomery and Robertson were established on April 9th, Grainger on April 22nd, Cocke and Union on October 9th.

Colombia – 1796-1806 Foolish Fatherland (La Patria Boba). The fight for independence began.

1798-1806

The migration increased from the east with the diminished indigenous dangers.  Treaties with the Cherokee and the Chickasaw opened fertile land for settlers in central Tennessee and the plateau of Cumberland.  Tennessee became a door to the west.

Between 1790 and 1800 the population of Tennessee tripled. In 1800, Tennessee had a population of 105,602.

1799

The counties of Smith, Williamson and Wilson were established on October 26th, 1799.

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