Have you ever heard of the 14th almost state, Franklin? During the building years of the United States in the late 18th century, Franklin was proposed to be the 14th state added. The area of Franklin was supposed to be the upper east area of Tennessee.
After the Revolutionary War North Carolina legislators discussed giving some land to the federal government. The people who inhabited those areas started to discuss plans of self-government. By December of 1784, they had declared themselves the “state of Franklin.” This however had not been recognized by the states due to slow communication between people at the December Conference and the people of the “state of Franklin.” The land that had been given during that time was taken back. This left the people of Franklin without any land to call a state.
But why was the state going to be named Franklin? Originally the state was to be called Frankland, they even had a slogan, “The land of free men.” In the end, they decided to change the name to Franklin. First, in Benjamin Franklin’s honor, they proposed the name. Second, the leaders wanting to add Franklin as a state saw the name Franklin was gaining more traction in the courts. They decided this name would give them a better chance of getting their so-called state to become a reality.
So, why did the state of Franklin eventually fail? The state of Franklin operated like any other state during its time, but it did have its problems. Some of these included a lack of military, tax-free living, and the lack of economic infrastructure. Because of this, the North Carolina government began to give incentives to the people living in the Franklin land to move back to their former government. They also offered to waive all taxes they hadn’t paid during their time living in Franklin. This was all under the notion that Franklin would dissolve letting the people leave the “state.” The state as a whole refused this offer, but it wasn’t long after that many citizens and leaders had moved away.
Questions:
What would you name a state if you could?
Would it be named after you, why or why not?
Do you think Franklin should have stayed as a state?
Sources:
https://www.deseret.com/23922454/history-of-the-state-of-franklin/
https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-state-franklin
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/true-story-short-lived-state-franklin-180964541/
Replies
Would you name the state Hoffman(sorry if I spelled it wrong) or Mike?
That is a cool way to look at it. That state wouldn't just be representing you, it would be representing your entire family.
I don't think i'd know what to name a state if I ever got the chance, it is a pretty big responsibilty. However, I would want it to be something meaningful. I think it would've been neat to have a state named Franklin, and I think thw concept of it is cool also.
It would be a really big responsibility to name a state. Something that I think shouldn't just be one person's decision. I would also want it to be something meaningful, potentially even something that has some meaning to who I am as a person.
I don't know what I would name a state, but it would probably be something after my name so I could have the credit. I would not want it to just be something random that doesn't have any meaning. I am not sure whether Franklin should or should not have stayed a state because I don't know the impact that would have on our country.
I agree with you, I would want the name I gave to it to have meaning. I don't know if I would want to name it after me directly, but like Emeri said, maybe some type of "hidden meaning."
If I had to name a state it would probably be named after because I would like to take credit for naming a state and I would name it after me but also at the same time you don't want to be hunted down or something many other reasons but I've also never accomplished something great because I feel like if you name a state after someone its for something good they did. It would've stayed a state if it wasn't small and was stronger.
Do you think that Franklin's lack of an economy was one of the main reasons it was not allowed to become a state?
I wouldn't like having a state named after me becuase I would feel a lot of pressure on me. But it would be cool to have it named after you.
I really have no clue what I would do if I could name a state. I think that even having a city or airport named after yourself is weird, and if that happened to me I would feel odd. I don't know if it should or shouldn't have stayed a state, however if it did it would have defiantely affected parts of our legistlative history and possible our country's outcome in histoical events.
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