The Watauga Association (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Watauga) was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. Although it lasted only a few years, the Watauga Association provided a basis for what later developed into the state of Tennessee and likely influenced other western frontier governments in the trans-Appalachian region. North Carolina annexed the Watauga settlement area, by then known as the Washington District, in November 1776. Within a year, the area was placed under a county government, becoming Washington County, North Carolina, in November 1777.[1] This area covers the present day Washington County, Carter County, and other areas now located in the northeast part of the state of Tennessee.
While there is no evidence that the Watauga Association ever claimed to be outside the sovereign territory of the British Crown, historians have often cited the Association as the earliest attempt by American-born colonists to form an independent democratic government. In 1774, Virginia governor Lord Dunmore called the Watauga Association a "dangerous example" of Americans forming a government "distinct from and independent of his majesty's authority."[2] President Theodore Roosevelt later wrote that the Watauga settlers were the "first men of American birth to establish a free and independent community on the continent."[3] While no copy of the settlers' compact, known as the Articles of the Watauga Association, has ever been found, related documents tend to imply that the Watauga settlers still considered themselves British subjects, even after the initial hostilities of the American Revolution had commenced.[4]
^Samuel Cole Williams, William Tatham, Wataugan (Johnson City, Tenn.: The Watauga Press, 1947), pp. 11–28.
^Samuel Cole Williams, "The Admission of Tennessee Into the Union." Tennessee Historical Quarterly Vol. IV, no. 4 (December 1945), p. 291.
^Paul Fink, "Some Phases of the History of the State of Franklin." Tennessee Historical Quarterly Vol. XVI, no. 3 (1957), p. 195.
^Cite error: The named reference dickinson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 22 Related for: Watauga Association information
The WataugaAssociation (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Watauga) was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living...
Watauga can refer to: Places Watauga, Kentucky Watauga County, North Carolina Watauga, South Dakota Watauga, Tennessee Watauga, Texas Bodies of Water Watauga...
1776, he was elected one of five magistrates of the WataugaAssociation and helped defend Fort Watauga against an assault by the Cherokee. At the outbreak...
Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton...
permanent European settlers arrived in 1770, and established the WataugaAssociation—one of the first written constitutional governments west of the Appalachian...
1782) was an American pioneer, longhunter, and Commissioner of the WataugaAssociation. He is accepted by historians as the first permanent European American...
The Watauga River (/wəˈtɔːɡə/) is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is 78.5 miles (126.3 km) long with its headwaters in...
descent, but nearly 20% of them were Scotch-Irish. During 1772, the WataugaAssociation met with, and leased lands belonging to, the Cherokee at Sycamore...
census is approximately 6.9 million. Tennessee is rooted in the WataugaAssociation, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional...
Saga of Sycamore Shoals WataugaAssociation, a government in the 1770s People living along the Watauga River Residents of Watauga County, North Carolina...
residents to form a separate political entity, initially with the WataugaAssociation, and later with the failed State of Franklin. North Carolina ceded...
Carolinian settlers squatted on Cherokee lands in Tennessee, forming the WataugaAssociation. Daniel Boone and his party tried to settle in Kentucky, but the...
along the Watauga, Doe, Holston and Nolichucky Rivers) met at Sycamore Shoals to establish a regional government known as the WataugaAssociation. In response...
Elizabethton, Tennessee. It was constructed from 1775 to 1776 by the WataugaAssociation, a semi-autonomous government founded by American settlers living...
United States France Spain Vermont Netherlands Oneida Tuscarora WataugaAssociation Catawba Lenape Choctaw Great Britain Loyalists German Auxiliaries...
Appalachian State University began in 1899 when a group of residents in Watauga County, under the leadership of Blanford B. Dougherty and his brother Dauphin...
York, father of the Schuyler sisters. John Sevier, cofounder of the WataugaAssociation, Revolutionary War soldier, called the Founding Father of Tennessee...
west into places such as Tennessee, notably establishing both the WataugaAssociation in 1772 and the State of Franklin in 1784. After 1775, many of the...
Ballad of Roger Mac" which first aired in 2020. Overmountain Men WataugaAssociation "Colonial Williamsburg acquires new stash of antique cash". Daily...
American settler and trans-Appalachian pioneer. He was a part of the WataugaAssociation and is most known for founding the city of Morristown, Tennessee...
Virginia For similar contemporary movements, see: Transylvania Colony WataugaAssociation State of Franklin Vermont Republic Abernethy, Western Lands, 91....
Global Information
