The Lost State of Franklin: America’s First Secession (review)

Abstract

The Lost State of Franklin: America's First Secession. By Kevin T. Barksdale. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2009. Pp. 296. Cloth, $50.00.)Reviewed by Christopher M. OsborneThe State of Franklin, organized by 1 780s settlers of what is now Tennessee but never officially recognized, is often overlooked in studies of post-Revolutionary America and its trans-Appalachian West. Determined to change this tendency, Kevin T. Barksdale delves into the myths, romanticizations, and recriminations that continue to cloud brief existence and calls its ruinous failure a reminder of the extraordinary and fragile nature of America's independence (17). Barksdale's quest to identify Franklin's historical middle ground (4) results in an exceptional narrative of its short lifespan, along with sporadic insights on topics such as backcountry fidelity and historical memory.Prior to a historiographie discussion that comprises most of the Introduction, Barksdale lays out the two dominant views of ever since its demise in 1789: a popular romanticism that sees it as a patriotic extension of the American Revolution, and a more critical interpretation focused on the sordid maneuverings of the region's power-brokers (4). Barksdale pledges to navigate between these two poles, but his analysis favors the latter, albeit through a more nuanced approach to the goals and efforts of elite. Indeed, he identifies many similarities among the leadership of both the pro-statehood Franklinites and antistatehood Tiptonites (named for leader John Tipton). Several key leaders, including Tipton and governor John Sevier, participated in the famous patriot victory at the 1 780 of King's Mountain, and parlayed their exploits into further political and economic (49). From the weak North Carolina governance of the early 1 780s, to that state's cession of the territory to the national government and quick reversal of this decision during 1784, and throughout twists and turns from late 1784 into 1789, Barksdale contends that the preservation of this hegemony drove the actions of Franklinites and Tiptonites alike. The author's intensive source investigation and colorful writing style effectively bring men like Sevier to life as post-Revolutionary figures struggling and conspiring to retain their property interests, political power, and social prestige.Five of The Lost State of eight chapters present a straightforward narrative of the region's sociopolitical environment, leading voices, and key events from early white settlement through demise. Barksdale checks off all the important legislative clashes and nicely details the so-called Battle of Franklin that helped bring the movement to a close. His claim for a frontier fidelity [that] transcended ethnic, religious, and class lines (37) in favor of interest-based loyalties to Tipton, Sevier, et al., however, does not bring the average settlers who aligned for or against into clear focus. Elite leaders certainly used King's Mountain flag-waving and frustrations about eastern policies regarding Indians and taxation to curry support, but the processes of transmission to and reception and response by the region's yeomanry, trapped in circumstances that demanded a choice between risk-filled alternatives, remains underexplored. Barksdale's is one of powerful men, key decisions, and episodes of violence, leaving limited room for those not destined to have statues or historical markers or romance novel characters dedicated to them.The book's two topical chapters on settler-Native relations and the era's murky Spanish Conspiracy demonstrate both the strengths and limitations of Barksdale's analysis. …