4th Grade ESL Tennessee History
Part Four: New Nation and Statehood

   How were the settlers disobeying King George III of England?

1) King George III of England had said, "No!" to building homes east of the Appalachian Mountains with his Proclamation of 1763. The settlers ignored his commands by settling in present-day Tennessee.
2) The settlers had also negotiated treaties with the Native Americans.
3) The settlers signed a self-government document called the Watauga Compact.
Why did the settlers not obey King George?
  What happened next?

1) In 1780, Patrick Ferguson, a British commander, heard that white settlers were living west of the Appalachian Mountains. He ordered them to surrender because they were disobeying King George by being there.
2) A group of about 1,000 Tennessee settlers, under the leadership of Isaac Shelby and John Sevier, decided to fight Ferguson and his men.
The Sycamore Shoals today
3) Shelby, Sevier and their men met at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River on September 25, 1780. They didn't look like an army but were brave and determined. They had no uniforms but each had a good hunting rifle.
4) The settlers and British met for battle at Kings Mountain, near present-day Charlotte, North Carolina.
5) The Tennesseans used Native American tactics. They surrounded the British and hid behind rocks, trees, and in gullies. The British, in their bright red uniforms, were easy targets as they came down Kings Mountain.
Kings Mountain today
6) Many of the British were killed. So was Ferguson. Many believe that the Tennesseans' victory at The Battle of Kings Mountain was the turning point in the American Revolution.

Why did the settlers win the Battle of Kings Mountain?
  Now what?

1) After the American Revolutionary War, Tennessee at first became part of the new state of North Carolina.
This is what the capital of the state of Franklin looked like.
2)  But many Tennesseans were not happy about this idea. They decided to form a new state and named it after Benjamin Franklin. Who was Benjamin Franklin?
3) John Sevier, the hero of the Battle of Kings Mountain, was named the first governor of the state of Franklin. He was often called "Nolichucky Jack" after the Nolichucky River.
4) The state of Franklin was never accepted by the Congress of the United States. This unsuccessful attempt at statehood is often called The Lost State of Franklin.
Rocky Mount was very rocky
5) A few years later, present-day Tennessee became part of the United States known as the "Territory South of the Ohio River", often called the Southwest Territory. William Blount was the first governor of the Southwest Territory. The capital of the Southwest Territory was a private residence known as Rocky Mount, near the fork of the Holson and Watauga rivers.
  And finally?

1) In 1795, the people living in the part of the Southwest Territory that had once been part of North Carolina voted 3 to 1 to become a new state.
2) In 1796, they wrote a state constitution similar to the one that the United States had  adopted a few years earlier.
3) The constitution had three branches of government:
* Executive Branch -- led by a governor
* Judicial Branch -- led by a state supreme court
* Legislative Branch -- led by a House and Senate


John Sevier
4) John Sevier was elected governor. Present-day Sevierville and Sevier County are named for him.
5) Sevier moved the capital to Knoxville. It was named for Henry Knox, who was Secretary of War for the U.S. government.
Why did they choose Knoxville to be the state capital?
A fork in a river
Our New
Tennessee History Words

* commander: A commander is the leader of an army.
* surrender: When you give up, you surrender.
* determined : When you do not give up you are determined.
* tactics: Tactics are the strategies you plan to get something done.
* victory: If you win, you are victorious.
* turning point: An event that changes the course of a much larger event is said to be a turning point.
* fork: Two rivers or roads meet at a fork.
* constitution: A constitution is a document that spells out a system of government.
* adopted: Something is adopted when it is accepted.
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