Amid the economic turmoil, Native American warfare, and political unrest following the Revolutionary War, the leadership of the Tennessee Valley declared their region independent from North Carolina and formed the state of Franklin. In The Lost State of Franklin: America's First Secession, Kevin T. Barksdale chronicles the rise and fall of the ill-fated Franklin statehood movement. Barksdale describes the dramatic four years in which the Franklinites crafted a backcountry bureaucracy, expanded their regional market economy, and nearly eradicated the southwestern frontier's Native American population, all with the goal of becoming America's fourteenth state. Although the Franklin statehood movement collapsed in 1788, East Tennesseans still regard Franklin as a symbol of their rugged individualism, regional identity, and civic dignity.
- ISBN10 0813129877
- ISBN13 9780813129877
- Publish Date 13 September 2010 (first published 30 January 2009)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint The University Press of Kentucky
- Format Paperback
- Pages 296
- Language English