Watauga Association
The Watauga Association is considered to be the first truly independent republic on American soil. It was founded by settlers on the Watauga River in 1772. These had previously fled to this as yet unpopulated region from the Province of North Carolina after the regulators' uprising was put down .
history
In the 1760s, the British colonial government in the Province of North Carolina became extremely unpopular and was considered corrupt. Many citizens formed armed groups to defend themselves against officials. When these so-called regulators threatened to interrupt the flow of taxes to the colonial government, Governor William Tryon mobilized the counterinsurgency militia in 1768 , which was successfully completed in 1771. Several hundred regulators escaped the control of the state by moving to the valley of the Watauga River in the border region . They wrongly assumed that this region, which consists of what is now eastern Tennessee , had been ceded by the Cherokee to the colony of Virginia in 1768 . In fact, the land was on the territory of the Province of North Carolina , which, however, had not yet made a claim against the Indians , as the settlers learned in 1771. The following year the colonial government asked previous regulators to leave the Watauga River valley. This then began negotiations with the Cherokee and obtained their consent to lease the valley to them for ten years. Against that background and ratified the settlers completely autonomously , ie independent of the Province of North Carolina , one, no longer extant today, Social Contract (English: "Articles of association"), while the Code took over the colony Virginia. The Watauga Association thus effectively became the first independent republic on the continent.
In the following two years, more settlers came to the Watauga River valley, which the Cherokee saw their traditional hunting grounds threatened. Soon it came (German: "Canoe Tug") under the leadership of Chief Dragging Canoe attacks on the former regulators , without being able to sell them, so the Cherokee finally gave up and in 1775 the land for a symbolic payment on duration of the Watauga Association leaving . With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War , the British began to arm the Cherokee and incite them against the patriots . In May 1776 they terminated their agreement with the Watauga Association and asked the settlers to leave the valley within three weeks. These unsuccessfully called several sides for help, including the commander of the British troops in this region. In the end, they decided to end their quarrel with North Carolina and swore on July 5, 1776 to support the Continental Congress . Associated with this was a petition to North Carolina to add the Watauga Association area to the state. A well-known signatory to this petition was John Sevier . On August 22, 1776, North Carolina accepted the request and annexed the territory as the Washington District . At that time there was a Cherokee attack on Fort Watauga, which could be repulsed.
literature
- James L. Erwin: Declarations of Independence: Encyclopedia of American Autonomous and Secessionist Movements. Greenwood, Westport 2007, ISBN 0-313-33267-3 , pp. 206f.
- Max Dixon: The Wataugans. New edition. Overmountain, Johnson City 1989, ISBN 0-923807-47-X .
Individual evidence
- ↑ James L. Erwin: Declarations of Independence: Encyclopedia of American Autonomous and Secessionist Movements. P. 206 .
- ↑ James L. Erwin: Declarations of Independence: Encyclopedia of American Autonomous and Secessionist Movements. P. 206f .
- ^ Polly M. Rettig: National Register of Historic Places: Nomination Form; here: Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga. In: National Register Information System. National Park Service February 11, 1976, accessed May 3, 2019 (363 KB), p. 5.