This is a replica of the Capitol of the state of Franklin, in
Greeneville. In search of the state of Franklin We take for
granted that our state is called Tennessee, that it was formed
in 1796, and that it was the 16th state admitted to the union.
But the story was nearly a whole lot different. The people who
lived in what is now upper east Tennessee originally formed a
state called Franklin. In 1784, they elected a governor and a
legislature; wrote a constitution; and began going about the
business of running their affairs (collecting taxes, holding
courts, raising an army as needed against the hostile Native
American tribes of the day). Had the state of North Carolina not
been bitterly opposed to the formation of the new state,
Franklin almost certainly would have been accepted into the
union by the Continental Congress. But because of North
Carolina's opposition, the proposal to accept Franklin failed to
be approved by Congress. Franklin later ceased to exist,
becoming a footnote in history and one of the