faction among them. They were separated from the settled regions of the parent Colony by almost impassable ranges of mountains, and even if communication had been easier, they were not regarded with favor by North Carolina, and moreover the affairs of that Province were in a condition so disordered and its administration was so hampered, that neither protection nor aid could have been expected on the Watauga, even if relations had been cordial. The Indians were constantly threatening, and many lawless characters, needy adventurers, and “persons evading the demands of justice," had come with the first wave of immigration. When, some years later, the settlers in Illinois found themselves in a similar situation, they sent a petition to Congress for a governor and soldiers. As Roosevelt aptly says, they wished for a master. But in Watauga, the people were Saxon, English Saxon, and Scotch-Irish Saxon for the Scotch-Irishman was of the same race as the Englishman, and for centuries had been trained in the same political school. The Watauga settlers quickly manifested the race instinct for self government along with a bold self reliance. They did not fretfully invoke the aid of North Carolina, and while awaiting a response, tamely submit to the evils of which they complained, but being of a free race, state making, and apt to organize, they constructed a government of their own. This extemporary State was rough-built, but it answered the purpose for which it was intended.

Every thing about the Watauga government was unmistakably English, and it is hardly too much to say that in this little back-woods settlement AngloSaxon political principles had for the first time full scope. The government derived its powers from the unanimous consent of the governed, every freeman having signed the compact, and thus there was a true democracy, without class distinctions, and with unlimited religious liberty. There were no lawyers or statesmen, but there was a love of liberty and law, and abundant common sense, boldly and effectively applied to conditions demanding prompt action. As a rule the people were of limited education, nearly all were poor, and rough in life and manners, but they had inherited the traditions and the instincts of the most liberty loving of races. They were prompted by necessity, and not by the wish to stand alone, and while they desired the protection of the laws and of the military strength of Virginia, no doubt they would have submitted promptly to the authority of North Carolina, if that State had shown a disposition to claim them, or to afford them protection. It is suggested with the greatest deference to Mr. Bancroft, that the language of the royal Governor of Virginia, which he adopts in part, in the sentence quoted above, does not accurately describe the conduct of the Watauga settlers. In a sense they did "set to the people of America the example of erecting themselves into a state independent of the author

ity of the British King," but they were not rebels, and did not disclaim allegiance to the Crown. They had come to Watauga expecting and desiring to be citizens of the royal Province of Virginia, and to obey its laws. When it was discovered that they were in the Indian country, to use their own language, they "applied to the Cherokee Indians, and leased the land for a period of ten years." It is true that the proclamation of 1763 forbade the provincial Governors to grant lands west of the mountains, or of the heads of the streams flowing into the Atlantic, and enjoined private persons from purchasing lands from the Indians, and it may be also that this lease from the Cherokees was technically invalid, but it is evident that the settlers were endeavoring to keep within the law, hoping, that eventually they might be able to perfect their title. When they made their purchase three years later the Revolution was in sight, and they had before them the example of Richard Henderson, a learned lawyer, and lately a judge of the royal Province of North Carolina.

Unquestionably the independence reprehended by the Governor of Virginia was the establishment of the Association, but the real offense, if any existed, was in continuing to occupy the Indian lands, and this certainly was palliated, if not cured, by the contract with the owners. The Association was merely a result of the determination to remain on the land under existing conditions. The completeness of their isolation

forced the settlers to form a union for self protection, and in creating and conducting this, they displayed, invariably, the highest regard for the laws and rights of the royal Provinces.

The Governor of Virginia was the worst possible judge of the conduct and purposes of the Watauga Association, and the most likely to see disloyalty and treason where none existed. It is clear that when the Association was formed, there was no purpose to separate from England, and that the subject was not even considered. The action was "independent of the authority of the British King," in that it was taken without the approval or knowledge of the royal or provincial authorities, but the settlers were probably as loyal subjects of the Crown as could have been found in the Colonies at that time. If, in 1774, they disregarded Governor Martin's proclamation, it must be remembered that during the two years that had elapsed since the establishment of the Association, the differences between the Crown and the Colonies had steadily increased, and soon after Martin's proclamation reached Watauga, the entire Province of North Carolina was in a state of insurrection.

Moses Fiske states the fact aptly when he describes the Watauga Association as a "little republic which originated not in opposition, but convenience." 20

That by the year 1772, the sentiment of loyalty to England had become impaired in all the Colonies by

20 American Historical Magazine, volume II, page 22.

distance, by the conditions of life, especially in the remoter west, and by the unjust policy of the Crown, may be admitted. It is undeniable also, that the Scotch-Irish, who formed the dominant element of the population of Watauga were exceptionally independent and democratic, and that some of them had participated actively in the Tryon rebellion in North Carolina. Nevertheless, it seems certain that the prime, indeed the sole motive, of the founders of the Association was not opposition to any authority whatever, but a desire to create an authority where none existed, and where one was imperatively demanded. Phelan intimates that the people of Watauga looked forward to founding an independent State, but certainly this was not the motive for establishing the Association.

The episode loses nothing in significance or importance by this construction, the fact remaining that the people had become self reliant, and conscious of their ability to protect and to govern themselves.

It will be seen by reading the petition for annexation that the Association did not claim the right to exercise all the functions of a government. It did not feel authorized to deal with felons, and the petition ingenuously expressed regret that "some" of these had therefore escaped. Every sovereign State applies and executes its police laws where aliens are concerned, in all respects as where its own citizens are affected, but the Watauga Association resorted to