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The
Watauga Association
The Watauga
Association was a semiautonomous government established in 1772 by
pioneer settlers (see list of members)
in what is now northeastern Tennessee. The settlers, having leased
their lands from the Cherokee, were beyond the bounds of an organized
government. They organized a homespun authority under what was called
the Watauga Compact; it is believed to be the first written constitution
adopted by native-born Americans. The document was not preserved but
seems to have provided for a court of five judges, a clerk, and a
sheriff. In 1775 the Wataugans were able to transform the lease of
their lands into an outright purchase. With the beginning of the American
Revolution that year, they supported the patriot cause and created
a 13-member committee of public safety. Faced with the threat of attack
by Native Americans in 1776, the Wataugans asked for and obtained
annexation by North
Carolina. They were thus included in Washington County, which
was created the next year for all of the state's western claim. When
that claim was ceded and then taken back in 1784, the Wataugans took
the lead in organizing the short-lived state
of Franklin.
—From
Encarta 99
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