In the 1760's and 1770's early pioneers began exploring the land west of the Appalachian Mountains that would become East Tennessee. A few permanent settlements began popping up along the Watauga River.
Fort Watauga was established near the present day town of Elizabethton. Since the settlements were outside of the 13 Colonies, the settlements were not under British control. The settlers needed a basic form of government. The "Watauga Association" was created in 1772 by several frontier settlements along the Watauga River. This became their basic form of government.
Although it lasted only a few years, the Watauga Association provided a basis for what later developed into the State of Franklin.
At the end of the American Revolution, what is now eastern Tennessee was claimed by North Carolina. After the Watauga Association formed, North Carolina began organizing the area, but the settlers in the region did not want to be part of North Carolina. Instead they wanted the territory to be its own state.
In December 1784, settlers in this area declared themselves the State of Franklin. They named their settlement after Founding Father and "First American" Benjamin Franklin. The following year, in 1785, they petitioned the Continental Congress to become a state under the Articles of Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation were weak, and Congress denied their request to become a new state. So instead, Franklin acted as its own nation for a few years. It had its own Constitution, with its own laws, and it worked out treaties with the Indians. John Sevier was appointed as Governor of Franklin and the capital was Jonesborough. Franklin lasted for a while. However due to internal struggles and with also struggles with the Indians, Franklin failed and ceased to exist by 1788. The area of "Franklin" would become part of Tennessee when the state was formed in 1796.
After Shays' Rebellion and the Lost State of Franklin, most Americans felt that the Articles of Confederation needed to be reformed as the country's governing document.
The weaknesses displayed during Shay's Rebellion and the fact that Congress was unable to admit the State of Franklin showed the nation that the Articles were too weak to govern the new country. Soon, delegates would meet at the Constitutional Convention to create a new from of government to replace the Articles.