Civics
9
From 1785 until 1788, a building near the intersection of Main and Depot Streets is believed to have served as the capitol of the State of Franklin. Constitutional conventions held there produced bitter controversy over competing proposals and resulted in the first political pamphlets produced west of the Appalachians. Three Presbyterian clergymen, Rev. Samuel Houston, Rev. William Graham, and Rev. Hezekiah Balch, were the chief protagonists. The Franklin Legislature also met there and challenged the authority of North Carolina by passing laws to levy taxes, raise a militia, establish courts, authorize the performance of marriages, and open a land office.
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Greeneville, Tennessee · United States
